Campbell, John Francis

Campbell, John Francis, of Islay (1822-1885), Gaelic scholar, was born on the 29th of December 1822, heir to the beautiful Isle of Islay, on the west coast of Argyllshire. Of this inheritance he never became possessed, as the estate had to be sold by his father, and he began life under greatly changed conditions. Educated at Eton and at Edinburgh University, he occupied at various times several minor government posts. His leisure was largely employed in collecting, translating and editing the folklore of the western Highlands, taken down from the lips of the natives. The results of his investigations were published in four volumes under the title Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860-1862), and form a most important contribution to the subject, the necessary precursor to the subsequent Gaelic revival in Great Britain. Campbell was also devoted to geology and other scientific pursuits, and he invented the sunshine recorder, used in most of the British meteorological stations. He died at Cannes on the 17th of February 1885.