Stornoway music teacher Alma Jamieson has been described as a “force of nature” as tributes flood in after her death.
Mrs Jamieson, née Kerr, died on January 19, 2025, having celebrated her 85th birthday on December 29.
She attended Stornoway Primary before moving on to the Nicolson Institute.
Her son Rodney, known as Cheggs, said she was committed to education and lifelong learning—long before it became a widely recognised concept.
Elder stateswoman of Stornoway
She was also a talented athlete, being crowned Nicolson Institute Sports Champion and competing at college.
Mrs Jamieson trained at Jordanhill College in 1958. Her first teaching post was in the Nicolson primary department in 1960.
Rodney said: “She was thrilled to be asked back as the elder stateswoman and guest of honour almost a year ago to cut the cake at the Nicolson Institute’s 150th anniversary.”
Although Gaelic was not her first language, she wrote and spoke it “almost” fluently.
Her son continued: “When she was in school, it was general policy to select the Nicolson Institute Choir from the rural areas due to their level of Gaelic, and it always irked her – as a townie – that she was not chosen to sing with the school choir at the Mod in 1957.
“It must have given her great satisfaction the following year to become the youngest-ever female Gold Medallist at the 1958 National Mod in Glasgow at that time—winning it at the first time of asking, at the age of 17.”
Asked about her vocal technique, she simply said: “I just sing with the voice the good Lord gave me.”
Mrs Jamieson returned to Lewis after studying and worked as a tutor for the local authority’s music staff and became the council’s music adviser until her retirement.
She continued supply teaching until she was 67.
An island institution
As a teacher, Alma was an island institution.
There were very few schools in the Western Isles that had not benefited from her involvement as a teacher, music specialist, or music adviser.
She even appeared on the educational radio programme Clann Ã’g ri Ceilear with Ted Brocklebank.
Alongside the late Alasdair Barr, she helped run the highly successful Summer Music Schools in the 1990s, where senior students from the Nicolson, Sir E Scott, Lionacleit and Barra schools were brought together—often singing her Uncle John’s award-winning song Thoir dhomh do Lamh as their signature tune.
She also tutored individuals for the national and local Mods, “simply for the joy of seeing them perform”.
There are more than a few Gold Medallists who have Alma to thank for their success.
She sang with the Stornoway and Laxdale Gaelic choirs and conducted the Laxdale Choir.
She also sang in Martin’s Memorial Church choir for 20 years.
A lifelong love of music
In addition to singing, Alma was a skilled instrumentalist.
She was the accompanist in the late Fergie MacDonald’s band when they were both in college. They remained lifelong friends, until his death last year.
She performed with Shetland fiddle player Alan Jamieson, whom she met at a cèilidh, and they went on to form a lifelong musical partnership.
The couple married in 1964, living in Newvalley before moving to East Street from 1972 to 2011.
Alan grew food, while Alma filled the rest of the place with exotic flowers. They also had sheep, hens, Tessa the dog and many cats.
Sea Angling Champion 1967
Their son Douglas was born in 1970, followed by Rodney in 1972.
Family friend the Rev Donald Michael MacInnes, who delivered the eulogy at her funeral, said: “East Street was a house of music, and the boys frequently slept on Saturday nights to the strains of the fiddle and piano, often joined by accordions and other instruments, accompanied by the happy voices and laughter of friends downstairs.
“Rodney and Douglas also remember long, traditional Hebridean summers with Alma—cutting the peats, fishing, and staying in the caravan at Reef.
Alma was also a particularly keen loch fisher and was immensely proud to have been crowned Western Isles Sea Angling Champion in 1967.
Her grandchildren, Hamish and Sandy, were her favourite subjects.
Rev MacInnes continued: “Alma was a force of nature, touching many lives in her 85 years on this earth—not just enriching the local music scene but also enriching people’s lives as someone deeply interested in and cared about her friends.
“An exceptional woman, a wife, mother and daughter.”
Mrs Jamieson was the first child of Murdo and Katie Anne, both now sadly gone, and a big sister to the late Reen.
Our Oban-based reporter, Louise Glen, curates the best local stories every week.
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