Hamish Henderson, An Artist’s Inspiration + Q&A

Artist Charles Nasmyth takes a fresh look at one of Scotland’s literary and musical giants, Hamish Henderson. He explores his inspiration to paint a portrait of Hamish and asks what motivated this complex and sometimes underappreciated character.

Following the film, there will be a short discussion about Hamish – feel free to join in.

Henderson was driven by his experiences in WW2, in which he fought in the desert campaign and later with the Italian partisans. He was respected by officers and troops alike. He was the only British solder fluent enough in Italian to take Italy’s surrender from the head of the Fascist army, General Rodolfo Graziani.                                                                                            

He absorbed the work of socialist intellectuals, such as Antonio Gramsci, whose prison letters he translated. From this he learned to value the culture of ordinary people. Not only the ‘travellers’ of Scotland, as is well known, but also the squaddies he served with, who inspired many of his songs. He was a freedom-fighting internationalist, penning the song, Rivonia, an anthem of the anti-apartheid movement.

He also wrote the ‘Freedom Come a’Ye,’ which has been proposed as a new national anthem for Scotland.

Often celebrated for recording and archiving Scotland’s traditional culture in song, poetry and stories, Hamish was also a poet in his own right. His wartime experiences provided the basis for his Somerset Maugham prize-winning collection, Elegies for the dead in Cyrenaica.

Charles was inspired to paint a portrait of Hamish after meeting his widow, Katzel, and former friends and colleagues.

Later he was connected to film-maker Michael Lloyd, by Edinburgh Arts guru, Richard Demarco. The resulting film includes unique footage of the Libyan battlefields and interviews with key figures in Hamish’s life.

Charles’s interest in Hamish is shared with Perthshire poet, Jim Mackintosh, traditional music professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Fred Freeman, the editor of Lallans magazine, Willie Hershaw, and Hamish’s former colleague and folklore expert Margaret Bennett.

There is music from John Morran and Marc Duff, along with Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre. Hamish himself contributes historic recordings of his songs.

The film ranges widely from Hamish’s Perthshire birthplace and Spital o’Glenshee home to his Edinburgh haunts, including the iconic Sandy Bell’s bar.