BFE Member Awarded Research Incentive Grant from Carnegie Trust

We offer hearty congratulations to 2019 BFE Annual Conference Liaison Frances Wilkins, who was recently awarded a Research Incentive Grant from the Carnegie Trust for a 12 month project. The project commenced in September 2019 and focuses on researching sacred singing in the West Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. The research will primarily involve fieldwork in the region, in particular on the islands of Lewis, Harris, Skye, Raasay, North and South Uist, Benbecula and Barra and in Lochalsh. The aim is to record and analyse current practices, placing them historically and contemporaneously within the respective faith communities and understanding them in their social and cultural contexts.

Frances writes:

 
This research project follows on from extensive research already conducted into singing in evangelicalism among members of coastal communities in North-East Scotland and the Northern Isles. This began in 2005 as the topic of my PhD and resulted in the publication of numerous articles and book chapters, and laterally of the book, Singing the Gospel Along Scotland’s North-East Coast, 1859-2009 as part of the SOAS musicology series (London: Routledge, 2018). Having completed this project, my current aim is to conduct comparative research in North-West Scotland, recording and analysing current practices, placing them historically and contemporaneously within the respective faith communities and understanding them in their social and cultural contexts. The pivotal role of sacred music will be researched, along with the meaning of the music to participants, and its role in the formation of personal and group identity. Religious traditions and fishing and crofting heritage will be explored with particular reference to the construction of a distinctive ’soundscape’, and the musical expression of religious belief through both Gaelic and English language will be researched. As far as possible, examples of sacred singing outside church worship will be documented including singing in the home, the workplace, and the public sphere. The research will primarily involve fieldwork in the region, in particular on the islands of Lewis, Harris, Skye, Raasay, North and South Uist, Benbecula and Barra and in Lochalsh. Fieldwork methodology will include field recordings, interviews, photography, videography and field notes in addition to library and archive-based research within the communities.

 

Congratulations Frances! We look forward to finding out more about this rich and fascinating topic.