The Cadence of a Song: The Life of Margaret Fay Shaw

Margaret Fay Shaw’s dedication to Hebridean tradition reshaped how Gaelic songs and island life are understood today.

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize.

The first biography of one of the twentieth century's foremost champions of Hebridean culture.

The American-born folklorist and musician Margaret Fay Shaw’s passion for the Hebrides led her to the island of South Uist in 1929 and then to Canna in 1935 as the wife of the eminent folklorist John Lorne Campbell.

Her extraordinary work in documenting and preserving traditional Gaelic songs and customs remains a vital resource for understanding Hebridean music, and the Campbells’ house on Canna is a unique collection of priceless material celebrating the Hebridean world. This vast archive also includes Margarets collection of still and film photography, which capture the essence of island life at a time when old traditions were vanishing.

This book celebrates the legacy and life of a remarkable woman, who herself wrote with such wit and flair of her travels and adventures and which took her from turn of-the-century Pennsylvania to 1920s New York, Paris, Nova Scotia and the Hebrides, where she lived until her death in 2004.

Fiona J. Mackenzie has been named as one of The List's Hot 100 Arts and Culture Contributors in Scotland for 2025.