Flora MacNeil, MBE (6 October 1928 – 15 May 2015) was a

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

traditional singer A traditional singer, also known as a source singer, is someone who has learned folk songs in the oral tradition, usually from older people within their community. From around the beginning of the twentieth century, song collectors such as Cecil ...

. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

and

Hamish Henderson (James) Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scotland, Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. Henderson was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk s ...

during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years.

Early life

MacNeil was born in 1928 into a Gaelic-speaking and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family inside her parents' croft at Ledag,

Castlebay Castlebay ( ) is the main village and a community council area on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The village is located on the south coast of the island, and overlooks a bay in the Atlantic Ocean dominated by Kisimul Castl ...

, on the island of

Barra Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...

, which is sometimes called, "the island the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

never reached". There were singers on both sides of the MacNeil family, but the menfolk were often away at sea for long periods, leaving the women to raise the children and tend the croft – while constantly singing to assuage their labours. Her mother was Ann Gillies. Her father, Seumas MacNeil, worked as a fisherman and died when Flora was 14. In these pre-television and pre-radio days, ceilidhs were a regular occurrence on Barra, and from earliest childhood MacNeil later remembered "soaking up" literally hundreds of songs, as if by osmosis. While most of MacNeil's repertoire was learned from her mother, one of Flora's other sources was her mother's cousin, Mary Johnstone. Johnstone's parents had lived locally, but had been evicted during the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulted from Scottish Agricultural R ...

. They had moved first to Bernerary and then to

Mingulay Mingulay () is the second largest of the Bishop's Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Located south of Barra, it is known for an extensive Gaelic oral tradition incorporating folklore, song and stories and its important seabird populations ...

, before their daughter moved back to her ancestral district on

. In later years, Johnstone would regularly visit Flora's mother and often sang at local ceilidhs and, for this reason, Flora's repertoire also included many Gaelic songs from both Benerary and Mingulay. By age four, famously, MacNeil was already tackling the sophisticated Jacobite

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

ry of '' Mo rùn geal òg'' ("My Fair Young Love"), one of the ''Òrain Mòr'', or "Big Songs".

"Traditional songs tended to run in families and I was fortunate that my mother and her family had a great love for the poetry and the music of the old songs. It was natural for them to sing, whatever they were doing at the time or whatever mood they were in. My aunt Mary, in particular, was always ready, at any time I called on her, to drop whatever she was doing, to discuss a song with me, and perhaps, in this way, long forgotten verses would be recollected. So I learned a great many songs at an early age without any conscious effort. As is to be expected on a small island, so many songs deal with the sea, but, of course, many of them may not originally be Barra songs. Nevertheless the old songs were preserved more in the southernmost islands of Barra and
South Uist South Uist (, ; ) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the rest of the Hebrides, is one of the ...
possibly because the
Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
tended to discourage music elsewhere."

Music career

Following her father's death, a 14-year old Flora left school to work in the island's telephone exchange to help provide for her family. In 1949, the Post Office offered her a position in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where she immediately moved. Word of MacNeil's talents as a Gaelic singer had already preceded her and she was embraced by Edinburgh

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

poets and folk song promoters

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

and

Sorley MacLean Sorley MacLean (; 26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996) was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement ...

. With their assistance, she found a public platform in the burgeoning round of Edinburgh ceilidhs and concerts that marked the first stirrings of the

British folk revival The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of folk music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century. It is particu ...

. Sorley MacLean and

also arranged for American musicologist

to meet MacNeil and record her singing. When Lomax first arrived in Scotland in June 1951, he later recalled, "It was in Edinburgh one June night in the house of

, a poet, that Scotland really took hold of me. A blue-eyed girl from the Hebrides was singing." The girl was Flora MacNeil and the song was ''Cairistiona''.

Henderson also invited MacNeil to perform at the 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh. The ceilidh brought

Scottish traditional music Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

to a large public stage for the first time inside Edinburgh's

Oddfellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in London. ...

Hall and continued long afterwards at St. Columba's Church Hall in August 1951. The Scottish

Gàidhealtachd The (; English: ''Gaeldom'') usually refers to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and especially the Scottish Gaelic-speaking culture of the area. The similar Irish language word refers, however, solely to Irish-speaking areas. The ter ...

was represented at by Flora MacNeil, fellow Barra native Calum Johnston, and John Burgess. The music was recorded live at the scene by Alan Lomax. During the Ceilidh, two Scottish Gaelic songs about the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

were performed onstage.

-native Calum Johnston, who was "keen to show his own admiration for hepoet and for the Highlanders who fought for Charlie", delivered a passionate rendition of

Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), legal name Alexander MacDonald, or, in Gaelic Alasdair MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish war poet, satirist, lexicographer, and memoirist. He was born at Dalilea into the Noblesse, Scottish nobili ...

's ''Òran Eile don Phrionnsa'' ("Another Song to the Prince"). Flora MacNeil then performed, '' Mo rùn geal òg'', Christine Ferguson's lament for her husband, William Chisholm of

Strathglass Strathglass is a strath or wide and shallow valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland down which runs the meandering River Glass, Strathglass, River Glass from the point at which it starts at the confluence of the River Affric and Abhainn De ...

, who fell as part of the Jacobite Army while bearing the standard of

Clan Chisholm Clan Chisholm ( ; , ) is a Highland Scottish clan. History Origins According to Alexander Mackenzie (historian), Alexander Mackenzie, the Clan Chisholm is of Normans, Norman and Anglo-Saxons, Saxon origin. Tradition stating that the Chisholms w ...

at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in 1746. Following the performance of several

border ballads Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

and Scottish Traveller songs, Henderson announced that the concert goers were, "due back in the Western Highlands". Flora MacNeil then performed the

Waulking song Waulking songs () are Scottish folk songs, traditionally sung in the Gaelic language by women while fulling (waulking) cloth. This practice involved a group of women, who traditionally prepared cloth, rhythmically beating newly woven tweed or t ...

''Cò siod thall air stràid na h-eala?'' ("Who is That Yonder on the Swan Road?"). MacNeil then performed the Gaelic lament, ''Mo nighean donn bhòidheach'' ("My Lovely Brown-Haired Girl"). Towards the end of the Ceilidh, master of ceremonies

announced that Calum Johnston would be performing Roderick Morison's ''Òran do MhacLeoid Dhunbheagain'' ("A Song to MacLeod of Dunvegan"). The song had been composed as a rebuke to Norman MacLeod, 22nd Chief of

Clan MacLeod Clan MacLeod ( ; ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the MacLeods of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Harris and Dunvegan, known in Gaelic as ' ("seed of Tormod") an ...

, for not fulfilling "the obligations of his office". Instead of patronizing the Bards and holding feasts at

Dunvegan Castle Dunvegan Castle (Caisteal Dhùn Bheagain) is located to the north of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Probably a fortified site from the earlie ...

for his clansmen, the Chief had become an

absentee landlord In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, who "spent his money on foppish clothes". Instead, Morison urged the Chief in vain to emulate his predecessors. Henderson said of the song, "it's one of the great songs in the Gaelic tongue, and the poetic concept in it is very great. The poet says that he left the castle, and he found on the slopes of the mountain the echo of past mirth, the echo of his own singing. And he then has a conversation with the echo about the fate of the House of MacLeod." In a further declaration of the pro-Soviet sympathies of the organizers, Henderson ended the Ceilidh by singing a Scots language tribute, set to the tune of ''

Scotland the Brave "Scotland the Brave" () is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being " Flower of Scotland", and " Scots Wha Hae"). History The tune probably originated in the late 19th c ...

'', to John Maclean, a major figure in the

Red Clydeside Red Clydeside was an era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. It also referred to the area around the city on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley. Red C ...

era, whom the text inaccurately claimed as the ''fiere'', or comrade, of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and the "mate" of

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; ; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German politician and revolutionary socialist. A leader of the far-left wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht was a co-founder of both ...

. Henderson then concluded the Ceilidh by singing what was then Scotland's ''de facto''

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, '' Scots Wha Hae'' by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

. Until 1954, the Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidhs were an annual event. Eventually, however, the fact that Henderson and many other board members and organizers were members of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

caused the Ceilidhs to lose the backing and involvement of all members of both the Labour Party and the Scottish Congress of Trade Unions. In 1975, Peter Kennedy acknowledged MacNeil as the source for each of the 24 Scottish Gaelic songs which appeared in his volume ''Folksongs of Britain and Ireland''. Flora MacNeil recorded two albums, ''Craobh nan Ubhal'' in 1976 (reissued in 1993) and ''Orain Floraidh'' in 2000. While performing in 2000 at the annual Christmas Island Ceilidh in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, MacNeil spread her arms wide and cried, "You are my people!" The hundreds of Canadian-born

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...

in the audience erupted into loud cheers. In 2005, Alan Lomax's recording of the 1951 Ceilidh was released for purchase on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

. This and all of Lomax's other recordings have since been digitized and made available online by the Association for Cultural Equity.

Personal life

In 1955, Flora MacNeil married fellow

native, Alister MacInnes, who worked as a lawyer in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, where the couple raised their five children; Kenneth, Cairistiona, Seumas, Maggie and Donald.

Death and legacy

Flora MacNeil died after a short illness on 15 May 2015, aged 86. Numerous Gaelic

s such as

Karen Matheson Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang l ...

and

Julie Fowlis Julie Fowlis (born 20 June 1979) is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic. Early life Fowlis was born and grew up on North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gàidhealtachd, Gaelic-s ...

have cited MacNeil as an important influence on their careers. Flora's daughter, Maggie MacInnes, is also a Gaelic traditional singer and harpist.

References

External links