A world-renowned Gaelic singer has died after an accident at her Highland home.
Ishbel MacAskill stumbled and fell in the kitchen of her house in Inverness in the early hours of the morning.
The 70-year-old’s family paid tribute last night to the “Gaelic Diva” who was central to keeping traditional Scottish music alive for the past 30 years.
She grew up in the Western Isles and met her husband, Bill, 80, in Glasgow.
The couple married at the Free Church of Scotland at Stornoway in 1963.
Her distraught husband, who suffers from severe arthritis and needs 24-hour care, said yesterday: “I was absolutely entranced by her Gaelic singing.
“She had a bubbly personality with an excellent sense of humour. She was a happy person. Her music was the most important thing to her after her family.”
Mrs MacAskill dedicated the early part of her life to bringing up her four children, but she was spotted by a music producer when she performed at the 1979 Royal National Mod when she was 38.
She performed at folk festivals around the world, including Australia, Canada, Korea, Spain, Ukraine and the US.
Her son, Lewis, 43, said: “There was a depth of emotion to mum’s voice. She put her own stamp on songs. She sang unaccompanied and she gave an emotional, slow and haunting delivery. She was known as the Gaelic Diva.
“We are stunned. We can’t quite believe what has happened. We have a lot of musicians in the family and her legacy will live on, but she was a one-off.”
Friend Marrissa Macdonald said: “She had the voice of an angel. I can hardly believe I will never hear her on stage again.
“Her death has silenced her magical voice. People were captivated by her melody.
“Ishbel brought every event she was involved in to life and she leaves a legacy of a whole generation of young Gaelic singers she taught.”
Gaelic activist Alasdair Macleod said: “It is an awful shock. Ishbel had a sparkling personality with a dynamic dimension which drew people to her.
“She was a great ambassador for Gaelic, hugely talented and a very engaging person with wonderful humour.”
The grandmother-of-eight gave up much of her free time to pass on her years of experience to budding musicians at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music and recently joined the campaign to keep the Plockton facility open. Her grandson, Charlie, 14, attends the school.
Centre director Dougie Pincock said: “She was an inspirational singer and her voice will never be forgotten.
“When Ishbel was singing, it was hard to leave the room. She also enjoyed singing other types of music, like the blues and jazz. She was phenomenal. It is going to take a big singer to come along and fill the gap that she has left.”
The singer was also dedicated to the popular Feis movement, which encourages people to celebrate their Gaelic heritage.
Fellow Gaelic singer and Mod gold medallist Arthur Cormack said: “She was blessed with a lovely, warm voice that came from the Gaelic tradition, but which was also quite polished.
“While there is never anything positive about such a loss, singers at least leave a legacy of recordings, television work and, in Ishbel’s case, a trail of young people that benefited from her fabulous talents.”
Her former Feis pupils have also paid tribute to her on Facebook.
There are no funeral plans as the singer wanted her body to be used for medical research but a memorial service will held in Inverness in the next few weeks.