Mr Hamish Henderson, 1919 - 2002. Honorary Fellow. School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh

Hamish Henderson was a poet, translator and songwriter. He was also a political activist and campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights. This portrait was part of the commission Portraits of Excellence, a series of photographs of academics at the University of Edinburgh by broad daylight. At the time, Henderson was an Honorary Fellow of the University’s School of Scottish Studies. The School was set up in 1951 to collect, preserve, research, and publish material relating to the cultural traditions and folklore of Scotland. Henderson was appointed as one of the School’s first lecturers and research fellows. His work as a song collector was a major catalyst for the Scottish Folk Revival which began in the early 1950s. One of his best-known songs is The Freedom Come-All-Ye (1960). Written in Scots, Henderson dedicated the song to the nuclear disarmament campaigners, ‘the Glasgow Peace Marchers’.

Credit: Edinburgh University Commission; presented by Edinburgh University in 1998