Hamish Henderson

In November 1948 a 25th anniversary commemoration for John Maclean was held in Glasgow, One of the organisers of this event, James Scott (Hamish) Henderson had written a song especially for the proceedings – ‘The John Maclean March’. The song was sang that night by a William Noble and one of the speakers on the platform was Helen Crawfurd (1).

Hamish Henderson would go on to write other songs one of which, written for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, ‘The Freedom Come All Ye’ (set to the pipe tune of ‘Bloody Fields of Flanders’) has been championed by many as a new national anthem for Scotland. Henderson a lifelong internationalist did not totally agree with this, seeing his song as belonging to the people of all countries. And many varied nationalities have agreed with him on this point. The song has found itself sung in France, China and in Italy

“Roch the wind in the clear days’ dawin’, Blaws the cloods heelster gowdie ow’r the bay. But there’s mair nor a roch wind blawin’ Through the grest glen o’ the warld the day. It’s a thocht that will gar oor rottans. A’ they rogues that gang gallus fresh and gay. Tak’ the road an’seek ither loanins For their ill ploys tae sport an’ play. Nae mair will the bonnie callants Mairch tae war, when oor braggarts crousely craw Nor wee weans frae pit-heid an’ clachan Mourn the ships sailin’ doon the Broomielaw. Broken families in lands we’ve herriet Will curse Scotland the Brave nae mair, nae mair; Black an’ white, ane til ither mairriet Mak’ the vile barracks o’ their maisters bare.

So come all ye at hame wi’freedom, Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom, In your hoose a’ the bairns o’Adam will find breid, barley bree an’ painted room. When MacLean meets wi’s freens in Springburn A’ the roses an’ geans will turn tae bloom. And a black boy frae yont Nyanga Dings the fell gallows o’ the burghers doon.”

His other songs set to pipe tunes include ‘Ye Banks of Sicily’, ‘Free Mandela’ and ‘Men of Knoydart’, the latter of which is concerned with land rights. Henderson was also an accomplished performer becoming well known within the folk music world.

Hamish Henderson was born on Armistice Day November 11 1919 at Ramleh, Perth Road, Blairgowrie. The war had ended only a year earlier and both his parents had seen service on the Western Front. His mother Janet Jobson Henderson as a nurse and his father as an officer (2). For part of his childhood Hamish lived with his grandmother in a cottage at the Spittal of Glenshee. As a youngster he attended Blairgowrie High School. Henderson’s later political work would be informed firstly by the experience of being cleared from his home in Blairgowrie and his mother’s subsequent years of domestic service in England.

After winning scholarships to Dulwich College in London, Hamish undertook study in German and French with a state scholarship at Downing College, Cambridge University, When in 1937 at only 17 years of age he took part in an exchange programme, Hamish found himself witnessing the early brutality of Nazi Germany and at one point during a trip to the Tiergarten he came face to face with Adolf Hitler. This time would go on to influence his political commitment as an ardent anti-fascist.

The Society of Friends (Quakers) employed him prior to the declaration of war in 1939 as a courier helping to smuggle out Jewish people and political dissidents. When this role was terminated in 1940 he joined the Pioneer Corps (an attempt at enlisting in the Cameron Highlanders was thwarted by bad eyesight) and later became an officer (1941) and interrogator with military intelligence. He served successfully with the 51st Highland Division and other Scottish regiments in the North Africa campaigns. He was only twenty two years of age when involved in the battle of El Alamein. There is a commemorative statue to the 51st Highland Division in the North Inch by the banks of the Tay in Perth.

It was whilst in Africa with Scottish troops that he began to formulate his progressive nationalism, a belief in a Scottish Parliament and a faith in the past and future of the Scottish nation.

“I am definitely proud of being Scots - and incoming people with similar ideas are quite entitled to express it as well.”

From Africa, Hamish Henderson who was now a Captain (1943) was sent to Sicily and Italy to work with the Partisans. It was he that translated and accepted the surrender of Italy from Marshal Graziani (3). Hamish, stuck the actual surrender document in his pocket and retained it throughout his lifetime - he was never asked for it.

Hamish Henderson had folk music in his soul. Whilst a child he would listen to his grand-mother sing Gaelic songs and to passing story-tellers, dancers and travelling people perform their traditional acts. It was these tales, songs and performances that he would later go onto to record and study. More importantly, it was the revival of the folk tradition that would add to the growth of Scottish nationalism. Even whilst studying at Cambridge he began to collect folk songs and folklore.

As a both a songwriter and a poet (writing in English, Gaelic, German and Lowland Scots) Hamish Henderson produced work of internationally acclaimed standard. His 1948 ‘Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenica’ reflected on his time and the morality of that, which occurred during the war in North Africa, gave him literary recognition with the award of a Somerset Maughan Scholarship. This epic poem had been started in the desert and completed during trips to South Uist and Kintyre between 1946 and 1947. Henderson says in his recollections that £10 of the prize money was placed on an outsider at the Grand National which won and doubled his money. With his winnings and the travel stipend from this award Henderson travelled to Italy where he translated the prison letters of the Italian radical and cultural thinker Antonio Gramsci into English. Gramsci’s ideas about political development, hegemony and culture would serve as a major influence in western intellectual and political life. Henderson was an anti-fascist, an internationalist and a socialist. This combination brought him into conflict with the Italian government of the time so that whilst still working on the translation he was expelled from Italy.

Hamish Henderson published a number of books that include ‘Ballads of World War 2’ (1947), ‘Translation of the Prison letters of Antonio Gramsci’ (1974), ‘Alias MacAlias: Writings on Song, Folk and Literature’ (1992), ‘The Obscure Voice’ (1994), ‘The Armstrong Nose: Selected Letters’ (by Alec Finlay, 1996) and ‘Collected Poems and Songs’ (2000). He also collaborated on a number of films, ‘The Tree of Liberty: The Songs of Robert Burns’, and John Berger’s ‘Play me Something’ in which he starred with Tilda Swinton. ‘The Armstrong Letters’ chronicle the enormous correspondence that Henderson had with a myriad of folk from the poet Hugh MacDiarmid, the historian E.P. Thompson through to the Scotsman newspaper.

“You more than any other poet I know, are an instrument through which thousands of others can become articulate...”

E.P. Thompson

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival owes Henderson a vote of thanks for it was he alongside Norman Buchan5 and others that helped to set up the first People’s Ceilidhs (1951-56) that would evolve into the Fringe as it is today.

He was a permanent staff member of the University of Edinburgh between 1955 and 1987 and alongside Calum MacLean, the Gaelic scholar, helped found the School of Scottish Studies. With an American folklorist Alan Lomax[6], Henderson travelled around Scotland recording and transcribing songs and singers for the School. Many of those who made these early recordings would later obtain success during the period of the revival of folk music. One of the people was Jeannie Robertson. In the summer of 1955 he returned to the berry fields of his native Blairgowrie to record the songs of the “tinkler-gypsies”, whom he very much admired for their great oral tradition.

Margaret Thatcher offered Hamish Henderson an OBE as part of the 1984 New Year’s Honours List, which he promptly refused. Probably linked to this refusal, Radio 4 listeners voted him Man of the Year. He was married to Felicity and together they had two daughters Tina and Janet. Hamish Henderson died in Edinburgh on 8 March 2002. The library in Blairgowrie houses a bust of Hamish Henderson.

“Hamish Henderson whose funeral takes place today in Edinburgh, was one of the major figures in Scotland’s social, political and cultural life in the second half of the turbulent 20th century.”

Ken Ferguson - newspaper report

1 Helen Crawfurd (1877-1954) was a major political figure within the Red Clydeside period of political activity. She had been a militant suffragette and was one of the group of women imprisoned in Perth Gaol. Further information about Helen Crawfurd can be found via this link.

2 There is no entry for the father on the birth certificate.

3 One time administrator of Italian territory in Africa. After the fall of Mussolini head of the remaining fascist forces.

4 Before setting off to Italy he first travelled to Dublin to have something of a wild weekend with the author Brendan Behan and his brother Dominic.

5 Norman Buchan was Labour MP for West Renfrewshire. He served 26 years in Parliament and was Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture in 1974. Along with his wife Janey (a MEP) he worked tirelessly for Scottish folk music. In 1950s he founded the Glasgow Folk Club and sponsored the School of Scottish Studies. Roy Jenkins described him as the “the best Minister for the Arts that Britain never had.”

6 Alan Lomax along with his father John had been responsible for the creation of the Library of Congress’ Archive of American Folk song. He had a commission with Colombia Records to record folk and primitive music from around the world. Scotland was to be volume VI.

Hamish Henderson - Ballads of World War 2.