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Gaelic Literature of the Traditional poets and
songmakers: MacB - MacC |
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This page is
best viewed on a desktop or laptop PC MACBEATHAIG, Uilleam (16th
or 17th Century) Sources: (1) Rev.
Alex. MacGregor. ‘The (2) William
Matheson (editor). The Songs of John MacCodrum:
Bard to Sir James MacDonald of Sleat. (3) (4) John
MacInnes. ‘The Gaelic Songs of
Mary Macleod’. Scottish Gaelic Studies, 11 (1966-1968), 3-25 The first item listed above would
appear to be the primary printed source for poetry traditionally attributed
to Uilleam MacBeathaig. All three pieces quoted (pp. 20-23): an
epigram beginning ‘ ‘Se sinn fein
a mholamaid’, and two longer poems beginning ‘Cha’n fhéudar beannailt ri luchd nan còmhladh’ and ‘ ‘S ann a gheibhinn mo dhuais’ are connected to one story, which the Rev.
MacGregor relates, concerning a gathering of chiefs at Dunvegan. The MacLeod
of the day was married to a daughter of MacDoanld
of Sleat, and the marriage was unhappy. A prize was offered to the bard present who
could compose the best poem in praise of his master. MacLeod’s wife urged her father’s bard
MacArthur, a.k.a Uilleam MacBeathaig,
to ensure that his poem would praise hers and her father’s descent above all
others, including her husband’s. Dr. John MacInnes, in the course of a
discussion of the vernacular tradition of panegyric in the fourth item listed
above (pp. 17-18), gives a valuable account of this event and of the metrical
structure of the second and third MacBeathaig poems
in the Rev. MacGregor’s article. In the second item listed above
the Rev. William Matheson reproduces in full the verse quoted in the Rev. MacGregor’s article and gives the prose narrative in
abbreviated form. In addition he
discusses the MacArthur and the MacBeathaig aliases; offering a convincing
argument for tradition having in this case confused historical fact. The Domhnall Gorm mentioned in MacBeathaig’s poem, he writes, is evidently Domhnall Gorm
Mor, who died without issue in 1617, and the unhappy MacDonald-MacLeod
marriage of the story was that between him and his first wife Mary, daughter
of Norman MacLeod of Dunvegan.
Although I. F. Grant, in the third item listed, refers to the Rev.
Matheson as her source she ignores his argument as to the true identity of
the principles in the story and repeats the tradition that the marriage in
question was one between a MacLeod chief and a daughter of MacDonald of Sleat. ____________ MACCALMAIN,
Tomas (1907-1984) Tomas MacCalmain, the Rev. T. M. Murchison, was born
in The Rev. Murchison distinguished himself in both his
service to the Church and to the literature and politics of the
Gaidhealtachd. Among his literary
activities one might mention his edition for the Scottish Gaelic Texts
Society of the prose writings of Donald Lamont (1960), his editorship
of An Gaidheal
from 1946 to 1958 and the Gaelic supplement to Life and Work from 1951 to 1980.
His weekly column, ‘Comhradh Cagailte’ in the Stornaway Gazette
ran from 1955 to 1983 under the pseudonym of Domhnall Donn. Before he died he had been working on an
edition of the prose works of the Rev. Kenneth Macleod
which was published posthumously by the SGTS in 1988. (For information on the life and
works of the Rev. T. M. Murchison see: entry in the Companion to Gaelic Scotland (Thomson 1983:206); an article
by Fionnlagh Domhnallach in North 7, 41 (September/October 1980), 18-19) and an obituary in
the Tomas
MacCalmain. ‘Buaidh
air na Famhairean’.
An Gaidheal,
53 (1958), 115-116. This poem won for its composer the
Bardic Crown at the National Mod of 1958 and is
reminiscent of Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress. The poet recalls his boyhood dreams of
heroism which have faded in the mundane realities of adult life, and realises
that there are still enemies to be conquered, particularly the enemies within
himself. There are eighty-two lines,
beginning with ‘An tùs mo là’, arranged in stanzas of varying length and in a
non-traditional metre. ________________ MACCODRUM,
John (1693-1779) John MacCodrum belonged to
North Uist and lived through the upheavals of the Jacobite risings and the subsequent changes in Gaelic
society. When Sir James MacDonald, the eighth Baronet of Sleat, was visiting North Uist
in 1763 he met MacCodrum and appointed him as his
personal bard. In 1764 Sir James
arranged for MacCodrum to visit the Rev. Donald MacQueen of Kilmuir in Skye to
be examined upon his knowledge of Ossianic
lore. It is known that the bard was in
Skye again in 1766, when he visited Allan MacDonald of Kingsburgh
and his wife, Flora MacDonald. (For information on the life and
works of John MacCodrum: see the Rev. William
Matheson’s introduction to the work noted below and the entry by Fred MacAuley in the Companion
to Gaelic Scotland (Thomson
1983:161) William
Matheson (editor). The
Songs of John MacCodrum: Bard to Sir James
MacDonald of Sleat. Of the songs in this collection, the three listed
below have particular relevance to Skye.
All have parallel English translations. i ‘ Thought to have been MacCodrum’s first composition in his official capacity. ii ‘ Song by the bard upon the occasion
of his visit to Kingsburgh. He is said to have been handsomely rewarded
for it. iii ‘Marbhrann do Shir Seumas
MacDhomhnaill’, pp. 150-159 Composed upon the premature death
of his patron in 1766. ___________ MACCRIMMON,
Donald Ban. See MACCRUIMEIN, Domhnall Bàn ____________ MACCRIMMON,
Donald Mor. See MACCRUIMEIN, Domhnall
Mór ____________ MACCRIMMON,
Patrick Mor. See MACCRUIMEIN, Padruig Mór ____________ MACCRUIMEIN,
Domhnall Bàn
(d. 1746) Domhnall Bàn MacCruimein belonged to the family famed as hereditary
pipers to the MacLeods of Dunvegan. He accompanied his chief, Norman MacLeod,
when the latter went to fight on the government side in the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
Domhnall Bàn was killed at the Rout of Moy
in February 1746. A popular lament, with a refrain beginning ‘Cha
till, cha till, cha till Mac Criomainn’, has been
associated with the piper’s departure from Dunvegan and has been believed,
outside the Gaelic oral tradition, to be a genuine traditional
composition. Virginia Blankenhorn, in the article noted below, has demonstrated
convincingly that this popular version of ‘MacCrimmon’s
Lament’ is in fact a nineteenth century composition, almost certainly the
work of the Rev. Norman MacLeod (‘Caraid nan Gaidheal’). V. S. Blankenhorn. ‘Traditional and Bogus
Elements in MacCrimmon’s Lament’. Scottish
Studies, 22 (1978), 45-67. On pp. 53-57 there are some
traditional versions of the lament and of the associated ‘Uamh
an Oir’; none of which are from Skye. To these might be added a fragment of a
traditional Skye version beginning ‘Mo chùl, mo chùl, mo chùl ri ‘m chruinneig’, from the
Rev. Niall Ros (Celtic Monthly, 18:47). ______________ MACCRUIMEIN,
Domhnall Mór (c. 1570-1640) A bloody revenge which Domhnall Mór took for the
death of his brother in Glenelg led to his exile
for several years before he returned to Skye and succeeded to the position of
hereditary piper to MacLeod of Dunvegan in 1620. He died in 1640. ‘ ‘S fada mar
so, ‘s fada mar so’ i Celtic
Monthly, 5 (1896-1897), 129 ii TGSI,
30 (1919-1922), 155-145 There are four couplets, printed
as a single stanza. The first version,
presented by ‘Fionn’, gives the tune in tonic sol-fa notation. The second version occurs in J. G. MacKay’s
article ‘Social Life in Skye from Legend and Story’, TGSI, 30:1-26, 128-174).
Both Fionn and J. G. MacKay relate that Domhnall Mór composed the tune
when a guest at a wedding and afterwards composed the words. I might add that the words of both
versions appear to me to be of later composition than the early seventeenth
century. ____________ MACCRUIMEIN, Padruig Mór
(1595-1670) Seumas MacNeill
has described Pàdruig Mór as the greatest of the MacCrimmon
composers (Thomson 1983:163). He lists several tunes attributed to
Pàdruig Mór and among these is ‘Cumha Ruairidh Mhóir’ (MacLeod of MacLeod’s Lament), composed upon the
death of Ruairidh Mór in 1626, Associated with the tune is a set of verses
beginning ‘Tog orm mo phiob,
‘s theid mi dhachaidh’ which has appeared in print on several
occasions (see below). I think it
extremely unlikely that these verses were composed by Padruig
Mór: their style suggests a date of composition much later than the early
seventeenth century. ‘Tog orm mo phiob, ‘s theid mi dhachaidh’: sources (1) Angus
MacKay. A Collection of Ancient Piobaireachd, or All the other versions listed
below appear to be derived from this one.
Angus MacKay implies that the piper composed both the words and the tune. It is to be noted that there is a
possibility that MacKay was attributing the
composition of ‘Cumha Ruairidh Mór’ to Domhnall Bàn and not Pàdruig Mór MacCruimein. (2) Rev. Norman MacLeod]. ‘Clann-‘ic-Chruimein: Piobairean
Dhunbheagain’.
Cuairtear nan Gleann, 1 (1840-1841), 134-137. Includes (p. 136) the verses from
Angus MacKay’s Collection: textually identical, apart from a slight amendment
in the second line. In his notes there
is a possibility that the Rev. MacLeod is making a distinction between the
composer of the tune and the composer of the words. (3) Alexander
Cameron. History and Traditions of the Alexander Cameron writes that
Pàdruig Mór was the composer of the piobaireachd,
but it is unclear as to whether he believes him to be also the composer of
the words. (4) Alexander MacKenzie. History of the MacLeods. MacKenzie uses Alexander Cameron
as his source for the verses and the introductory remarks. (5) Fionn
(Henry Whyte). ‘Lament for Rory
Mor MacLeod, 1626’. Celtic Monthly, 2 (1893-1894), 51-53. Includes the text of the lament,
with English translation and the tune arranged for singing in tonic sol-fa
notation. Fionn seems to be indicating
in his notes that he believes that the composer of the tune (Pàdruig Mór) was
not necessarily the composer of the words. (6) N.
Ros (Rev. Niall Ros). ‘Ceòl-mór agus Clann Mhic-Cruimein’. Celtic
Monthly, 18 (1910), 26-28, 45-47, 65-67. The Rev. Ros quotes part of the
text of the lament (p. 28). He refers
to Pàdruig Mór as ‘MacCruimein’ when, according to
another authority his father Domhnall Mór was still alive (Thomson 1983:162-163). (7) Coisir a’ Mhòid II: the Mod Collection of Gaelic
Part Songs. The Gaelic text has vocables added and is unattributed. There is an English translation by the Rev.
M. N. Munro. (8) Alexander Nicolson. History of Skye. In his introduction to the text of
the lament Alexander Nicolson does not seem to be implying that Pàdruig Mór
composed the text as well as the tune. (9) Fred. T. MacLeod. The MacCrimmons
of Skye. Fred MacLeod introduces the Gaelic
text (followed by an English translation) with a clear statement: ‘It is
impossible to say by whom and when the following Gaelic verses … were
composed’. (10) J. Carmichael Watson (editor).
Gaelic Songs of Mary MacLeod. J. C. Watson’s introduction to the
text of the lament seems to imply that Pàdruig Mór composed the text, but it
is not certain that it was his intention to make this implication. (11) Discussing Pàdruig Mór, Dr. Grant
writes that he is “said to have” composed the text of the lament. This is surprising, as she quotes Fred. T.
MacLeod’s The MacCrimmons
of Skye as her source. Mr.
MacLeod, as we have seen above, states quite clearly that it is impossible to
say who composed the verses in question. (12) Eoin Domhnallach. ‘Piobairean an Eilein’.
Gairm, 31 (An t-Earrach
1960), 223-227. After discussing Pàdruig Mór’s composition of the piobaireachd,
the writer introduces the text without seeming to imply that it also was
composed by Pàdruig Mór. (13) Francis
Collinson. The Traditional and National Music of Dr. Collinson writes that
tradition ascribes the words as well as the music of the lament to Pàdruig
Mór, but seems to be reserving his own judgement on the matter. ____________ MACCUITHEIN,
Donald. See MACCUITHEIN, Iain. ____________ MACCUITHEIN,
Iain (Early 19th Century) Iain MacCuithein was born in Tote, Trotternish, early in the nineteenth century and died in Kilmuir, Trotternish, about
1835. He has been variously referred
to as Iain MacCuithein (Sinclair
1904: 81-82),
Donald MacCuithein (TGSI,
38:310), Iain Domhnallach (Mac-Talla, 28th January 1893), John MacQueen (MacDonell 1982: 94), and ‘Am Bàrd’
MacGuthain (Gairm, 51:273). (1) Am
Bàrd MacGuthain.
‘ ‘Sann thall ud anns
an earball’.
Gairm, 51 (An Samhradh 1965), 273, 275. This satire appears in the Rev.
Tormod Domhnallach’s article ‘Dioghlum bho Achaidhean na Bàrdachd (1) (Gairm, 51:270-278). The
occasion of the satire was a visit to a badly kept house when the
poet’s fine new suit was ruined. The Rev. Domhnallach writes that according
to local tradition nothing went right for the poet after its composition. There are five quatrains, with a b
a b end rhyme and irregular aicill. (2) ‘C’àit an caidil an nighneag
an nochd?’ i The
Highlander (7th March 1879), p. 6 ii An
t-Oranaiche.
Edited by Gilleasbuig Mac-na-Ceardadh. iii The
Celtic Garland. Edited by
‘Fionn’. iv Mac-Talla (28th January 1893), no pagination. v Mac-Talla
(2nd October 1903), p. 56 In two articles: Scottish
Gaelic Studies 14, Pt. 2 (1986:44-50) and Scottish Gaelic Studies 15 (1988:153-154), I discuss these five
versions of the song. My argument is
that the first and third versions, whose source was Niall MacLeòid, and the fourth version,
from Apparently Iain MacCuithein was in
love with a girl. When she left with her family for The tune has been published in the
Gesto Collection (MacDonald
1895:45) and in several subsequent publications. The metre is in quatrain form, with end
rhyme between lines two and four, and aicill. ____________ |
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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