George Henderson (18 February 1866 – 26 June 1912) was a scholar ofScottish Gaelic.
Henderson was born on 18 February 1866 inHeughden,Kiltarlity,Inverness-shire, in Scotland.[1]
He went toRaining's School inInverness, where he was taught byAlexander MacBain, alexicographer of Scottish.[1] He then attended theUniversity of Edinburgh, studying English literature, philosophy and Celtic underDonald MacKinnon.[1] He would engage in fieldwork collecting Gaelic lore inSouth Uist in 1892. He travelled toVienna in 1893 earning a doctorate. On his return in 1896, he studied atJesus College, Oxford, and obtained a BLitt on Scottish Gaelic dialects.[1]
He married Ella, the daughter ofAlexander Carmichael, inIffley near Oxford in May 1901, just before his ordination as aChurch of Scotland minister in June 1901.[1] He served as aChurch of Scotland minister for the parish ofEddrachillis,Sutherland.[1]
Then in 1906, he was appointed lecturer in Celtic at theUniversity of Glasgow, on the recommendation ofKuno Meyer.[1][2] The most notable works during his tenure wereThe Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland (1910), and Survivals in Belief among the Celts (1911).[2]
He had in the interim obtained a collection of Gaelic folksongs and tunes from theIsle of Skye, collected byFrances Tolmie, and these were published by theFolksong Society in 1911.[1] The "Fionn Saga" series he published in theCeltic Review (1904–7) included versions he collected orally fromEriskay, with the assistance ofFather Allan MacDonald whom he had befriended earlier.[2][1]
He was an admirer of the work ofJohn Francis Campbell and after Campbells' death in 1885 Henderson started working on Campbells unfinished bookThe Celtic Dragon Myth, eventually published in 1911.[3] Henderson contributed some translation work, provided an extensively detailed introduction, and completed the editing of the manuscript for its eventual publication.
He died aged 46 inRutherglen on 26 June 1912.[1]
Henderson had a large output of published material, although his work was sometimes inconsistent. His principal works include the following:
He also contributed papers to theTransactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.[2]
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