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Gaelic Literature of the Traditional poets and
songmakers: E – G |
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best viewed on a desktop or laptop PC FERGUSSON,
Fergus. See MACFHEARGHAIS, Fearghus ____________ FERGUSSON,
Finlay. See MACFHEARGHAIS, Fionnlagh ___________ FINLAYSON,
Duncan. See MACFHIONNLAIGH, Donnchadh ____________ FINLAYSON, ____________ FIONNGHAL
NIGHEAN ALASDAIR RUAIDH (17th Century) While the poem noted and discussed below is ascribed
to a gentlewoman of Clann Mhuirich,
both J.C. Watson and the Rev. William Matheson believe that she was probably
the ‘Fionnghal nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’
mentioned by John MacKenzie (1872:20). Certain traditions suggest some kink of
connection with Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, and rather than attempt to draw any conclusions
from the numerous published references which I have found I have listed them
all immediately following the notes to the poem. The first three listed, and which I have
already mentioned above, are the most important in that they bear directly
upon the poem itself. The remainder
are principally concerned with the various traditions suggesting a possible
link with Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh. ‘Cumha do Mac
Leoid, le mnaoi uasail de Chloinn Mhuirich, ‘nuair bha i ‘gamharc
bhar mullach beinne ann an
Troternis air an luing a bha giulan corp
Mhic Leoid gu ruig na Hearadh, far an robh e gu bhi
air adhlacadh’.
Cochruinneacha Taoghta de Shaothair nam Bard Gaeleach.
Edited by Alexander and Donald Stewart. Duneidin: T. Stiuart, 1804, pp. 396-401. The Rev. William Matheson points
out, in the third reference listed below, that the reference in the last
stanza to the widow of the subject being a daughter of MacDonald of Sleat proves that he was Iain Breac,
XVI of Dunvegan who died in 1693. It is very much a traditional
elegy. The dead chief’s generosity and
hospitality is described and praised, as is his physical appearance, his
proves as a hunter and his bravery. There are thirteen stanzas,
beginning ‘’S mor mo mhulad s mi m’ aonar’. The metre
is cumha,
and Prof. Colm Ó Baoill has pointed out to me that it is similar to the one
used by Sìleas na Ceapaich
in her ‘Laoidh air Bàs a Fir agus
a h-Igne’ (Ó Baoill 1972: 58-63,
238-239). He has also pointed out to
me that the two laments have similar beginnings, and that Sìleas
na Ceapaich, who composed her lament c. 1720, may
have modelled it upon this lament for Iain Breac,
composed c. 1693. References i MacKenzie, John (editor). Sàr-Obair nam Bàrd Gaelach. In a note MacKenzie writes of a
Flora M’Leod, known as ‘Fionaghal Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’, who lived in Trotternish
and whose descendants at the time of writing still lived there. He mentions two of her compositions, a
satire on the Martins and an elegy for MacLeod of Dunvegan. ii Watson,
J. Carmichael (editor). Gaelic Songs of Mary MacLeod. J. C. Watson’s notes on the MacLagan MSS include a discussion of a version of ‘Cumha
do Mac Leoid’ which in the MS is entitle ‘Air Bas MhicLeoid, le Nin Alastair Ruaidh’. H writes that this version is not quite as
good as that in the Stewart Collection,
with which it closely corresponds, but that it contains some correct glosses
on unusual words. He gives the words
of the concluding stanza, which is not found in the Stewart Collection version, and concludes by saying that the poem
is almost certainly that referred to by John MacKenzie (1872: 20). iii Matheson,
William (editor). The Blind Harper :
the Songs of Roderick Morison and his Music. In a note the Rev. Matheson
suggests that the composer of ‘Cumha do Mac Leoid’
in the Stewart Collection belonged
to the Clann Mhuirich by
marriage and that she is probably to be identified with the ‘Fionnghal nighean Alasdair Ruaidh’ mentioned by John MacKenzie, see first reference
listed here. He writes that internal evidence
in the lament suggests that she may have been Florence MacLeod, a widow, who
was in receipt of an annuity chargeable to the MacLeod estate (TGSI, 44:320). iv MacLean,
Magnus. ‘Skye Bards’. v Matheson, William. ‘Notes on Mary MacLeod: (1) Her Family Connections;
(2) Her Forgotten Songs’. TGSI. 41 (1951-1952), 11. vi Domhnallach, Tormod. ‘Dioghlum bho
Achaidhean na Bàrdachd (2)’. Gairm, 52 (Am Foghar 1965), 316. vii Collinson, Francis. The Traditional and National Music of viii MacKinnon, Donald, and Morrison,
Alick. The MacLeods:
the Genealogy of a Clan. Section
3. ix Tocher, 27
(Winter 1977-1978), 150-151. ____________ FIONNLASAN,
Donnchadh (1897 – 1966) From Ord. These songs were among those written down by
Uisdean MacCoinnich, a
schoolmaster of Ord, a few years before the poet
died. For a Biographical notice of
this poet, see Tuil: Anthology of 20th Century Scottish Gaelic
Verse (Black 1999: 750). i Donnchadh Fionnlasan, ‘ Appears to have been written
during WW2. Ten four-line stanzas, beginning ‘Gur e
sinn tha air ar pianadh …’. Reprinted, with parallel English
translation in Tuil: Anthology of 20th Century Scottish
Gaelic Verse (Black 1999:
220-223). ii Donnchadh Fionnlasan. ‘A
ghràidh ghil as binne guth’. Gairm, 133 (An Foghar 1988), 323-324 A love song of eight four-line
verses and a refrain. iii Donnchadh Fionnlasan. ‘Deoch-slàinte luchd nan camanan’. Gairm, 145 (An Geamhradh 1988-89), 221-223 A song
celebrating the Bernisdale team’s prowess at shinty. Ten
four-line verses and a refrain. ____________ FLEIDSEAR,
Aonghas (1896 – c. 1983) Aonghas Fleidsear was born
in Uig in Skye in 1896 and like his father, was a
blacksmith. He fought in the First
World War. He lived in Skeabost and died c. 1983. His obituary in in
Tocher,
38 (Spring 1983), 73. Aonghas Fleidsear, agus Iain
MacNeacail. Orain Aonghais agus An Sgiobair. Deasaichte le Catriona
NicGumaraid. Dundéagh:
Catriona NicGumaraid, 1980. 47 d. ‘Orain Aonghais’ The fifteen songs by Aonghais are a good example of the village bard genre of
Gaelic poetry. Here we find reflected
the events and personalities of the community in which he lived, described
with a gentle humour. However, this
gentle humour is absent in ‘Oran Dotair Green’ (pp.
24-25) about an absentee landlord.
Perhaps the most memorable of Aonghais’
songs is ‘Old Folks Party’ which describes in an amusing and touching way the
moment when he had to face the fact that he was no longer as young as he used
to be. Aonghas uses a variety of
traditional metres, and frequently with considerable skill. Nine of his songs are in strophic or
strophic-type metres. Three are amhran or cumha, and
there is one example each of quatrain, limerick and waulking
song metres. ‘Orain an Sgiobair’ Of An Sgiobair’s
fourteen songs, six are love songs, including a memorable one ‘Bidh mi cuimhneachadh ‘s ag ionndrainn’
(p. 42): a graceful tribute to the girls left behind when he went to fight in
the war. The war features again in ‘ He uses strophic, quatrain and amhran / cumha metrical
forms. He is Perhaps
less skilled than Aonghas in
his handling of metrical forms and more restricted in his range of topics. Orain Aonghais agus an Sgiobair is accompanied by a audiocassette recording of both poets singing their
songs. ____________ FLETCHER,
Angus. See FLEIDSEAR, Aonghas ____________ GILLEASBUIG
AOTROM (19th Century) Gilleasbuig Aotrom, Gilleasbuig MacMhathain, was a
well known personality in early nineteenth-century Skye, one of the class of people referred to sometimes in Gaelic as ‘Na h-Amadain’ or in English as ‘Wise Fools’. The following fragments of verse may appear
to be slight in themselves, although amusing; but they have interest and value as part of the
corpus of community lore and as part of the lore and legend attached to a
colourful and interesting character. (1) ‘Fear a’ Choire’ i The Gesto Collection of ii Puirt-a-Beul – Mouth
Tunes. Collected and arranged by
Keith Norman MacDonald. iii Orain an Eilein:
Gaelic Songs of Skye. Cairistìona Mhàrtainn.
Taigh na Teud: An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, 2001,
p. 104. Fear a’ Choire,
MacKinnon of Corry, was a favourite butt of Gilleasbuig’s
mischievous wit. This song is in strathspey time.
In the Gesto Collection the
tune is given in staff notation along with one four-line stanza beginning ‘U bhi il, Fear a’ Choire. Puirt-a-Beul gives the Gesto Collection version, with the tune in tonic sol-fa notation,
and six lines of an alternative version.
Puirt-a-Beul also has two stanzas and the refrain
of what K. N. MacDonald believed to be a parody on Gilleasbuig Aotrom’s song.
Version four is from Seonag NicLeòid. (2) ‘ ‘Nuair a theid thu do ‘n chùbaid’ i Clàrsach
an Doire. Niall MacLeòid. 6th edition. Glaschu: Gairm, 1975, p. 231 ii The Men of Skye. Roderick MacCowan. iii Guth na Bliadhna, 16 (1919), 74 iv Skye
: Iochdar-Trotternish and District. William
MacKenzie. The Rev. Mr. Souter, Minister of Diurinish, was another of Gilleasbuig’s
frequent ‘victims’. In these lines he
pokes fun at the minister’s less than perfect Gaelic. The first version has eight lines
and first appeared in the 1893 edition of Clàrsach
an Doire. The second version has
fourteen lines, beginning ‘Bith an
saoghal na bhutarras’. The third version is printed as four long
lines. The fourth version has eight
lines. (3) Gilleasbuig
Aotrom. ‘O, a shaoghail
shalaich’. Stornaway Gazette (7th October 1972), p. 3. Four lines
composed when Gilleasbuig was visiting two elderly maiden sisters who lived
at Cnoc na Gaoithe in Portree. From a
manuscript compiled by the Rev. Roderick MacCowan and published in the Rev.
T. M. Murchison’s ‘Còmhradh Cagailte’
column. ____________ GILLE CALUIM
GARBH MAC GHILLE CHALUIM (obit. C. 1596) The composer of the poem noted below was probably
the third chief of the MacLeods of Raasay, who died
c. 1596, although W. J. Watson has in Bàrdachd
Ghaidhlig gives the date of the composer’s
death as being c. 1616. There has been
some confusion about the succession of the early chiefs of the MacLeods of Raasay, a confusion which has been discussed
by Richard Sharpe in his Raasay: a
Study in ‘Shaoghail, is diombuan do mhùirn’ i Reliquiae Celticae. Alexander
Cameron. Edited by Alexander MacBain and the Rev. John Kennedy. Vol. 2.
ii Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig. Edited by William J. Watson. 2nd edition. iii The Fernaig Manuscript.
Edited by Malcolm MacFarlane.
The first version is a
transcription from the 1688 Fernaig MS, and is
cited by W. J. Watson as his source for the second version, which he has
entitled ‘Na trì làmha bu phailte’. The third version is Malcolm MacFarlane’s transcription from the Fernaig was
composed in old age and combines with simplicity and effect a
meditation upon the impermanence of the world with praise for the generosity
of three dead chiefs. W. J. Watson identifies the metre
of the first of the five stanzas as deibhidhe. The
metre of the remaining stanzas resembles the Middle Irish rannaigheacht bec mór. Prof. Colm
Ó Baoill has discussed the use of this metre in various seventeenth and
eighteenth-century poems (Ó
Baoill 1972: 240-241). ____________ GILLIES,
Alastair (1808-1880) Father Alastair Gillies (Alexander Gillis) came from
Sunart in Argyllshire. He came to Eigg as parish priest in 1842
and died there in 1880. His memory
survived long in Eigg and in Canna, which he also served. (Information from Canon Alexander MacWilliam of Aboyne, and from
J. L. Campbell’s Canna (Campbell 1984:226.257) ). Alastair
Gillies. ‘Latha
nan Tri-Righrean’.
Mac-Talla (17th
March 1899), p. 264. A poem of sixty lines, beginning
‘Air dhuinn bhi là ‘sa bheinn
sheilg’, in which the story of the Three Kings is
told in the style of Ossianic balladry. It is impossible to say whether Fr. Gillies
was the author of the poem, or whether he had collected it from another
source. A note heading the version in
the Carmichael-Watson MSS, and reproduced with slight adaptation in Mac-Talla, indicates that it was found
among Fr. Gillies’ papers after his death.
Indeed, John MacKechnie has speculated upon a possible connection with
Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (Mackechnie 1973: 464), who was
for a time Baillie of Canna and whose son Ronald became tacksman
of Laig in Eigg. The manuscript version to which I
have referred above is in MS no. 61 of the Carmichael-Watson MSS in the
library of the MacKechnie’s Catalogue of Gaelic Manuscripts (Mackechnie 1973:464). ____________ GILLIES, Archibald. See MACGILL-IOSA, Gilleasbuig ____________ GILLIES,
Donald. See MACGHILL-IOSA, Domhnall ____________ GILLIES,
John. See MACGHILL-IOSA, Iain ____________ GORDAN, Niall
(present
day ) Born and brought up in Dingwall and Muir of Ord.
Niall Gòrdan has long been Interested in the poetry
of Skye, both traditional and modern and this interest has Inspired his own
work as a poet. He and his wife Sadie
have settled in Skye where he works as a translator and continues to compose
poetry in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. He and Sadie also form the Biorachan Beag Céilidh Band. The
collection of his poetry noted below includes a number of poems related to
both Skye and Raasay. Niall’s websites are at http://www.spanglefish.com/niallgordan and www.biorachan-beag.co.uk . Niall Gòrdan. Eadar Baile is Beann. Dual-language poems in Gaelic and
English with a foreword by Maoilios Caimbeul, who writes that
Niall is between being
“a traditional local poet and a lyrical modern poet”. ____________ GORDAN, Uisdean (20th Century?) This poet was from Lonfearn
in Staffin. Uisdean Gòrdan. ‘ An amusing song about misfortune
in ____________ GORDON,
Hugh. See GORDAN, Uisdean. ____________ GORMAN, Rody. See: The New Poetry ____________ GRANND,
Domhnall (1903-1970) Domhnall Grannd was born in Camuscross,
in Sleat, Skye and had a distinguished career in
education. In his youth he was a noted
shinty player and throughout his life he served on
numerous bodies concerned with Gaelic language and culture and achieved
considerable success as a Gaelic poet, playwright and prose writer. He died in As far as style and metrics are concerned it would
appear that the influences on Domhnall Grannd’s
literary output are predominantly non-Gaelic.
However, taken on their own terms, there is considerable enjoyment to
be had from his poems, particularly the comic ones. (1) Domhnall
Grannd. Tìr an Aigh. Glaschu: Gairm, 1971. 243d;
dealbh. This selection from the poetry and prose writings of
Domhnall Grannd was published as a posthumous tribute. The following are the poems therein: i ‘Cò leis an dìoghaltas?’, pp.
212-216 This poem relates the
Romeo-and-Juliet romance between an invading Norseman and a Skye girl and has
a suggestion of a tongue-in-cheek attitude on the part of the poet. There are thirty quatrains in a ballad
metre, beginning with
‘Long nan Lochlannach air sàl’. ii ‘Turus Samhraidh’, pp.
216-223 Poignant description of an exile’s
return to the iii ‘Turus Chnoideirt’, pp.
224-228 An amusing account of a camping
trip. There are thirty-three four-line
stanzas, beginning with ‘Thug Iain coir an uiridh dhomh’. The metre
loosely resembles the strophic form. iv ‘An Uile-bheist
is na Foghlumaich’,
pp. 229-239 A hilarious send-up of the Loch
Ness Monster phenomenon which won for the poet the Bardic
Crown at the National Mod of 1935.
There are thirty-seven eight-line stanzas, beginning with ‘An éisd sibh tacan
ri mo sgeul’. The metre bears some resemblance to the cumha form, but is closer to that of some
popular English language ballads. v ‘Comhfhurtachd’, pp.
239-241 A poem whose serious philosophical
message tends to be obscured by its epigrammatic style and highly-wrought
metre. Each stanza has six
double-stressed lines, with a dense system of aicill and end rhyme with linkage between
each stanza forming a regular pattern of sound and rhythm. vi ‘Luinneag’, pp. 241-242 A short love poem with some echoes
of dánta grá. Four quatrains, beginning with ‘Có their rium le faclan faoin’, with variable
stress and end rhyme. vii ‘Abou ‘ (2) Domhnall
Grannd. ‘An Laoidh Bheurla, 197-‘, Life and Work: Na Duilleagan
Gàidhlig (1934: Aireamh 12), 7. A religious poem of five
quatrains, beginning with ‘Tha anail
bhlath an Spioraid Naoimh’. (3) Domhnall
Grannd. ‘Dà
Naidheachd agus Fonn’. Sruth (6th March 1969), p. 2 A witty poem, but with serious
intent. A look at several then-current
topics from around the world. Two
four-line stanzas and a refrain. (4) Domhnall
Grannd. ‘Rannan
do Chalum is Frangag air dhaibh a bhith leth-cheud Bliadhna pòsda’. Sruth (26th June 1969), p. 2 ____________ GRANT,
Donald. See GRANND, Domhnall. ____________ |
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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