This talk by Corey Gibson, lecturer in 20th-century Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, will address the life and work of the poet, folklorist, radical Hamish Henderson (1919-2002). In particular, it will consider the twin pillars of Henderson’s cultural-political project: the ‘anonymous song poetry of Scotland’ and the ‘comradely solidarity of the anti-Fascist struggle’.

In the spirit of the Our Freedom: Then and Now project marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Henderson’s vision of freedom will be set against other, more insidious visions of freedom – croaks for doom – that emerged from the same ideological conflicts of the middle of the last century. Henderson’s most celebrated song, the anthemic ‘Freedom Come-All-Ye’, will be placed in both this historical context, and in ours, in 2025.