|
|
|
|
|
Alasdair Macmhaighstir AlasdairAlasdair MacMhaighstear Alasdair (c. 1695 - 1770)(also known as Alasdair MacDonald in English) was a Scottish poet. He was the second son of a clergyman, Maighstear Alasdair( Rev. Alexander MacDonald) who was minister for Finnan Island , and cousin to Flora Macdonald. Maighstear Alasdair lived at Dalilea in Moidart and it is here that his son was likely born. There were no schools in the area and so it is thought that the younger Alasdair was educated by his father, who was a Masters graduate of the University of Glasgow, throughout his early years. The Bard is said to have enjoyed a fine grounding in the Classics and this is borne out by his poems. Alasdair followed in the footsteps of the Maighstear and attended the University of Glasgow. He is said to have left prematurely and married young. In 1729 Alasdair is appointed to a school at Finnan Island as a teacher by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and was the catechist of the same parish under the Royal Bounty Commity of the Church of Scotland. His position required him to teach at various locations on the island. In 1738 he worked at Kichoan and next year he found himself at Corryvullin where he composed one of his most famous poems: All an t-Siucar (The Sugar Brook). In 1741 he published a Gaelic/English Vocabulary, a volume of 200 pages, which was the first Scottish Gaelic vocabulary to be published. His whereabouts during the year of 1744 are unkown and saw his son Ranald acting as his substitute for teaching duties. Early in 1745 he was summoned by the Royal Bounty Committee in Edinburgh who were dissatisfied with his respoonse and consequently made further investigations of past conduct which resulted in his dismissal by July of that same year. At that time, however, Alasdair had come to find new interests. Aware of the probably landing of Prince Charles Edward Stuart - the young pretender - Alasdair hastened to welcome his royal kinsman upon his arrival at Loch nan Uamh from Eriskay. When they first met Alasdair did not recognise the prince, who was disguised, and made free with him until a warning glance of a fellow clansman told him of the prominence of the person in his company. Songs penned by Alasdair such as: Oran Nuadh - A new Song, Oran nan Fineachan Gaidhealach - The Song of the Highland Clans and Oran do'n Phrionnsa - A Song to the Prince, serve as testament to the enthusiasm shown by the Jacobites of the Highlands towards the arrival of the Prince as well as the Bards own passion for the event. These poems were sent to Aeneas Macdonald, the brother of Kinloch Moidart, in Paris and were read - in English - to the Prince so as to encourage him to come to Scotland. Therefore Alasdair may have indirectly contribted to the starting of the Forty-Five. He was among the first to find their way to Glenfinnan to witness the raising of the Standard on the 19th of August 1745 which signalled the beginning of the insurrection and he is said to have sung his song of Welcome : Tearlach Mac Sheumais. Afterwards he "Became the Tyrtaeus of the Highland Army" and " The most persuasive of recruiting sergeants". His first commission was a captaincy in the Clan Ranald Regiment where he was placed in command of 50 "cliver fellows" who were recruited by himself in Ardnamurchan and he found amongst his other responsibilities an appointment to teach the Prince Gaelic due to his "skill in the Highland Langage". Alasdair served for the duration of the campaign which ended with the crushing defeat of Culloden and following which both he and his elder brother Angus sheltered for a time amongst the woods and land of their own country. As the search for the Prince intensified it became a necessity for him to take his family into the hills as his house was plundered by the Hanoverian redcoats to such an extent that even the family cat was killed lest it might provide sustenance for his wife and children. After a period of nomadic wandering, during which his wife gave birth to a daughter, the family found shelter among relatives in Glencoc and here they remained until the Idemnity Act of 1747. Curiously he became the Bailie of Canna during the summer of 1749 and remained there with his family until 1751 when he traveled to Edinburgh with the purpose of publishing his volume of poems entitled: Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chnoin Albannaich - The Resurrection of the Ancient Scots Language. "It is", as he says, "very characteristic of his reckless courage that he published these poems, breathing rebellion in every line, and pouring the vials of his wrath upon the whole race of the Georges, five years after the battle at Culloden." The publication caused such outrage amongst the authorities that the unsold copies held by the publisher were seized and burnt at the Cross in Edinburgh by the common hangman. Alasdair expected to be prosecuted and attempted to settle at Bignaig in Glen Uig but had soon fallen foul of the estate management moved again to Inverie in Knoydart. Again he did not remain there long and again moved to Morar and finally to Arisaig; Initially at Camus-na-talmhuinn and then at Sandaig. He frequently traveled to South Uist, where he had a close friend in John MacCodrum, the famed Bard to Sir James MacDonald of Sleat, whom he admired greatly. Alasdair was described as a fine singer,of tall height and broad chest, handsome in feature and fair in hair. Among his attributes were sincerity, honesty, loyalty to his friends and to his own convictions. He "Owed little or nothing either to his predecessors or his contemporaries" in the field of poetry and may be said to rank first among all Bards of the Gaeldom perhaps with only Sorley MacLean of more recent fame as an exception.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|