The Man Who Gave Away His Island - 9781780271200

This is the story of a remarkable man and his triumph over adversity, bank managers, and bureaucrats to fulfill his dream. Determined to prevent an island described as the "jewel of the Hebrides" from becoming a rich man’s playground like so many other islands and Highland estates, John Lorne Campbell purchased the Isle of Canna in 1938. While attempting to preserve part of the traditional Gaelic culture and show that efficient farming methods could be compatible with wildlife conservation and sustainability, Campbell spent the next 10 years burdened by debt and often close to despair. The book also covers the 60-year partnership between Campbell and his American wife, the musician and folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw; together they collected and preserved a disappearing Gaelic culture and made a small island the center of an international network of friends and supporters that survives long after their deaths.