Canna House Reopens
After nine years of fundraising, planning, and logistically challenging conservation work, Canna House reopened to the public earlier this month. The island home of Gaelic scholars John Lorne Campbell and his American-born wife Margaret Fay Shaw has long been a beloved property of NTSUSA supporters, and we are deeply proud of the role Americans have played in preserving their home, garden, and archive.
Extensive repairs have been made to the building, roof, and windows of the house to withstand the Hebridean weather and protect its important and historic contents, which include an internationally significant archive collection of Gaelic music, folklore, and culture.
With the restoration, the Trust has created an atmosphere that will give visitors a sense that someone has just left the room, with a warm, lived-in feel throughout. Gaelic song and language will fill the air, as audio devices are triggered when visitors move through each room. The couple’s extensive collection of personal items acquired over a lifetime are displayed in an organic and eclectic way, showcasing how the house would have looked in the mid-20th century, not long after World War II, when it would have been full of visitors, such as the author Compton MacKenzie and the artist Winifred Nicholson, coming to spend time with the couple
Among the highlights on view are a dictaphone recording machine, which John used to capture Gaelic speakers in the Western Isles and Cape Breton; Margaret’s favorite Graflex camera used to record a disappearing way of life; and the Book of Pooni, dedicated to their favorite cat.
A Complex Restoration
Emergency repairs commenced at Canna House in 2016, but it was in 2022 that the project really gathered pace as a priority project in the Trust’s ten-year strategic plan. The project was incredibly complex, with:
- More than 1,650 objects cleaned and conserved
- 160 items of furniture conserved
- 140 framed works cleaned and conserved
- More than 50 fixtures and fittings cleaned
- Historic wallpapers and original painted surfaces cleaned in ten rooms, with other lost original wallpapers recreated
- Extensive external fabric conservation repair, focusing on future climate resilience
- Structural repairs, and further structural enhancements were made to accommodate new archive facilities
- Updated services, improved insulation for better energy efficiency, and installation of a conservation heating system to protect collections
- Creation of two dedicated archive storage rooms and a reading room within the house
To accommodate the builders and tradespeople, a temporary contractor village had to be set up, alongside temporary facilities to house and care for the extensive and diverse collections
Canna House and Its Collections
John Lorne Campbell bought the Isle of Canna and neighboring Sanday in 1938, embracing the role of laird and farmer. In partnership with his wife Margaret Fay Show, an accomplished photographer and folklorist, they amassed an extraordinary collection of Gaelic music, folklore, and culture including some 1,500 Gaelic folksongs and 350 folk tales; the first recordings of members of the Mi’kmaq nation; and over 5,000 photographic negatives and 25 reels of film spanning 50 years of Gaelic culture on the islands of Canna, Barra, the Uists, and Mingulay – as well as, of course, the copious paper archives of these noted Gaelic scholars themselves.
In 1981, Campbell gifted Canna to the National Trust for Scotland, along with the couple’s vast library, archives and sound recordings. This project means that the Trust has bespoke facilities on site that will keep the couple’s unique collection safe for years to come. While it was their wish that the archive remained on Canna at the heart of the island and the community, there is much potential for opening up the collection online through digitization.
At this month’s ribbon cutting, Trust Vice President and Gaelic scholar Professor Hugh Cheape said that John and Margaret’s work filled a vital gap in what was known of a disappearing way of life in the Hebrides.
NTSUSA is particularly pleased to share that the Canna House archive will be named for late Trustee Jeannie Campbell Becton, a descendant of Margaret Fay Shaw’s, who left an endowment for the property.
Living History
The Canna community, a growing population that now numbers 22, has been supportive and patient throughout this conservation project. The Trust will continue to work closely with islanders as together plans for the future of the island continue to be developed, including new affordable housing, business space, and tourism initiatives, all aimed at boosting Canna’s resident population to a more stable and sustainable level for the 21st century.
