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Gaelic Literature of the Traditional poetry and song: collectors and collections |
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This page is
best viewed on a desktop or laptop PC TOLMIE, Frances Tolmie was born in Skye in 1840 and died
there in 1926. Her life-long love of
Gaelic lore and song bore fruit in 1911, when her collection of one hundred
and five songs of occupation was published by the Folk-Song Society (Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 16). This collection gained immediate and
well-deserved recognition, but does not in itself fully represent Frances Tolmie’s work. The
collection’s main emphasis is upon the tunes of the songs, and consequently
texts are in many cases much abbreviated.
Material was also contributed by Miss Tolmie to the
published collections of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, but subject to considerable
editing on the part of Mrs.Kennedy-Fraser. Material contributed to Keith Norman
MacDonald’s published collections is presented in the form in which he received
it from her, but he quite often omits to acknowledge his source. Ethel Bassin’s The
Old Songs of Skye: Frances Tolmie and her Circle (Bassin 1977) provides a useful
account of Frances Tolmie’s life and work,
chronicling the long gestation of the 1911 collection and giving an account
of her involvement with Keith Norman MacDonald, Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and
Kenneth MacLeod among others. In
Appendix A (pp.176-184) Miss Bassin lists all of the songs in Frances Tolmie’s 1911 collection in chronological order,
indicating those songs which also appear in Keith Norman MacDonald’s Gesto Collection (MacDonald 1895) and Puirt-a-Beul (MacDonald 1901). In Appendix B (pp.185-192) she lists those
songs which Frances Tolmie gave to Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, giving both
Kennedy-Fraser and Tolmie titles and ascriptions, and indicating those
which also appear in the Gesto
Collection and Puirt-a-Beul. Though Miss Bassin’s work is interesting and useful,
it cannot be said to do full justice to Frances Tolmie’s
work as a collector of Gaelic song. A
considerable amount of space is taken up with reproducing material already
available in print, and it is a matter of regret that the opportunity to
publish previously unpublished material from Miss Tolmie’s MSS has not been more fully used. In the 1980’s I made a preliminary survey
of these MSS in the National Library of Scotland (Acc. 4863), and I found
that they appeared to contain a significant amount of unpublished
material. Appendices A and B of the Old Songs of Skye contain a few
errors and the treatment of two of the printed sources for Miss Tolmie’s work are unsatisfactory. Miss Bassin notes (p. 90) that Frances Tolmie
contributed some traditional material to the MacDonald Collection of Gaelic Poetry (MacDonald and MacDonald 1911),
but does not specify the material concerned.
Her treatment of Miss Tolmie’s connection
with Donald Campbell’s Treatise on the
Language, Poetry and Music of the have not been able to pinpoint
any which I would with confidence ascribe to Miss Tolmie. I thought that it might be useful to list here in a
single alphabetical sequence all those of Miss Tolmie’s
published songs which I have been able to trace, indicating in each case the
printed sources and using the following abbreviations:
Items which are not ascribed to Miss Tolmie in the
publications concerned are marked ‘N.ascr’. My own
ascriptions in some of these cases are tenuous and might be more properly
described as suggestions that Miss Tolmie might
have been the source. The most
reliable authority is of course Miss Tolmie herself. When items in her 1911 collection have also
been contributed by her to Keith Norman MacDonald’s Gesto Collection and Puirt-a-Beul, this is usually indicated in her notes. For material listed below, the titles of the songs
as they appear in Miss Tolmie’s 1911 collection are
used as headings, and those few songs which are not of Skye or Eigg origin
are included. In all the publications,
apart from the MacDonald Collection (MacDonald and MacDonald 1911),
tunes are given, all of these being in staff notation, with the exception of
those in Puirt-a-Beul
(MacDonald 1901), which are
in tonic sol-fa notation. Most items
have English translations, but any reference which I make may be taken to
refer to Gaelic textual material, unless otherwise
indicated. ____________ ‘Ailein, Ailein, ‘s fhad an cadal’ i G.C. App., p. 16. Thirteen verses and a vocable
refrain. N.ascr ii T.C., p. 222. Fifteen verses and a vocable
refrain. Miss Tolmie notes that she is
the source of the G.C. version iii O.S.S.,
p. 45. Reproduction of T.C. version ____________ ‘Ailein Duinn, nach till thu ‘n taobhsa?’ G.C. App., p. 16.
Two verse-couplets and a refrain of mixed vocables
and text. ____________ ‘Ailein Duinn shiìbhlainn leat’ i G.C. App., p. 61. Seven verses and a refrain of mixed vocables and text.
N.ascr ii S.H. 1, pp. 130-133. Entitled ‘Harris Love Lament’. Tune attributed to Frances Tolmie. iii O.S.S., pp. 131-133. One verse and a refrain. Transcribed by Ethel Bassin from Frances Tolmie’s MS. Miss
Bassin indicates that Frances Tolmie is the source of the G.C. version and
discusses the circumstances of Miss Tolmie’s giving of the tune to Marjory Kennedy-Fraser,
whose version (see above) is, in this instance, remarkably close to Miss Tolmie’s. See also
‘Shiùbhlainn, Shiùbhlainn’ . ____________ ‘Air
fàir an là’ T.C., pp. 216-217. Fourteen single-line verses and a vocable refrain.
Attributed to Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh. Otherwise
known as ‘Siuthadaibh, siuthadaibh,
a mhnàthan’.
____________ ‘Alasdair
‘mhic, O-hó’ i
T.C., pp. 257-258. Seven
verse-couplets, to be sung in quatrain continuation form,
and a vocable refrain. From Barra. ii M.C., pp. 40-42. Eighteen couplets, to be sung in quatrain
continuation form and a vocable refrain. Collated from Frances Tolmie’s
Barra version and one other. iii B.G., pp.
212-213. Professor Watson quotes T.C.
and M.C. as his sources. ____________ ‘Am
faca tu ‘n gobha?’ i
G.C. App., p. 23. One verse and
a refrain of vocables and text. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 165-166. Neither Frances Tolmie nor Ethel Bassin
claims Miss Tolmie to be the source of the G.C. version above, but I am
fairly certain that she is. The texts
are almost identical and the tunes are the same, although given in different
times. ____________ ‘An téid thu
bhuain mhaoraich?’ T.C., P. 180.
A nurse’s song. One verse and a
refrain. ____________ ‘Ba-bà mo leanabh’ i P.B., p. 43. A few words and a refrain. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 164-165. Text the same as that in P.B., which Miss
Tolmie notes she contributed. ____________ ‘Bean Mhic a’
Mhaoir’ (1) T.C., p. 205.
A fragment, beginning with ‘Cha b’é ‘n ainnis’. The tune
was used by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser for part of her ‘Sea-Tangle’ (S.H. 2, pp.
56-63). ‘Sea-Tangle’ is a reworking of
the ‘Bean Mhic a’ Mhaoir’ (or ‘A’ Bhean Eudach’) theme. See Ethel Bassin’s discussion of this (Bassin 1977:139-141). ____________ ‘Bean Mhic
a’ Mhaoir’ (2) i P.B., pp. 44-45. Entitled ‘A’ Bhean
Eudach’.
Thirty verses, with two vocable refrains and
two tunes. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 206-207. Text, apart from a few minor variations,
the same as that in P.B., which Miss Tolmie notes she contributed. iii O.S.S., pp. 193-196. Includes P.B. text, and P.B. tunes in staff
notation, as well as the T.C. tune. ____________ ‘Bithidh clann bheag a’ bhaile muigh’ P.B., p. 12.
Three verses. N.ascr. I believe that
Frances Tolmie may be the source.
Compare this version with that in her MSS (NLS Acc. 4863, MS 14904). ____________ ‘Brochan lom, tana lom’ T.C., pp. 192-193.
Two verses and a refrain. ____________ ‘Am Bròn Binn – Aisling Righ Bhreatainn’ i T.C., pp. 251-253. Twenty couplets and a vocable
refrain. ii S.H. 3, pp. 169-181. Entitled ‘The Sea-Quest’ or ‘The Harp
Sorrow (Am Bron Binn)’. Tunes from Frances Tolmie and Annie Johnson
of Barra.
Words collected and collated by Kenneth MacLeod. ____________ ‘Buain na Rainich’ T.C., pp. 178-179.
Two verses and a refrain. ____________ ‘Caoidh an Eich-uisge’ T.C., p. 161.
Two verses. beginning with ‘Och, Ochan ‘s mi dìreadh’. ____________ ‘Caoidh Leannain’ T.C., p. 266.
Four single-line verses and a refrain, ‘Si mo Ghaolach-sa
bh’ann’. ____________ ‘Caoidh Màthar’ i T.C., pp. 204-205. A vocable refrain
and ten single-line verses, beginning with ‘Mhàiri bhàin a bhroillich ghlé ghil’. ii S.H. 2, pp. 182-184. Entitled ‘Caristiona’. Frances Tolmie’s
tune, with words collected by Kenneth MacLeod. ____________ ‘Na caoraich ‘s na gobhair’ T.C., pp. 240-241.
Fragment of a milking song. ____________ ‘Cha dean mise car a chaoidh’ T.C., pp. 266-267.
One verse and a refrain. ____________ ‘Chaidh mis’ dh’ an tràgh’ i G.C. App., p. 22. Twenty-eight lines and a vocable refrain.
Another tune is given on p.16. N.ascr ii P.B., p. 46. Nine lines and a vocable
refrain. Ascribed ‘From the Gesto
Collection’. iii T.C., pp. 210-211. Two lines and a vocable
refrain. Two tunes. Miss Tolmie notes that she contributed the
words and both tunes to G.C., ____________ ‘Chaidh na fir a Sgathabhaig’ i G.C. App., p. 21. Four couplets and a vocable
refrain. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 221-222. Four couplets and a vocable
refrain. Miss Tolmie notes that she
contributed the G.C., version. iii F.T.H., pp. 74-75. Text same as in T.C., tune same, but value
of notes has been doubled. Ascribed to
both Frances Tolmie and Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. iv O.S.S., p. 13. Reproduction of T.C. version. ____________ ‘Chall ò rò hì’ T.C., p. 200.
Eight lines and a vocable refrain. ____________ ‘Cha ‘n fhaigh duine Màigean’ i P.B., p. 40. Two verses.
N.ascr ii F.T.H., p. 24. Text same as that in P.B., apart from one
minor variation. Ascription: ‘Air and
words from Skye’. Ethel Bassin states
that this song, which she refers to as ‘For a child’, is from Frances Tolmie
(Bassin 1977:82). ____________ ‘ ‘Chraobh an iubhair’ T.C., p. 231.
Five lines and a refrain. ____________ ‘Ciod é ‘ghaoil’ i T.C., pp. 188-189. Three lines and a refrain. ii S.H. 1, p. 74. Text same as in T.C.; same tune, but in a
different key and without the grace notes. ____________ ‘Clò nan Gillean’ i T.C., p. 223. Three line-verses and a refrain. ii S.H. 1, pp. xxiv-xv. Noted by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser from
Frances Tolmie. Apart from the
omission of part of the refrain and an orthographic variation, the text is
the same as in T.C. The tune shows several variations. ____________ ‘Coisich a rùin’ i T.C., pp. 211-213. Twenty-seven line-verses and a refrain. ii G.C. App., p. 56. Tune only. ____________ ‘Colann gun Cheann’ i T.C., pp. 186-187. One verse. ii O.S.S., pp. 57-58. Reproduction of T.C. version. See individual
entry for ‘Is fada
bhuam fhìn bonn Beinn Edra’. ____________ ‘Comhairl’ Oisein dha ‘Mhàthair’ i L.F., pp. 198-199. Entitled ‘Ossian’s Song to his
Mother’. Includes part of Frances Tolmie’s version, obtained by J. F. Campbell through Miss
Emily MacLeod of MacLeod. ii G.C. App., p. 21. Entitled ‘Oisein ri
Mhàthair’.
Nineteen lines and a vocable refrain. N.ascr iii T.C., pp. 249-250. One couplet with vocable
refrain. Miss
Tolmie notes that she contributed the G.C. version. iv O.S.S., pp. 51-52. Reproduction of the T.C. version. ____________ ‘Cò ni bhùirich’ i G.C. App., p. 19. Entitled ‘ ii T.C., pp. 241-242. Neither Frances Tolmie nor Ethel Bassin
claims the G.C. version to be from Miss Tolmie, but it is so close to the
T.C. version that I believe Miss Tolmie to be the source. ____________ ‘Crodh Chailein’ T.C., pp. 243-244.
Two verses, noted from Isabel Cameron of ____________ ‘An Crònan’ i T.L.P.M., App. p.2. N.ascr. Tune
only. See reference to this in
introductory essay above. ii T.C., pp. 263-264. Version of Màiri
Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’s song. ____________ ‘An Cù Bàn’ i P.B., p. 40. Entitled ‘Ho-an O-an, ars’
an Cù Bàn’. Three lines and a refrain. N.ascr.
Ethel Bassin claims that this version is from Frances Tolmie,
but there are some textual variations. ii T.C., p. 173. Three lines and a refrain. ____________ ‘An Cùbhrachan’ T.C., p. 167.
Five verses. ____________ ‘Cumha an Eich-uisge’ i G.C. App., p. 20. Entitled ‘ ii T.C., pp. 162-163. Four verses and a vocable
refrain. Frances Tolmie notes that she
contributed the G.C. version. iii S.H. 1, pp. 94-97. G.C. is acknowledged as the source. iv O.S.S., pp. 36-37. Reproduction of T.C. version. See also individual entry for ‘A Mhór, a Mhór, till ri d’ mhacan’. ____________ ‘Cumha Bantraich’ T.C., p. 214.
Vocable refrain and one line, ‘O! gur h-é mis’ tha air mo leònadh’ ____________ ‘Cumha Bhràithrean’ i T.C., p. 202. Fifteen couplets and a vocable
refrain. ii M.C., pp. 172-173. Unascribed, but
very close to the T.C. version iii O.S.S., pp. 55-56. Reproduction of T.C. version. See also individual
entry for ‘Cumha Peathar’. ____________ ‘Cumha
Dhiarmaid’ i
G.C. App., P. 26. Twenty-three
lines and a vocable refrain. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 248-249. One couplet and a vocable
refrain. Miss Tolmie notes that she
contributed the G.C. version. See also individual entry for ‘Laoidh Dhiarmaid’. ____________ ‘Cumha Mhic Gille-Chalum a b’òige’ i G.C. App., p. 17. Ten couplets, to be sung in quatrain
continuation form, and a vocable
refrain. N.ascr ii O.S.S., p. 44. Reproduction of the G.C. version, which
Ethel Bassin identifies as having been contributed by Frances Tolmie. See entry
for Nighean Mhic Ghille
Chaluim in section for poetry and song of known authorship. ____________ ‘Cumha
Mhic-Leòid’ i
G.C. App., p. 52. Three stanzas
of Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’s
lament for Sir Norman MacLeod of Bernera. ii T.C., pp. 198-199. Four stanzas noted from Roderick MacLeod of
Bracadale in 1862. iii M.C., pp.
150-151. Nine stanzas, noted by Miss
Tolmie from Màiri Bheag Nigh’n Domh’ll ‘ic Ruairidh of Ebost, Skye in 1861. iv S.H. 2, p. xx. Tune only.
N.ascr. Ethel Bassin says Miss
Tolmie is the source (Bassin
1977:188). v O.S.S., pp. 33-34. Reproduction of T.C. version. Miss Bassin notes that this version also
appears in G.C. (Bassin 1977:179). ____________ ‘Cumha Sheathain’ T.C., pp. 207-210.
Two versions: the first, with one couplet and a vocable
refrain, from Skye; the second, with twenty-five couplets and a vocable refrain, from South Uist. See also individual
entry for ‘Seathan
Mac Rìgh Eireann’. ____________ ‘Dean
Cadalan’ T.C., p. 168. Fragment of a cradle song. ____________ ‘Dh’
fhalbh an Triùir Mhaighdinnean’ T.C., pp. 183-184. Two versions: the first with one couplet
and the second with four. ____________ ‘Dhomhnuill, a Dhomhnuill’ T.C., p. 192. Fragment of a port-a-beul. ____________ ‘Eile na hùraibh o-ho’ i
T.C., p. 237. Thirteen lines
and a vocable refrain. ii S.H. 2, p. xxii. Tune only. iii O.S.S., pp.
87-88. Reproduction of T.C. version. ____________ ‘Eóghann Bàn’ i
T.C., p. 190. One verse and a
refrain of mixed vocables and text. ii M.S.H., p. 30. Song entitled ‘Till I return’ uses Frances Tolmie’s tune for ‘Eóghann Bàn’ (Bassin
1977:192). For another version of
‘Eóghann Bàn’ see the Hugh MacKinnon
Collection. ____________ ‘Fac thu na féidh’ T.C., pp. 180-181. A short children’s song. ____________ ‘Fàill ill o-ho-ro’ i
T.C., pp. 267-268. Two verses
and a refrain of text and vocables. ii S.H. 2, pp. 42-44. Entitled ‘The iii O.S.S., p.
32. Reproduction of T.C. version. ____________ ‘Fear
Bhàlai’ i
G.C. App., p. 22. Entitled ‘An raoir chunna
mi ‘n aisling’.
Ten verses and a vocable refrain. N.ascr ii T.C., p. 255. One verse, with the refrain slightly
different from that in G.C. Frances
Tolmie notes that she contributed the G.C. version. ____________ ‘Fuaim an Taibh’ T.C., pp. 262-263.
One stanza of Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’s poem. ____________ ‘Gaol nam Ban’ T.C., p. 189.
Two verses of a dialogue song between a husband and wife. ____________ ‘Goiridh an coileachan uair roimh là’ T.C., pp. 232-233.
A matchmaking song. See
individual entry. ____________ ‘Griogal Cridhe’ i
G.C. App., p. 25. Seven
quatrains and a refrain of mixed vocables and text. N.ascr ii T.C., pp. 196-197. Six quatrains and a refrain of mixed vocables and text. Frances Tolmie notes that she
contributed the G.C. version. ____________ See
also: Frances Tolmie II (H –
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A-C D-Domhnall Domhnallach-Dz E–G H–L M–MacA MacB–MacC MacD MacE-MacK, MacLa-MacLeod MacLeòid A-H MacLeòid I-Z MacM-MacN MacO-MacZ M N O-Q R-Z Annie Arnott An Cabairneach Carmina Gadelica
Catriona
Dhùghlas Tormod Domhnallach Marjory Kennedy-Fraser Angus Lamont K. N. MacDonald Johan MacInnes Hugh MacKinnon Calum I. MacLean Sorley MacLean Kenneth MacLeod Niall MacLeòid Màiri
Nighean Alasdair Cairistiona
Mhàrtainn Alexander Morison Kenneth Morrison Angus Nicolson Portree
HS Magazine Lachlann
Robertson Frances Tolmie I Frances Tolmie II Somhairle
MacGill-Eain The New Poetry Books
etc: A-L Books etc: MacA-MacL Books etc: MacM-Z Periodicals, MSS, AV |
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© Sabhal Mòr Ostaig 2018