Isabella Margaret MacAskill (née MacIver, 14 March 1941 – 31 March 2011) was a heritage activist and

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

singer and teacher, often referred to as the "Gaelic

diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

Early life

She was born in Loanhead, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 14 March 1941, and adopted by the weaver and

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

seaman Allan MacIver and his wife Christina MacIver; both were natives of Broker, Isle of Lewis. When she was 12, she moved with her family to

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...

, the Island's capital, where she attended the

Nicolson Institute The Nicolson Institute ( Gaelic: ''Àrd-sgoil MhicNeacail'') in Stornoway, is the largest school in the Western Isles, Scotland. The Nicolson is the only six-year secondary school in Lewis. With the Sir E. Scott School in Harris, they provide ...

. She moved to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

for secretarial studies at

Stow College Stow College was a college in Glasgow in Scotland. History The college was named after David Stow, whose primary teaching seminary was founded close to the college at Dundasvale. Stow was the first purpose-built Further Education college in Gl ...

and worked for

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

before marrying Bill MacAskill, a native of Lochinver, Sutherland, in 1964. For the following 15 years she concentrated on raising their four children.

Career

It was not until the age of 38 that MacAskill first sang in public, at a fringe event at the 1979 National Mòd. Musician and producer Noel Eadie heard her perform, which led to the first of her several albums. With the encouragement of her husband, before long she was appearing in concerts and festivals worldwide, and became a regular at the

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

festival in Glasgow and the

Celtic Colours Celtic Colours International Festival is a Celtic music festival held annually in October in communities on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. First held in 1997, the festival has featured musicians from the Celtic world and attracted visi ...

Festival in

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. In 1999 she featured as a guest artist on

Transatlantic Sessions Transatlantic Sessions is the collective title for a series of musical productions by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films Ltd, funded by- and produced for BBC Scotland, BBC Four and RTÉ of Ireland. The productions comprise collaborative live performan ...

2. In 2003 she represented Scotland at the

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and appeared at the World Festival of Island Cultures in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In May and June 2006, she toured Australia leading workshops and concerts in Gaelic song in part as the guest of the Australian Gaelic Singers leading a Gaelic Song Masterclass and two concerts in Sydney.

Television

She appeared on the ''

'' television series, and also played the part of the shop assistant Nora in the popular 1990s Gaelic language soap opera ''

Machair A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwest coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harris an ...

'' on

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

Death

She died on 31 March 2011, aged 70, after a fall in the kitchen of her home in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. A memorial concert was held in Inverness on 16 June 2011. Her husband Bill MacAskill died, aged 81, on 31 October 2011, 7 months to the day after Ishbel.

Solo discography

* ''Essentially Ishbel'' (2000) Essentially Ishbel CD Cover Notes Track Listing: # "An Teid thu Leam a Mhairi (Will you go with me Mary?)" # "An Innis Aigh (The Happy Isle)" # "Waulking Set" # "Canan nan Gaidheal (The Language of the Gael)" # "Piobaireachd Dhomhnuill Dhuibh (Pibroch of Black Donald)" # "Soraidh Leis an Ait (Farewell to the place where I was raised)" # "An Ataireachd Ard. (The Eternal Surge of the Sea)" # "Mor a'Cheannaich" # "Bidh Clann Ulaidh air do Bhanais (The Clan of Ulster will be at your Wedding)" # "Fair and Tender Ladies" # "Griogal Cridhe(darling Gregor)" # "Puirt a Beul (Mouth Music)" # "Nighean nan Geug (Rarest of Maidens)"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacAskill, Ishbel 1941 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Scottish women singers Scottish Gaelic singers Scottish television actresses People from the Isle of Lewis Scottish folk singers People educated at the Nicolson Institute People from Midlothian