John Francis Campbell, William Robertson and the collection of fianaigheacht tales and ballads in nineteenth-century Scotland

In 1870-71, John Francis Campbell toured the Gàidhealtachd in search of singers and reciters who had a repertoire of Fíanaigecht, especially, heroic ballads. During a stay in the island of Mull he met a number of such individuals, most notably the weaver William Robertson who had an extensive selection of texts at his disposal. The paper investigates Campbell’s methodology in eliciting information form Robertson and others and the extent of the material that he became aware of as a result of his tours.