Carmichael, Alexander

Alexander Carmichael (1832 1912) was born in Lismore, off the coast of Argyll, and was educated at Greenock Academy and in Edinburgh. As a civil servant with the Customs and Excise ministry, his work took him to Skye, Uist, and Oban, where Gaelic still dominated during the mid-nineteenth century. He collaborated with the folklorist John Francis Campbell (1822 1885) in his folklore collection and made his own large collection between 1855 and 1899, in particular from 1865 until 1882, while the family lived in the Hebrides. His collection consists mainly of Gaelic prayers and invocations, hymns,...