THE SHOCKING news that Gaelic singer Ishbel MacAskill has died after falling in the kitchen of her home in Inverness has over-shadowed the proposed topics of this Editorial, which I will save for another time.

The 70-year-old singer was not only one of the great voices in Gaelic music, but a thoroughly nice person, and she will be sorely missed. Ishbel always seemed a little bemused by the praise which came her way – I recall Karen Matheson, then in the first flush of international success propelled by Capercaillie’s early chart hit, blurting out to the audience in the Barony Hall in Glasgow that she was overawed to be sharing a stage with Ishbel. Ishbel just shook her head and laughed.

She was a native of the Point area in Lewis, and grew up with the Gaelic tradition of that locality. She was not only a wonderful performer in many different settings – although never better than in unaccompanied song – over the decades, but also a hard-working advocate and ambassador for both Gaelic language and song, and a fine teacher through the Fèisean movement. Acting appearances in the Gaelic soap Machair brought her to a wider audience.

Ishbel MacAskill

She is survived by her husband, Bill, and their children, and we offer our condolences to the family and her many friends. Doubtless many tributes will follow in the coming days as the Gaelic and wider Scottish music community absorbs the news, but her singing ­ both on record and in the memory – will remain as the most meaningful tribute of all.

As I say, other topics can wait for a more propitious moment, but I cannot allow this month’s Editorial to pass without saying a huge thank you to Marcus Wilson, who stands down as the Development Officer at HI-Arts to concentrate on his own web services business for the cultural sector and creative businesses.

For an early example of his work out side of this website, have a look at the new Taigh Chearsabhagh website – and Catherine Turnbull’s article on a North Uist success story in this year of the Scottish Islands.

The new Taigh Chearsabhagh website

Marcus has done many excellent things in his time at HI-Arts, but from a Northings point of view, he is the architect of this new site that we are all enjoying, and we owe him a huge thanks for his work in developing and administering it. Happily, he will still be devoting a bit of time to that work.

Finally, we welcome a new blogger to the Northings community this month, Highland Council’s Events Office, Gerry Reynolds, a man of strong opinions and one we are confident will provide fascinating reading in the coming months.

For a number of reasons, including the amount of administration involved, we have decided to limit the Blogs to invited participants, and have amended our FAQs accordingly. My apologies to those members who have contacted us on that matter, but bear in mind that it is still open to any member to set up a group on a topic of their choice (again, see our FAQs for details).

Kenny Mathieson

Editor