{"id":326,"date":"2021-05-07T12:28:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T11:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/?p=326"},"modified":"2021-05-10T10:43:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T09:43:19","slug":"object-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/object-6\/","title":{"rendered":"SSSA in 70 Objects: H\u00f2\u00a0Ro Gur\u00a0Toigh\u00a0Leinn\u00a0Anna\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributor:\u00a0Peigi\u00a0Anndra\u00a0MacRae, Mairi\u00a0Anndra\u00a0MacRae\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fieldworker: Donald Archie MacDonald\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Reference: SA1964.062\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Link: http:\/\/www.tobarandualchais.co.uk\/en\/fullrecord\/104487<\/a><\/h2>\n

Response: Dr Alison Mayne\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s extremely hard for me to pick one object from the\u00a0<\/span>School of Scottish Studies Archives<\/span>.\u00a0 I first discovered its treasures when Louise\u00a0<\/span>Scollay<\/span>\u00a0found a lever arch file full of clippings and letters about\u00a0<\/span>Cleekwork<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and she asked me to make a cleek glove based on a pattern found there.\u00a0 This work developed into a\u00a0<\/span>Handmaking in the\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>rchive<\/span>s<\/span><\/a>\u00a0event for\u00a0<\/span>the <\/span>University<\/span> of Edinburgh Festival of Creative Learning.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly perhaps, my interest in the SSSA focuses on the world of textiles and wool processing in particular.\u00a0 The archive is packed with images, stories and songs of sheep, shearing, spinning and the transformation into cloth through knit or weave.\u00a0 Louise herself selected a Barra\u00a0<\/span>waulking song<\/span><\/a>\u00a0as her favourite object, celebrating the community preparation of tweed.\u00a0 Coming in a close second for my own favourite is the Tom Anderson 1960 recording of\u00a0<\/span>Rosabel<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Blance<\/span>\u00a0singing her own composition of \u2018<\/span>Roo the Bonny\u00a0<\/span>Oo<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/a>\u00a0which magically replicates the sound of a burring spinning wheel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, I knew my special SSSA object had to come from\u00a0<\/span>Peigi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Anndra<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>MacRae<\/span>.\u00a0 With her sister, Mairi,\u00a0<\/span>Peigi<\/span>\u00a0opened her home to a young Margaret Fay Shaw in the late 1920s and introduced her to the crofting way of life, traditions, stories and music of South\u00a0<\/span>Uist<\/span>.\u00a0 After her marriage to ethnologist John Lorne Campbell, Shaw remained fast friends with\u00a0<\/span>Peigi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Anndra<\/span>\u00a0as she developed the work which would become\u00a0<\/span>Folksongs and Folklore of South\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Uist<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Mary and Peggy MacRae
Image used with kind permission from Alex MacRae.<\/p><\/div>\n

The relationship between folklorist \/ ethnologist and contributor is fascinating:\u00a0 There are ethical concerns we are more aware of now which can make the uneven power relations between collector and singer feel uncomfortable; the mantle of expertise may have been borne by the fieldworker, but the incredible depth of knowledge lays with the singer or contributor.\u00a0 In many ways, the interest lies for me in the process of collecting, not necessarily the item itself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peigi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Anndra\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0singing of\u00a0<\/span>H\u00f2<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Ro Gur\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Toigh<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Leinn<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Anna<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0was recorded by Donald Archie MacDonald (who worked at the SSSA between 1962 to 1994) in 1964.\u00a0 It tells of a woman sad that she is unable to take part in waulking the tweed and was composed by Mrs Catriona Campbell of South\u00a0<\/span>Lochboisdale<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I love is the uncertainty of memory, repetition and occasional pauses of\u00a0<\/span>Peigi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Anndra\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0singing, the quiet interjections of MacDonald where she forgets the words, Mairi calling\u00a0<\/span>corrections from across the room, the whirr and click of the\u00a0<\/span>reel to reel<\/span>\u00a0tape.\u00a0 Recordings like this are not only significant in recording traditional song and ways of knowing, but in reminding listeners and researchers down the years of the process of recording.\u00a0 It is a precious reminder that we should not forget the relationships and labour of\u00a0<\/span>collecting\u00a0<\/span>which have\u00a0<\/span>constructed<\/span>\u00a0the archive<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Alison Mayne is a researcher in everyday textiles and wellbeing, with additional interests in digital communities and design for older people. She holds awards from Women\u2019s History Scotland, The Pasold Fund and is a University of Glasgow 2020-21 Visiting Library Fellow, supported by the William Lind Foundation.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

@knittyphd<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image used with kind permission of the MacRae family. Please do not reproduce.<\/p>\n

Further resources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are further recordings from The School of Scottish Studies Collections featuring Peigi and Mairi MacRae. Many of these are available to stream via Tobar an Dualchais.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.tobarandualchais.co.uk\/en\/searchByTrackId?id=SA1964.062<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.tobarandualchais.co.uk\/en\/searchByTrackId?id=SA1965.118<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.tobarandualchais.co.uk\/en\/searchByTrackId?id=SA1966.081<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about Margaret Fay Shaw and her relationship with the MacRaes visit The National Trust:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.nts.org.uk\/stories\/stories-songs-and-starlings<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Contributor:\u00a0Peigi\u00a0Anndra\u00a0MacRae, Mairi\u00a0Anndra\u00a0MacRae\u00a0 Fieldworker: Donald Archie MacDonald\u00a0 Reference: SA1964.062\u00a0 Link: http:\/\/www.tobarandualchais.co.uk\/en\/fullrecord\/104487 Response: Dr Alison Mayne\u00a0 It\u2019s extremely hard for me to pick one object from the\u00a0School of Scottish Studies Archives.\u00a0 I first discovered its treasures when Louise\u00a0Scollay\u00a0found a lever arch file … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[19],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcNWdE-5g","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/sssa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}