When Hamish Henderson died in 2002, Edinburgh folk Club commissioned a paper maché bust of the brilliant folklorist and poet to sit in the corner of Sandy Bell's - Hamish's 'unofficial office', a stone's throw from the School of Scottish Studies, which he helped put on the map. A few years later, the National Museum asked for a loan of the bust for their twenty-first century gallery. And ever since then there has been a gap in Bell's, bemoaned by many folk. Now, Penicuik-based artist Jan Miller has obliged by making another bust of Hamish, which will find pride of place in Bell's on Monday, 9 Nov, two days before what would have been his 96th birthday. The 'unveiling' is part of this year's Carrying Stream festival, Edinburgh Folk Club's celebration of the folklorist, poet, songwriter, soldier and activist. The quirky feature of the bust is that the surface is made with pages of Hamish's writing. One of the founders of Edinburgh Folk Club and long-time editor of 'Sandy Bell's Broadsheet' John Barrow, called it 'spookily lifelike'. From Monday, members of the public can see for themselves. Jan Miller also made a smaller bust for Kätzel, Hamish's widow. Kätzel and their daughters Janet and Tina will be present at 8pm on Monday when both artworks will be toasted with hopes that Hamish watches over many more music sessions in Sandy Bell's, the watering hole that became synonymous with the Scottish Folk Revival. This event has been organised in part by the redoutable Eberhard (Paddy) Bort, whose book of essays, poems and interviews about Hamish Anent Hamish Henderson is an excellent and readable introduction to a poet and thinker, still shamefully overlooked by the media and mainstream. (for the uninitiated Sandy Bell's is in Forrest Road Edinburgh)
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