Film and Q&A: Celebrating Jimmy Hutchison

Saturday 5 September

11am

By donation (does not include entry to Verdant Works Museum. Museum tickets can be purchased here)

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Usually found in a small weaving shed just along the Tay in Newburgh, Jimmy Hutchison is a handloom weaver alongside being one of Scotland’s most invaluable tradition bearers, as a bi-lingual Scots and Gaelic singer. This documentary asks how songs shape the life of the person who sings them, through exploring Jimmy’s life and work. 

Originally from the Outer Hebrides, Jimmy has over half a century of experience in the weaving trade. Today, he still uses the handloom on which he first learned his craft.  

For this special screening and Q&A within a Dundee mill, Jimmy will be joined by Erika Douglas, a fellow singer and handloom weaver. Erika first met Jimmy at a singing event in 2003 and has since immersed herself in traditional song. She has learned several of Jimmy’s songs and is also following in his footsteps as a weaver, learning her trade with Jimmy and going on to establish Newburgh Handloom Weavers with Jimmy in 2017.

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Celebrating Jimmy Hutchison was premiered at the Folk Film Festival in Edinburgh, May 2026. This film is part of the Trad Treasures initiative led by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland). It aims to honour and celebrate Scotland’s traditional artists across music, storytelling, dance and crafts. Through recordings, films, artist profiles and archiving, Trad Treasures acknowledges the contribution and commitment of those who have sustained and enriched our traditional arts over many decades. Supported by the generosity of private donors, to whom TRACS give their grateful thanks.

Jimmy Hutchison is a bearer of Scottish traditional song, born in South Uist where he lived until the age of ten. He learned from the great source singers like Jeannie Robertson, Jimmy Mc Beath, Davy Stewart and the Stewarts of Blair. “He sings with a craftmanship and intensity which make the senses tingle“ (Alistair Clark- The Scotsman).

He is also a highly skilled handloom weaver, forming half of Newburgh Handloom Weavers.