Margaret Bennett
Home address:
“Grange of Locherlour”, Ochtertyre, By Crieff, Perthshire, PH7 4JS, ScotlandTelephone:
01764-655-979Mobile:
07786 964 300Website:
www.margaretbennett.co.ukBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
Margaret Bennett was brought up in a family of tradition bearers — Gaelic (from the Isle of Skye) on her mother’s side and Lowland Scots on her father’s. Folklorist, ethnologist and prize-winning author, she is also well known as a singer and broadcaster. Former lecturer at the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh, where the late Hamish Henderson said, “Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland”, she is widely regarded as Scotland’s foremost folklorist. She has published seven books, contributed to over thirty others, and written many articles and reviews. She has recorded several CDs, teaches part-time at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and lectures and sings on both sides of the Atlantic.
About writer's work:
Interested in the many facets of traditional Scottish folk culture, most of her publications have a strong basis in live interviews of tradition bearers. Her best known work includes: Scottish Customs; Emigration to the New World; Traditional medicine and plantlore; Childlore; Wartime memories and songs. Awards.
• Joint first prize winner of the Michaelis-Jena Ratcliff Folklore Prize, Centennial celebration of the International Folklore Congress in London, in June l991 for “a major contribution to the study of folklore in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.” (for the book The Last Stronghold: Scottish Gaelic Traditions of Newfoundland )
• Second runner-up to the Katherine Briggs Prize for Folklore, 1993 (for Scottish Customs from the Cradle to the Grave).
• The Scotch Malt Whisky Society award in January 1994 “for notable service...rendered to the people of Scotland”.
• First prizewinner of the College of Cape Breton Prof. Donald Fergusson Essay Prize ‘for a topic relating to the study of Gaelic traditions’ (for the article, “Gaelic Song in Eastern Canada: Twentieth Century Reflections”) 1995.
• Master Music Maker Award ‘in celebration of a lifetime of musicianship and teaching, North Carolina, USA, 1998.
• The Clio Award for Quebec, Canadian Historical Association/Société historique du Canada, 1999, for the book Oatmeal and the Catechism: Scottish Gaelic Settlers in Quebec
• Katherine Briggs Prize for Folklore, runner-up 1999, for Oatmeal and the Catechism
• Celtic Women International, Toronto, 2003, “Exceptional Celtic Woman” Award, for “Lifelong service to Scottish and Celtic Culture”
• Honorary Life Membership of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA), 2007.
About writer's events and projects:
Theme, ideas and topics are adapted to school projects on emigration or customs or songs for example – workshops on summer schools, RSAMD, Plockton school - and elderly people – reminiscence of traditions and Customs (Other projects 2005- Kinning Park Over Sixties Club resulted in an exhibition at the Ibrox Library and the book of war time memories, “See When You Look Back…”) I do lectures and workshops that target any specific age group or a group of different ages. Visit web site: www.margaretbennett.co.uk for more information on forthcoming events.
Links to other websites:
www.martynbennett.com
">Martyn Bennett Site: www.martynbennett.com
www.rambles.net/bennett_sunnylongago.html
">Margaret’s Music: www.rambles.net/bennett_sunnylongago.html
www.electricscotland.com/familytree/magazine/junjul2005/story29.htm
">Chat with Margaret: www.electricscotland.com/familytree/magazine/junjul2005/story29.htm
www.gaelcast.com/?page_id=57">Interview with Margaret Bennett: www.gaelcast.com/?page_id=57
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
5-8, 9-12, Teens, AdultsBooks written
This book discusses the history and traditions of a community of Scottish Gaels who emigrated from the Isle of Canna and Moidart in the nineteenth century and settled in the Codroy Valley, ...
Introduction written by M Bennett as well as edited by
