Ainsley Hamill is a Scottish singer and songwriter from the village of

Cardross Cardross () is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical county of Dunbartonshire but th ...

, who performs traditional songs in English, Scots, and Gaelic. She studied music at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

, where she obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Scottish Music, with Gaelic Song as her principal study. She was tutored by

Kenna Campbell Kenna Campbell () (born 21 July 1937) is a Scottish singer, teacher, tradition bearer and advocate for Gaelic language, culture and song. Biography Campbell was born on 21 July 1937 at Greepe, near Roag on the Isle of Skye, into a Crofting ...

and

Màiri MacInnes Mairi MacInnes is a Scotland, Scottish folk singer who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic. Early life MacInnes was born in South Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Gaelic was the exclusive language at home, and she learned Englis ...

. Ainsley won the Silver Pendant at The

Royal National Mòd The Royal National Mòd () is an Eisteddfod-inspired international Celtic festival focusing upon Scottish Gaelic literature, traditional music, and culture which is held annually in Scotland. It is the largest of several major Scottish Mòd ...

held in Paisley in October 2013. She has competed in a number of Mòd competitions and made it to the final of the

An Comunn Gàidhealach An Comunn Gàidhealach (; literally "The Gaelic Association"), commonly known as An Comunn, is a Scottish organisation that supports and promotes the Scottish Gaelic language and Scottish Gaelic culture and history at local, national and intern ...

Gold Medal competition in 2014, and 2015. Ainsley was also a

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician The BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition has run annually since 2001. It exists to encourage young musicians to keep their tradition alive and to provide performance opportunities, tools and advice to help contestants make ...

finalist in 2014/15, and nominated for Gaelic Singer of the Year at the 2015

MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and ...

Discography

With Barluath * ''Source'' (2012) * ''At Dawn of Day'' (2015) Solo * ''Belle of the Ball'' (EP, 2019) * ''Not Just Ship Land'' (2021) * ''Fable'' (2025)

References

External links

Official website
Scottish folk singers 21st-century Scottish women singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Scotland-musician-stub