Margaret Fay Shaw.
Born in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 9 November 1903.
Died in Fort William, Scotland, 11 December 2004.

This autobiography charts life in the Scottish Hebridean Islands so beautifully -- and it completely lacks mawkish sentimentalism. Margaret Fay Shaw, a Pennsylvanian who left her homeland at 16 to study in Glasgow (just after the First World War had concluded) writes in a beautifully direct style about a country she fell in love with decades ago -- Scotland, and the Outer Hebrides in particular.

She has never returned to her homeland. To this day she lives quietly on the Hebridean Isle of Canna, which she and her late husband John Lorne Campbell bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland in 1981 -- the future of this remarkable island will remain safe in their hands. This redoubtable lady reached her 100th birthday last year (2003); her autobiography somehow manages to encapsulate an entire century (and a way of life long gone) in its 150 all-too-brief pages.

It's impossible (and perhaps unfair on the reader) to divulge too many facts from Shaw's writings, but suffice it to say that she writes with remarkable clarity about events from her Pennsylvania childhood (not without its share of tragedy) to the present day. Shaw transports you right back to the time she came to Britain, then traveled to Skye, driven by "a desire to hear real Gaelic songs." With remarkable honesty, she confesses that, in her exploration of Scotland (and the Isles in particular) she was "looking for a way to live my life" -- South Uist was her first love; she spent many contented years with two sisters there.

The simplest pleasures are recounted with stark honesty: meat was scarce in the post-war years, and Shaw tells of a Hebridean delicacy she enjoyed -- the curlew, notably hard to shoot; "there are only twelve curlews in the life of a man' -- she adds, Ôit was the best thing I ever ate." She recounts the disappearance of the ancient "black houses," taighean dubha, their demolition made way for "modern" housing. In other graphic moments, she recounts the scourge of the harbour rats in their Uist croft -- they "came behind the wallpaper to eat the paste" -- Shaw's method of dealing with these rodents defies belief!

I don't want to reveal much more about this fascinating autobiography, other than to say that Shaw takes the reader to the isles of St. Kilda, Mingulay, Barra and even as far as Nova Scotia before she takes you home to Canna, and yet more remarkable anecdotes of her life there. She chronicles her life with her late husband, and the figures who were part of her life, including author Compton Mackenzie, and her Gaelic mentor, The Coddy. If anything, you feel slightly cheated that Shaw didn't flesh out her life story more deeply -- and yet she reveals so much in her sparse, unsentimental prose.

Margaret Fay Shaw has lived a remarkable life, the culmination of which has to be her publication Folksongs & Folklore of South Uist, a magnificent and important collection of songs, ballads, puirt a beul, waulking songs, proverbs and more. Shaw has been a significant photographer and chronicler of Hebridean life -- she was one of the last photographers to visit St Kilda before it was evacuated in 1930, and her words about the islanders during their bleakest final days are starkly moving. Her photographs, taken during these moments in the United Kingdom's history, will be remembered for many years to come.

If you're interested in the recent history of one of the most inaccessible corners of the British Isles, viewed through the insightful eyes of an American woman, this book will fascinate you. Shaw's autobiography is a wonderful testament to a life fulfilled. Highly recommended.

- Rambles
written by Debbie Koritsas
published 24 December 2004