Celtic and Scottish Studies Friday Seminars. All are welcome.
Friday January 17, 1310-1430
The Project Room, (Room 1.06, 50 George Square)
Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan, Academy of Sport, University of Edinburgh [Ùisdean MacIllInnein]
Two Alexanders : Macbain and Littlejohn : Gaelic intelligentsia meets philanthropy through shinty in a unique collaboration.
That one of the Gaelic world’s greatest-ever scholars and a significant figure in the world of business and academia should cross paths in Aberdeen in the first decade of the 20th century might not be all that remarkable. Alexander MacBain’s phenomenal scholarly labours constitute one of Gaelic’s greatest personal legacies. However, MacBain’s erudite contribution to the Littlejohn Album, one of Aberdeen University’s most remarkable assets, is rarely, if ever, referred to in his prodigious output. Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan of the Academy of Sport, University of Edinburgh will detail the links between Macbain and Alexander Littlejohn, their collaboration and shared interest which led to the production of the beautiful Littlejohn Album. The serendipity which led to his discovery of a previously unrecorded copy of the Album in 2019 will be explained by Dr MacLennan before depositing it in the National Library of Scotland as part of the Royal Celtic Society’s deposit.
Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan’s family lived for a time virtually on part of the site of the Battle of Inverlochy, where the Society of True Highlanders was formed in 1815. His first language was Gaelic; his first degree at Glasgow University and his subsequent PhD at Aberdeen University, where the Littlejohn Album is now held. He is currently a Professional Fellow in the Academy of Sport, University of Edinburgh and was the first ever Sportswriter in Residence at the National Library of Scotland. In 2015 he was Research Fellow in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures. He broadcasts on sport in Gaelic and, sometimes, English.
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