Readers will recall that one of the Royal Celtic Society’s recent projects has been to provide financial support for Skye-based publsher Acair Books, in publishing the Frances Tolmie Collection, an important resource of Gaelic song, which has been long out of print.
Titled Gun Sireadh, “Gun Iarraidh – The Tolmie Collection,” Acair is proud to publish the work of one of the great unsung heroines of Scottish Gaelic song. The book celebrates her work in a new, expanded edition of her seminal collection of songs which has influenced generations of singers from the early 20th century right up to the present day. This impressive book was launched on 3 February 2023 at Celtic Connections. Championed by one of the contemporary Gaelic world’s leading tradition bearers, singer Kenna Campbell and one of her former students, Ainsley Hamill, “Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh” (Without Seeking, Without Asking) promises to open Tolmie’s songs and life’s work up to new audiences in this edition.
Tolmie was born in the Isle of Skye, to a family associated with the MacLeod chiefs of Dunvegan. She was brought up as part of her uncle’s family following the death of her father, and through them encountered a wide range of literary and cultural figures across the UK, becoming one of the first women to attend Newham College at Cambridge University. Her collection of Gaelic songs was gathered over a lifetime in Gaelic-speaking communities where songs were the life-breath of daily work and play. A core selection was published in London by the English Folk-song Society with the help of English folksong collector Lucy Broadwood, but the songs appeared mostly in translated form, making the collection a tantalising but frustrating introduction to a whole world of Gaelic song, from dance music and children’s playthings to the great classical repertoire of the professional poets and medieval Celtic and Arthurian legend.
Kenna Campbell hails from Skye and is a pre-eminent singer in her own right. Ainsley Hamill is a song writer, working in both Gaelic and English. Her love of Gaelic song was nurtured while studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. “Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh – The Tolmie Collection” is a labour of love over many years for Kenna and Ainsley, who met at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where Kenna – as principal lecturer in Gaelic Song – used the original collection as a source for all her singing students, including Ainsley.
Acair manager Angus Morrison said, “It’s a great pleasure for Acair to bring this remarkable collection of songs to publication in a new expanded edition and the hope is that the book will be well-thumbed for a new generation of musicians and lovers of Gaelic song.”
The Royal Celtic Society is proud to be associated with this project as a sponsor. The book is now available direct from the publishers on www.acairbooks.com.