Margaret Bennett was brought up in a family of tradition bearers, Gaelic on her mother’s side (from Skye) and Lowland Scots on her father’s. With a PhD in Folklore and Ethnology, the former Edinburgh University lecturer ‘wears her scholarship lightly’. Singer, storyteller, part-time teacher at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, recipient of the Master Music Maker Award (USA) and Celtic Women International award (Canada) for ‘lifelong service to Scottish Culture’, she is widely regarded as ‘Scotland’s foremost folklorist’.
Her prize-winning books include Oatmeal and the Catechism (1999), The Last Stronghold: Scottish Gaelic Traditions in Newfoundland, (1989), and Scottish Customs from the Cradle to theGrave, (2004). CD collaborations with her late son, Martyn, feature in theatre and film, (including ‘The Black Watch’). Activities for ‘Homecoming Scotland 2009’ include Celtic Connections (Glasgow), ‘Burns 250’ (Washington, DC) and Ullapool Book Festival. As the late Hamish Henderson wrote, “Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland.”
Schooling in Portree (Isle of Skye), Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
and Lerwick (Shetland Isles) then three years as a student in Glasgow.
Learning to become a teacher may have been incidental to the best
of student days in the sixties as Glasgow had Folk Clubs, wonderful
singers, endless opportunities to get together and sing, a wealth
of song, both traditional and 'revival'. On an 'exchange visit'
with Edinburgh University Folk Club I met the now legendary Hamish
Henderson, inspiring, energetic and enthusiastic, at the height
of his career as a folklorist - he undoubtedly influenced my own
career choice. Then, in 1968, I emigrated to Newfoundland which
became home for the next eight years. As a post-graduate student
of Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland I began recording
the traditions of the Gaels who immigrated there from the Isle
of Canna and Moidart (see books). Studied with Prof. Herbert Halpert
whose rigorous training in folklore studies influenced every project
thereafter.Formal qualifications include B.A.(Ed), Post-graduate M.A. in
Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a Ph.D.
in Ethnology from the University
of Edinburgh (advisors:
Dr John MacInnes and Dr Alan Bruford).
