Morag Henriksen describes herself as a Highlander born and bred. Growing up in Lochcarron, where her father was the headmaster of the local school, she developed a life long love of Gaidhlig culture, folk music, singing, story telling and poetry and this informed her later work as a writer.

Early life

Morag MacIver Ross was born in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in the Highlands of Scotland in July 1941. Her father was a strict Free Presbyterian and attended The Free Presbyterian Church in

Lochcarron Lochcarron () is a village, community and civil parish in the Wester Ross area of Highland, Scotland. It has a population of 923. Locality The name Lochcarron is also applied to the collection of small settlements strung out along Loch Carron, ...

. She studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and went on to qualify as a teacher at

Moray House The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood Campus, ...

in 1964. Her first teaching position was held at Drumbrae Primary School. She married Harry Henriksen in 1966.

Career

After their time in Edinburgh, they moved to

Portree Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.W.H. Murray, Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and lies ...

on the Isle of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

in 1967. Morag Henriksen started teaching at

Portree High School Portree High School ( Gaelic: ') is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, Isle of Skye in Scotland. , the school enrols 494 pupils and employs 80 teachers and support staff. The school's catchment area draws from 15 primary sch ...

in 1976 before becoming the head teacher at Uig Primary School, where she taught for ten years. During her time at Uig Primary School, she was integral in developing

shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

in Skye primary schools. As a primary school teacher in the Isle of Skye in 1985, she was selected to put together a collection of 48 songs from every region of Scotland to form the educational musical resource ''Sing Around Scotland'', produced by Ward Lock Educational. The piano arrangements were by Barrie Carson Turner and illustrations by Harry Henriksen. In 1989, she developed ME and retired from teaching in 1994.

Creative practice

Morag Henriksen performed in the first production by the Uiseag Theatre Group in 1999 at Aros, Portree, Isle of Skye. The play, ''Cuimhneachadh Mairi Mhor'' (Remembering Mairi Mhor) told the story of the famous Skye bard

Mairi Mhor nan Oran Mairi or Màiri may refer to: People *Mairi Campbell, Scottish singer and musician *Mairi Cameron, Australian director of music videos and films, winner of Australian Video of the Year in the 2010 J Awards *Mairi Chisholm (1896–1981), Scottish n ...

. Morag Henriksen was the script writer and co-producer along with Sylvia Ladlow. The play was performed again on 20 September 2007 at Aros, Portree, Isle of Skye. The event was part-funded by the

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

which provided an award of £3,600. Henriksen's book ''Scenery of Dreams'' was launched at the Skye Book Festival in 2014. The book includes a collection of stories from her early childhood. Her third book, ''Tapestry of Scenes'', was in the Skye Book Festival in 2016. Henriksen was part of the research for

ATLAS Arts ATLAS Arts is a visual arts organisation dedicated to commissioning contemporary arts, culture, heritage, and education based in the Isle of Skye. It was formed in 2010 and since then has delivered a varied programme of contemporary art including ...

' project Ragadawn and participated in the artist Caroline Bergvall's language station at

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...

in 2017, which became part of the final work performed in August 2018.
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Publications

Books

* ''Sing Around Scotland'' (1985) Ward Lock Educational * ''Tapestry of Scenes'' (2016) Adelaide Independent Reporter * ''Scenery of Dreams'' (2014) Adelaide Independent Reporter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henriksen, Morag Living people 1941 births Scottish women poets People from the Isle of Skye