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- * From A. MLean Sinclairs) Gaelic bards.
- wa T7 B
- j„g Vith tìie situM
- OrbiB.
- * Logans " Scottish Gael."
- Kilt
* From maol, bare, bare-headed, tonsured, hummeled ; probably intended for maoisleach, roe, doe. t Stewart's Sketches. Gheibh tu ciad steud stàtach luath, Ciad broc bruail an t-samhraidh, 'S geibh tu ciad raaoilseach* maolmadh, Nach teid'mbuabhall'atnfaoilleach geamhraidh. translation. Thou daughter of the king of the region of light, On that night that thy wedding is on us, If living man am I in Duntulm, I will come bounding to thee with gifts. Thou would'st get one hundred badgers, dwellers of banks, One hundred brown otters, natives of streams ; Thou would'st get one hundred wild beauteous stags, That will not come to the green folds of the high glens. Thou would'st get one hundred swift stately steeds, One hundred rein deer intractable of summer ; And thou would'st get one hundred hummeled red hinds, That will not install in wolf-month of winter. Sir Alexander MacDonald's predecessor and brother, Sir James MacDonald, was also a splendid scholar. He was styled the "Scottish Marcellus," and it is said of him that in extent ol learning and genius he resembled the Admirable Crichton. Gaelic elegies were composed for him by his brother, " An Ciaran Manach," and John MacCodrum, the famous Uist bard. He attained in an eminent degree to a knowledge of mathematics, philosophy, languages, and in every other branch of useful and polite learning. The example of his learning and virtues, his kindly feelings towards his people, and the encouragement and improvements he contemplated for them, would, no doubt, have produced incalculable advantages. His accomplishments could have been understood and appreciated by the gentlemen farmers, who were so well educated that conversations were frequently carried on by them in the Latin language, t He was educated at Eton, travelled on the Continent, and died at Kome on the 26th July, 1766, in his 25th year ; greatly regretted by all who knew him. It may not be out of place here to mention a very fine lament that was composed on the death of one of the MacDonalds of Kingsburgh, Skye, entitled "Cumha do dhuine uasal de Chlann Dòmhnaill." James, first MacDonald of Kingsburgh, was the second son of Donald Gruamach, fourth Mac- Donald of Sleat. He was succeeded by his John, and John by his son Donald. This Donald was known as Domhnall Maclain Mhic Shenmais He was a distinguished warrior, and defeated thà MacLeods in several engagements. Alexander his eldest son, and successor, fought under Moai trose and was killed at the battle of Killiecrankia in 1689. It is to him that the lament is supposed to refer. The song describes his prowess in war and traces his relationship to the chief of thè MacDonalds, to Gilleasbuig (na Ceapaich), Mac Te Ailein Cian Ronald, MacKinnon, Earl of Antrim, &c. It extends to 60 lines of 6 lines in each verse, of which the following is the first stanza*:— Ge socrach a tha 'n leaba so, Gur h-olc a' chulaidh chadail i, 'S a' mhuintir a dh'fhalbh fada bhuainn 'S gach aon neach a bhi togradh oirnn : B' iad fhèin na fir 'bu taitniche, 'S ann aca bha'n deagh ghnaths. B'iad fhèin, &c. CAPTAIN DONALD ROY MACDONALD OF SKYE.
Another poet of Uist extraction was Captain Donald Roy MacDonald, of Knockow, Skye, brother of Captain Hugh MacDonald of Baleshare, North Uist, and a grandson of Sir James MacDonald of Oronsay. I am indebted for the following notes regarding this distinguished Highland warrior and poet to an excellent paper by Mr William MacKenzie of the Crofters Commission, published in the Glasgow Herald, of 16th May, 1878, on the famous MacLean physicians of Skye, who had been hereditary physicians to the MacDonalds for centuries. This Donald Roy MacDonald was wounded in the foot when walking off the Culloden battlefield, and was in consequence much hampered in his movements. He proceeded, however, by land to Loch Torridon, and took a boat to Troternish, in Skye, arriving at the house of the famous Dr. MacLean ol Cuidrach, on the 8th day after the battle. Here the wound was dressed, and the " cripple captain," as we are informed by the " Lyon in mourning," continued in the surgeon's house without any molestation till Sunday, June 29th, when Prince Charlie landed in the ìsle of Skye with Miss Flora MacDonald. " We hear of him afterwards riding the surgeon's horse while carrying out various missions in the interests of the Prince, and finally ,>»r bidding farewell to the Royal fugitive at after waT7B returned to lus old quarters at Portree, ne ft elassicai soholar, and f U-''^retìrement after Culloden, he beguiled during n» . oon,posing Latin verses deal- the w^Sa&n in the Highlands." One of j„g 'Vith tìie situM J wounded IwDonaldinprailio Caloddwo plumbea glande " , JX» In the last verse we have iritato to the assiduity and skill of the doctor I coring the wounded limb, together with a rover BO the beneficent Builder of the universe lo favour his efforts :— Interim curat medicus mederi Sedulus partem mini valneratam Bt peccor coeptis faveat benignus Conditor OrbiB. None of bis effusions in Gaelic have been preserved so far as I am aware, but it is more than likely that he did compose something in his native tongue before he tried such a difficult language as Latin. There is also a beautiful " Ode to Scottish Mnsie" by a MacDonald, better known as " Mathew Bramble," the author of Yimonda, Sic, whose genealogy I have not yet made out, but he deserves mention as his name has long since been, forgotten. Ode to Scottish Music :— What words, my Laura, can express That power unknown, that magic spell Thy lovely native airs possess When warbled from thy lips so well, Such nameless feelings to impart As melt in bliss the raptured heart. No stroke of art their texture bears No cadence wrought with learned skill; And though long worn by rolling years, Yet unimpaired they please us still; While thousand strains of mystic lore Have perished, and are heard no more. Wild as the desert stream they flow, Wand'ring along its mazy bed ; Now scarcely moving, deep and slow, Now in a swifter current led : Andmow along the level lawn With charming murmurs softly drawn. Ah ! what enchanting scenes arise fatàll as thou breath'st the heart-felt strain ! How swift exulting fancy flies O'er all the varied sylvan reign ! And how thy voice, blest maid, can move The rapture and the woe of love ! There on a bank by Flora drest, Where flocks disport beneath the shade, By Tweed's soft murmurs lull'd to rest, A lovely nymph, asleep, is laid : Her shepherd, trembling, all in bliss, Steals, unobserved, a balmy kiss ! Here, by the banks and groves so green, Where Yarrow's waters warbling roll, The love-sick swain, unheard, unseen, Pours to the stream his secret soul: Sings his bright charmer, and, by turns, Despairs, and hopes, and fears, and burns. There, night her silent sable wears, And gloom invests the vaulted skies ; No star amid the void appears. Yet see fair Nelly blushing rise, And lightly stepping, move unseen, To let her panting lover in. But far removed on happier plains, With harps to love for ever strung, Methinks I see the favour'd swains, Who first these deathless measures sung. For sure I ween no courtly wight Those deathless measures could indite. No, from the pastoral cot and shade Thy favourite airs, my Lora, came, By some obscure Corelli made, Or Handel, never known to fame ! And hence their notes from nature warm, Like nature's self, must ever charm. Ye sp'rits of fire for ever gone Soft as your strains, 0 be your sleep ! And if your sacred groves were known, We there should hallow'd vigils keep, Where, Laura, thou shouldst raise the lay, And bear our souls to Heaven away.* In MacLean Sinclair's Glenbard collection there is a lament for young John of Scalpa by his sister, which is either by a MacDonald or MacLeod, probably the former. It consists of 88 lines, eleven verses of eight lines in each verse, of which the following is the Ist stanza:—■ * Logan's " Scottish Gael." " 'Se'n sgeul a fhuair mi 'n dràsta Nach do leig dhomh air chòir : Is iombuaineach na teasaichean A ghrab mi gun bhi falbh ; Cha bu toiseach faochaidh dhomh, Bhi smaointeachadh Iain Og 'Chur's a' chiste chaoil 'am falach Air a sparadh leis an òrd." GILLEASBUIG NA CI0TA1G. * MaoLeod was a surgeon in the army, and wore the Kilt on nis retirement. * He also composed Sir James MacDonald's Salute after ho got better. (archibald macdonald.) The Rev. Archibald MacDonald, Kiltarlity, joint editor of the history of the great Cian Donald, in his excellent work on the Uist hards, published in 1894, gives by far the best account I have met with of his distinguished namesake and fellow-countryman, and I avail myself of his labours in giving a brief description of the author of the famous comic song " An Dotair Leòdach." Archibald MacDonald, better known to his countrymen as "Gille na ciotaig," was horn at Paible, in North Uist, about the middle of the 18th century. He received all the education he possessed at the parochial school of his parish, the only one available in his day. When Sir James MacDonald of Sleat (at the time our poet was a youth), with a number of Uist and Skye gentlemen, was deer stalking in the hills there, they came across a sheiling or airidh where the parents of the bard were lesiding for a few weeks with their cattle and sheep—a very old custom in the Highlands. The good wife, with that warm hospitality so characteristic of the Highlanders, offered them a drink of milk of hei heather-fed cows—" bainne air airidh"—which is well-known to have a peculiar sweetness of its own. Sir James, in his usual affable manner, conversed with her in her native language, asking her about the welfare of her family, &c. She told him that two of her sons were at school at the west side of the island, and that one of them had been born with adefective arm and short, with on ly rudimentary fingers. Sir James asked his name, and when told him that he was baptised Gilleasbuig (Archibald), he remarked " it was a pity they did not call him Coll, so that there would be another Colla Ciotach in the MacDonald cian." Fortunately for our bard, the sound arm was the right one, so that he was able to use it in various ways, and being an expert writer, he was employed by Alexander MacDonald, the bàillidh breac—the speckled factor—a sou of " Alasdair Mac Dhomhnuill," to whom Mac-Codrum had composed an elegy—as clerk while lie held the factorship of the Cian Ronald estate of South Uist. It was on the occasion of this hunting excursion that Sir James got shot in the leg by MacLeod of Tallisker's gun going off by accident, and it was with difficulty that the crofters of North Uist were prevented from laying violent hands upon him, Sir James's robust frame nevm. recovered from the shock of the accident. It yJl then that his kinsman, MacDonald of Vallav « composed the well-known piobaireachd, "Cumha, na coise," for him. ^ Our poet, like all true bards, had an ambition to immortalise his name by publishing his poems and with that intention he started for Inverness' the capital of the Highlands, in order to carry hi* object into effect, but he only got as far as Fort Augustus, where he took ill and died, and he was buried there, The spot where he lies can't now be traced, which is a great pity, as he was considered the cleverest of all the Gaelic comio bards. It is said that while at Fort Augustus he meb with Alexander Stewart, who had been parochial schoolmaster of North Uist—the author of "A. Mhàiri bhòidheach, 's a Mhàiri ghaolach," and that his manuscripts, having fallen into Stewart's hands after MacDonald's death formed the foundation of the volume of Gaelic poems called " Stewart's Collection." Many of his satires and lampoons have been lost, but sufficient have been preserved to stamp him as a first-class Gaelic poet. One of his most amusing songs is his lampoon on the Doctor Leòdach, Dr. MacLeod, of which the following stanzas, to suit the translation, will give an idea of the song to non-Gaelic speaking people:— Thugaibh thugaibh òb òb, An Dotair Leòdach's biodag air, Faicill oirbh an taobh sin thill, Mu'n toir e'n ceann a thiota dhibh. Biodag's an deach an gath-seirg. An crios seilg an luidealaich ; Bha seachd òirlich oirre 'mheirg, 'S gur mairg an rachadh bruideadh dh' i Thugaibh, &c. Bha thu 'na do bhasbair còrr, 'S claidheamh mòr an tarruing ort, An saighdear is mios' aig Righ Deòrsa Chòmhraigeadh e Alasdair. Thugaibh, &c. Claidheamh agus sgàbard dearg, 'S cearbach sud air amadan, 'Ghearradh amhaichean nan sgarbh, A dh' fhàgadh marbh gun anail iad. Thugaibh, &c. Gu'm biodh sud ort air do thaobh, Claidheamh caol's a' ghlioeartaieh; Cha'n'eil faleag'thig o'n tràigh, Nach cuir thu barr nan itean d' i. Thugaibh, &c. Translation by Mr L. MacBean of some of the verses. ' a* -ron 1 at you ! bo, bo, bo ! Take?om* what may become of you, The ©Voter with his dirk may go And take the head of some of you. As fencer bold he used to swing His sword, but made so small a stir, The poorest soldier of the king Would dare to fight with Allaster. At you! &c. Claymore and scabbard bright he vaunts, And clumsily he carries them; He chops the heads of cormorants, And hews and hacks and harries thorn, At you! &c. Brave at his side the sword must be That he must clank and rattle with, And ne'er a bird can come from sea, But he will b >ldly battle with. At you ! &c. The Skye people, the writer concluded, have always "been under the impression that the " Doctair Leòdach " referred to in the above excellent song, was (he famous Dr. Bàn MacLeod of Skye, but I am informed by Mr Alexander Carmiohael, the author of " Or agus Ob"—Hymns, Incantations—that the Dr. MacLeod mentioned in the song was a son of the Rev. Mr MacLeod, of St. Kilda, who had been officiating there for some years, during which time the subject of the song was born there. This, of conrse, gives more point to the sallies of wit and humour displayed by our author, and his ridicule of him as a martial man, even though hedid strutabout in his Highland earb.* MacDenald nick-named him " An Gioban Hirteaoh," as he was such a fop, always parading in full Highland dress, and addresses him as follows—(one of three stanzas) :— ©u seinn mi 'n Gioban Hirteach dhuit, Download 4.23 Mb. Share with your friends:
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