Ainsley Hamill (Scotland)
- Mar 1
- 1 min read
Ainsley Hamill is a singer-songwriter from the West Coast of Scotland whose work merges traditional Gaelic song and Scottish folk with contemporary songwriting and arrangements. Trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she first came to prominence with the folk band Barluath. Her album Not Just Ship Land (2021) was named The Guardian’s Album of the Month, and Fable (2025), inspired by Scottish folklore and myth, was shortlisted for "Album of the Year" at the Scots Trad Music Awards. She has performed at Celtic Connections, Glastonbury, and the Festival Interceltique de Lorient.
Featured Song:
“Dh’èirich Mi Moch Madainn Chèitein” (I Arose Early One May Morning) is a traditional Scottish Gaelic waulking song in praise of Charles Fraser-Mackintosh (1828-1901), a lawyer and politician who championed the Gaelic language in Victorian Britain and fought to have it taught in schools. Hamill pairs it with an original tune, “An Àirigh,” by Alistair Iain Paterson: “I heard news which gladdened me / That the able heroes had risen / To put spirit in the language of the Feinne / Declaring the language of use / In the schools as well as English / Let him be praised to the heavens / By the Gaels wherever he goes.”
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