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Gaelic Literature
of the Traditional Prose: single items |
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This page is best viewed on a
desktop or laptop PC ALASDAIR
MOR. See: MacLeòid,
Iain N. ____________ ‘DAILEACH’. See: The Daileach Collection ____________ DOMHNALLACH,
Eoin (20th
Century) This writer belonged to Kilmuir in Skye. Eòin Domhnallach. ‘Pìobairean an
Eilein’. Gairm, 31 (An t-Earrach 1960), 223-227. This article is mainly
concerned with historical and genealogical information on the MacCrimmon family and to some extent, the MacArthur
family. It also includes some legends
of these famous piping families. There
are two versions of the ‘Silver Chanter’ legend, featuring Pàdruig Mór MacCruimein. A third legend
concerns Pàdruig Mór and his pupil, Teàrlach MacArtuir. Apparently
Pàdruig Mór owed his piping ability to his exclusive knowledge of a magical
tune. One night he was whistling the
tune while tapping out the rhythm on the apparently sleeping Teàrlach’s chest. Teàrlach, in reality awake, learnt the tune and his
master’s piping ability passed to him.
Fred T. MacLeod gives an English language version of this legend,
which he calls ‘The Stolen Tune’ (MacLeod 1933:71-72). A friend of mine, a native of acknowledge
paternity, exclaiming “ ‘S ann leam
a tha thu, ceart dha-rìreadh! “ (You are
mine, right enough!). ____________ DOMHNALLACH,
Iain (20th Century) Iain
Domhnallach. ‘An Balbhan’. Gairm, 33 (Am Foghar 1960),
27-28) Tale of a young Skye
lad who used to act as ghillie to visiting English
sportsmen. Worried by his lack of
English, he borrowed an English dictionary, learnt its contents off by heart
and embarrassed everyone by quoting long, meaningless strings of English
words. Some local lads then tricked
him by arranging for him to go fishing with a visiting Englishman after
assuring each of the pair that the other was dumb. ____________ DOMHNALLACH,
Tormod. See: Tormod
Domhnallach Collection I & II ____________ DOMHNALL
DONN (Rev. T. M. Murchison / T. M. MacCalmain).
See: MACCOMHGHAIN, Ruairidh
____________ DOMHNALL
GORM MOR (d. 1616) Domhnall Gorm Mór, eighth chief of the MacDonalds of Sleat. For verse traditionally attributed to him, see his entry in the
section for poetry and song of known authorship. William
Matheson. ‘The Cliar Sheanchain’. Tocher, 14 (Summer 1974), 235-238. A contest of wit
between Domhnall and a band of Lochaber bards on a visit to Skye. Copied by the Rev. William Matheson from
the MSS of Donald Nicolson, parochial schoolmaster, Kilmuir,
Skye. With translation of verse,
dialogue and notes by the Rev. Matheson. For a brief discussion
of the rise and decline of the Cliar Sheanchain, see ‘Gearradh Cainnte’ by ‘Daileach’ (An Deò-Gréine, 14:75) ____________ GILLEASBUIG
AOTROM. See: The Gilleasbuig Aotrom
Collection ____________ GILLIES,
John (20th Century) John
Gillies. [‘Geasag na h-iasgaireachd’]. Tocher, 19 (Autumn 1975), 116-117. Transcription of a
recording made from the recitation of John Gillies of Raasay by John
MacInnes, on ____________ GRAHAM,
Anne. See: The Anna Ghreum Collection. ____________ GRANND,
Seumas. Seumas Grannd. ‘Carn a’
Ghille’. Gairm, 151 (Samhradh
1990), 236-237. A Skye tale
transcribed from the telling of Murchadh MacLeòid. ____________ MACAOIDH,
____________ MACAONGHAIS,
Iain. See: The Iain MacAonghais
Collection ____________ MACAONGHAIS,
Padruig (19th
/ 20th Century) Padruig MacAonghais. ‘An Té Chrosda’. Celtic
Annual: Yearbook of the Dundee Highland Society, (1916), 67. Tale of the drastic
means taken by a young Skyeman to tame an
ill-tempered wife. ____________ MAC
A’ PHEARSAIN, Coinneach (20th
Century) A native of Kilmuir,
Skye. Coinneach
Mac a’ Phearsain. ‘Dòmhnall Mhogastad agus Seasaidh Bhaile Raghnaill’. Gairm, 31 (An t-Earrach 1960),
210-212. Story of a famous 19th
Century elopement. Both lovers were MacDonalds: Domhnall, of the family of Monkstadt in Skye, and Seasaidh
(Jessie) of the MacDonalds of North Uist. Niall MacLeòid has composed
a lengthy account of the affair which is noted in the
section for non-traditional creative prose.
The Rev. Donald Budge has published an English account (Budge 1961). The affair has also
been celebrated in song. See in the
section for anonymous poetry and song: ‘Fàilte
dhuit, deagh shlàinte leat’; ‘Nuair
fhuair an “Eliza” / Mo Shesie air bòrd’; ‘ ‘S ùr
a’ choill bho ‘n d’ rinn i fàs’. ____________ MAC
A’ PHI, Domhnall. See: The Daileach Collection ____________ MAC
A’ PHI, Aonghas. See: The Aonghas Mac a’ Phi
Collection. ____________ MAC
BHATAIR, Aonghas. Aonghas
Mac Bhatair. ‘An
cuala tu seinn nan ròn’. Gairm, 151 (Samhradh 1990), dd.
266-267. A personal experience
of the seal-woman legend. ____________ MACCOMHGHAIN,
Ruairidh (19th
/ 20th Century) Ruairidh MacCòmhghain, the Rev. Roderick MacCowan, was a native of
Skye and a minister of the Free Church.
He was the author of The Men of
Skye (MacCowan 1902), a
collection of biographical sketches of Skyemen
prominent in the 19th Century Evangelical movement on the island. This book also includes a selection of
Evangelical poetry composed by Skyemen: see entries
for Donald MacDonald
of Earlish and Donald MacInnes of Duirinish in the section for poetry and song of known
authorship. ‘Domhnall
Donn’ (Rev. T. M. Murchison). ‘Còmhradh Cagailte’. Stornaway Gazette (7th October 1972), p. 4. Includes ‘Amadain Ghlice an Eilein Sgitheanaich’ from a manuscript of the Rev. MacCòmhghain, then in the possession of the Rev.
Murchison. There are accounts of four
of Skye’s ‘Wise Fools’: Iain Dubh mac ‘Ic Ailein, Alasdair MacGuirmein,
Gilleasbuig Aotrom and Lachlann na Ciste. These
include some anecdotes which I have not seen in print elsewhere. ____________ MACCOWAN,
Roderick. See:
MACCOMHGHAIN, Ruairidh
____________ MACCUIDHEAN
/ MACCUITHEIN, Domhnall. See: The Domhnall MacCuithein
Collection ____________ MACDONALD,
John. See: Eòin Domhnallach and Iain Domhnallach. ____________ MACDONALD,
Norman (1) A native of Strath
in Skye. Norman
MacDonald. [‘An trosg a dh’ ith an amhag’] Tocher 11 (Autumn 1973), 82-85. Amusing tall story
from Skye, one of a group under the heading ‘Ones They got Away With’. A monstrously large cod swallows a little
terrier bitch. Next year, the
terrier’s owner catches the same cod and upon slitting it open finds his
little terrier and three puppies alive and well! Recorded from Norman MacDonald by John MacInnes
in 1953. Transcribed from For other tall tales,
see the Rev. Tormod
Domhnallach’s ‘Ròlaistean’. ____________ MACDONALD,
Norman (2). See:
DOMHNALLACH, Tormod ____________ MACFHIONGHUINN,
Eoghainn. See: The Hugh MacKinnon Collection ____________ MACGILLEATHAIN,
Calum. See: The Calum I. MacLean
Collection ____________ MACGILLEATHAIN,
Iain. See: MACLEAN,
John ____________ MACGILLEATHAIN,
Niall (19th / 20th
Century) Niall
MacGilleathain.
‘Calum Seòladair’. Celtic
Annual: Yearbook of the Dundee Highland Society, (1916),
97. Story of a Skye sailor
and his encounter with the Devil in human form. Similar to the Rev. Tormod Domhnallach’s stories
in ‘An Droch Spiorad ann an Saobh-chrabhadh nan Gaidheal’. ____________ MACGREGOR,
Alexander (1808-1881) The Rev. Alexander MacGregor was the son
of the Rev. Robert MacGregor, a native of Perthshire. At the early age of twelve he entered
King’s College, of Kilmuir in Skye, and in 1844 Alexander was ordained as
colleague and successor to his father.
After several years in Kilmuir the Rev.
Alexander MacGregor accepted a call to the The Rev. Alexander MacGregor was a
prolific writer in both Gaelic and English.
He contributed the account of Kilmuir to the
New Statistical Account of Scotland, 14 (1845:237-287). At the request of Prince Louis Bonaparte,
he translated the Apocrypha into Gaelic, copies of which are now very rare (MacLean 1915: 6). He contributed numerous essays, tales etc.
to various periodicals, both Gaelic and English. Discussing the Rev. Alexander MacGregor’s prose style, Dr. Donald John MacLeod comments
upon its directness combined with formality, occasionally enlightened with a
striking flight of the imagination (MacLeod 1976:207). When writing, the Rev. Alexander
MacGregor frequently used pseudonyms such as ‘Sgiathanach’ and ‘Alasdair Ruadh’ (Information from two
obituary notices of the Rev. MacGregor in The
Highlander (1:185-186) and Celtic
Magazine (7:92-99).) ‘Sgiathanach’
[Rev. Alexander MacGregor]. ‘Air Seana Chleachd Sgiathanach’. Cuairtear nan Gleann,
3 (1842-1843), 156-158. The custom whereby a
laird was entitled upon the death of a tenant to his best horse is attested
by Martin Martin (Martin 1934:175). The Rev. MacGregor here relates how this
custom was finally banished from Skye when a young man, a MacKinnon, avenged
a bailiff’s attack on his widowed mother when he was a baby. The revenge was a bloody one, involving
beheading the bailiff and washing the severed head in a well. For a similar story, see J. G. MacKay’s ‘An t-Each Ursainn’ in the J. G. MacKay Collection. The subject matter of
this story is traditional, but the Rev. MacGregor’s
style is far from traditional. He
finishes with an earnest homily in which he reminds his readers of the
undesirability of such direct action to counter injustice and with
unconscious irony assures them that such injustice in their own time is now
quite banished. The ‘head in the well’
motif, which is featured in this story, is discussed by Dr. Anne Ross in
‘Severed Heads in Wells: an Aspect of the Well Cult’ (Scottish Studies, 6: 31-48).
On pages 43-46 Dr. Ross cites several incidents of
the motif still current in Skye oral tradition in 1961. Among these is a version of the Rev. MacGregor’s story. ____________ MACINNES,
John. See: The Iain MacAonghais
Collection ____________ MACINNES,
Peter. See:
MACAONGHAIS, Padruig ____________ MACISAAC,
Samuel. See: MACISAAC,
Somhairle ____________ MACISAAC,
Somhairle (20th Century) A native of Canna in the Small Isles. Somhairle
MacIsaac. ‘Canaidh, Eige is Ruma’. Am Measg nan Bodach. Glaschu: An Comunn
Gaidhealach, 1938, dd. 74-81. Mainly concerned with
tales and lore from the writer’s native Canna. ____________ MACKAY,
J. G. See: The J. G. MacKay Collection ____________ MACKINNON,
Hugh. See: The Hugh MacKinnon Collection ____________ MACLEAN,
Calum I. See: The Calum I. MacLean
Collection ____________ MACLEAN,
John (20th Century) A native of Raasay and brother of Sorley
and Calum I. MacLean. John’s version
of ‘Oran Mor Sgoirebreac’ was recorded by Calum and
a transcript published in Tocher 39
(Spring 1985), 104-107. Iain
Mac ‘Illeathain.
‘Ratharsair’. Am Measg nan Bodach. Glaschu: An Comunn
Gaidhealach, 1938, dd. 82-87. This short account of
stories and folklore from Raasay concentrates for the most part on stories
about Calum MacLeòid, nephew of the eighth MacLeod of Raasay. Both uncle and nephew were Jacobite supporters during the Forty-Five. There are numerous references to Calum
MacLeòid, Captain Malcolm MacLeod of Braes, in Alexander Nicolson’s History of Skye (Nicolson 1930). ____________ MACLEAN,
Neil. See:
MACGILLEATHAIN, Niall ____________ MACLEOD,
John N. See: MACLEOID,
Iain N ____________ MACLEOD,
Malcolm. See MACLEOID,
Calum ____________ MACLEOD,
Kenneth. See: The Kenneth MacLeod
Collection ____________ MACLEOD,
Neil. See: The Niall MacLeòid Collection ____________ MACLEOID,
Calum (died c. 1987) A native of Raasay. See also his entry in the
section for Journalism and Miscellaneous prose. i
Calum MacLeòid. ‘Màiri Mhór
nan A few years after the
Second World War Calum MacLeòid met an elderly woman outside Donald Stewart’s
shop in Portree.
In her youth she had known Màiri Mhór and
she related to Calum this tale of the poetess’s encounter
with Donald Stewart when the shopkeeper came off very much the worse! ii Calum
MacLeòid. ‘Doigh
air Leigheas At-amhaich’. Gairm, 142 (An t-Earrach 1988),
170. Tale of an encounter between an
old woman and her doctor in pre-National Health Service time, published
shortly after Calum MacLeòid’s death. ____________ MACLEOID,
Coinneach. See: The Kenneth MacLeod
Collection ____________ MACLEOID,
Iain N (1880-1954) Born and brought up in Skye, Iain N MacLeòid was for
a time a schoolmaster in Bernera. Under the pseudonym ‘Alasdair Mór’ he
contributed a column, ‘Litir a Beàrnaraigh’
to the Stornaway Gazette from 1917 to 1954. A selection of these letters was published
as Litrichean Alasdair Mhóir
(MacLeòid 1932). He edited Bàrdachd
Leòdhais, a collection of Lewis poetry and song
(MacLeòid 1916), and
contributed many articles to Gaelic periodicals. On balance, it could be argued that his
literary interests show a leaning towards Bernera
and Lewis, rather than to his native Skye.
Listed below, and in the section for journalism and miscellaneous
prose, are those of his writings which are of specific Skye
interest. (Information from: MacLeod 1976:212-214; MacLeod
1980:130-131; Thomson 1983: 3) i J. N. M. ‘Seann Sgeul: Mar a dh-Aithicheadh h-Iort’. Guth na Bliadhna, 5 (1908), 58-63. See notes to item listed below. ii Iain
N. MacLeòid (Alasdair Mór). ‘Mèirlich Dhun Bheagain’. Gairm, 111/112
(Samhradh / Foghar 1980),
257-259. This story and the one listed
above are actually two different versions of the same story. Both versions are almost identical as far
as details of plot are concerned.
There is some variation in language, with perhaps the later version
veering a little more towards the colloquial. Two plots are incorporated into
the one tale. The principle one
concerns a servant of MacLeod of Dunvegan who accidentally discovers that
some of his neighbours have been cattle-thieving. The thieves are eventually captured and sent
to St. Kilda. The second plot concerns
a wicked St. Kildan who burns to death all the
other inhabitants of the island, except one old woman. He is captured by the crew of the boat
which brings the cattle-thieves to the
island and is left on a tidal rock to drown. ____________ MACLEOID,
Murchadh. See: GRANND, Seumas ____________ MACLEOID,
Niall. See: The Niall MacLeòid Collection ____________ MACNEACAIL,
Alasdair. See: The Alasdair MacNeacail
Collection ____________ MACPHERSON,
Kenneth. See: MAC A’
PHEARSAIN, Coinneach. ____________ MACPHIE,
Angus. See: The Aonghas Mac a’ Phi
Collection ____________ MACPHIE,
Donald. See: The Daileach Collection ____________ MACQUEEN,
Donald. See: The Domhnall MacCuithein
Collection ____________ MACRAE,
Donald (20th Century) A native of Clach
Ard, Tote, Donald
MacRae. ‘[Lòn an Eireannaich’]. Tocher 9 (Spring 1973), 32-33 Lòn
an Eireannaich is a burn which flows into the ____________ MACRAE,
Hugh. See: The Eoghainn MacRath
Collection ____________ MACRAE,
William (20th Century) A native of Raasay. William
MacRae. [‘A chiad lof a thàinig
go ruige ‘n eilein’]. Tocher 15 (Autumn 1974), 244-245. How the first loaf of
bread came to Raasay. Recorded in 1953
by John MacInnes. Text from ____________ MACRATH,
Eoghainn. See: The Eoghainn MacRath
Collection ____________ NICOLSON,
Angus. See:
MACNEACAIL, Aonghas ____________ ROBERTSON (19th Century) An old man of Eigg. …
Robertson. ‘Geaslanachd na Gealaich’. Carmina
Gadelica. Vol.
3. Edited by James Carmichael
Watson. Relates traditional
beliefs concerning the waning of the moon and the full moon, where the former
is paralleled by a waning of the vitality of nature and the latter by a
resurgence of that vitality. There is
an English translation and notes. ____________ ROS,
Niall (1873-1943) A native of A prominent member of An Comunn
Gaidhealach, he edited that body’s periodical An Gaidheal from 1923 until 1936. He edited for the SGTS Heroic Poetry from the Book of the Dean of Lismore ( Oliver & Boyd, 1939). Upon his death in 1943 several tributes to Niall Ros
in both English and Gaelic were published in An Gaidheal (39:49-52). His nephew, Coinneach Ros, gives a
penetrating analysis of his personality in Aitealan Dlù is Cian (Ros 1972: 21-22). See also entries for Niall Ross in the
sections for poetry and
song of known authorship, journalism and miscellaneous
prose and non-traditional
creative prose. Niall
Ros. ‘An
t-Eilean Sgitheanach’. Am Measg nan Bodach. Glaschu: An Comunn
Gaidhealach, 1938, dd. 67-73. . The Rev. Ros recalls
some of the stories which he heard in his youth in Skye, as well as the seanchaidhean
who told them. ____________ ROSS,
James. See: The Somhairle Thorburn
Collection ____________ ROSS,
Neil. See: ROS, Niall ____________ ‘SGIATHANACH’.
See: MACGREGOR, Alexander ____________ THORBURN,
Samuel. See: The Somhairle Thorburn
Collection ____________ WATSON,
Angus. See: MAC
BHATAIR, Aonghas. ____________ |
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