John Francis Campbell (Iain Òg Ìle; Young John of Islay) was born on Islay in 1821. His parents were Lady Eleanor Chateris (after whom Port Ellen is named) and Walter Frederick Campbell, who was the MP for Argyll between 1822 and 1832, and again from 1835 until 1841. The Campbell family had owned Islay since 1726 but John would not inherit the island as mounting debts forced his father to sell. Despite this, he retained his connection with the island and continued to be known as Iain Òg Ìle.

Campbell was a lawyer who held several senior public positions: he served as assistant secretary to the General Board of Health and later as a member of Queen Victoria’s household staff.  However. he is chiefly remembered for his work in collecting Gaelic folk tales, which were published in the four-volume bilingual Popular Tales of the West Highlands. This has never been out of print since being first published (1860-1862).

 

The tales are on a variety of themes, from supernatural beings to heroes and warriors—and even traditional music.  The task of collating them—most of which had never previously been written down—cannot be underestimated and required extensive fieldwork and a team of folklorists that included Alexander Carmichael, a noted antiquarian with specialist knowledge of Hebridean folklore and Celtic spirituality. 

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Without Campbell’s impressive work, many of the Gaelic fold tradition may have become lost. It is known that the success of Popular Tales of the West  Highlands inspired Irish folklorist Patrick Kennedy to undertake similar work. Kennedy in turn had significant influence within the Celtic Revival movement.

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Campbell was more than a mere storyteller. He is described by Ulrike Hogg as “a man of means who meant well, and did well”. He was not drawn to Celtic romanticism; instead, his deep appreciation of Gaelic culture stemmed from being around the day-to-day lives of Islay’s Gaelic speakers: crofters, weavers and the like, who often told stories from oral traditions to pass the time. Campbell was a fluent Gaelic speaker at a time when people of his class would be unlikely to speak it, earning him the respect of Gaelic speaking Highlanders. Campbell was as passionate about capturing a fading way of life as much as he was preserving the tales themselves.

 

Campbell also had scientific interests and invented the Sunshine Recorder, since 1879 referred to as the Campbell-Stokes Sunshine recorder. This continues to be used across the world (except, curiously, in the United States) and is largely unchanged. He was also an accomplished artist who produced a number of watercolours of landscapes.

 

The legacy of the young man from Islay is immense. He was a man who excelled in many fields and left subsequent generations with the most comprehensive collection of Gaelic folklore ever compiled.

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A monument to Campbell was erected at Bridgend in 1887. It bears both English and Gaelic inscriptions.