Sorley MacLean
Encyclopedia
Sorley MacLean (26 October 1911 - 24 November 1996) was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century.
on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language
. He attended the University of Edinburgh
and was an avid shinty
player playing for the university team
. After earning a First class degree, he returned to the Highland and Island community to teach. He was instrumental in preserving the teaching of Gaelic in Scottish schools.
MacLean turned away from the Presbyterian
faith of his community in his early teens. Like many European intellectuals of that day, he moved in sympathy to with the far left
. Much of his work touched on specifically political themes and references, and his position was overtly Stalinist until the mid-1940s, although he was never a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
. He was also a skilled and delicate writer of love poetry.
He served with the British Army
in North Africa
during World War II
and was wounded on three occasions, once severely during the Battle of El Alamein
. He died in 1996.
His work in the field of Gaelic poetry at a time when very few writers of substance were working in Scottish Gaelic at all, has led to his being viewed as the father of the Scottish Gaelic renaissance
. He was involved in the foundation and was a board member of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
on Skye.
His poetry articulated in Gaelic the crimes of the 20th century, and modernised and reinvigorated the language in the process, drawing clear and articulate analogies between such tragedies and acts of cultural genocide
as the 19th century Scottish Highland Clearances
, and the contemporary viciousness and injustice of events in places such as Biafra
and Rwanda
.
Hallaig
, a meditative poem on the desolation associated with the Highland Clearances, forms part of the lyrics of Peter Maxwell-Davies' opera The Jacobite Rising. The poet's own reading of the poem in English and in Gaelic was sampled by Martyn Bennett
for his album Bothy Culture for a track of the same name.
builder Kenneth Cameron of "Cameron and Munro". He had three daughters, in descending order of age, Ishbel, Catriona and Mary. He had six grandchildren, again in descending age order, Somhairle, Aonghas, Calum, Gilleasbuig, Catherine and Donald. His first great-grandchild, Uilleam Ruairidh was born in 2010.
He died on 24 November 1996, aged 85 from natural causes, in Scotland.
Somhairle MacGill-Eain is commemorated in Makars' Court, outside The Writers' Museum, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. Selections for Makars' Court are made by The Writers' Museum; The Saltire Society; The Scottish Poetry Library.
Early life
He was born at Osgaig on the island of RaasayRaasay
Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is most famous for being the birthplace of the poet Sorley MacLean, an important figure in the Scottish literary renaissance...
on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
. He attended the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and was an avid shinty
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
player playing for the university team
University Shinty
Shinty teams which play University Shinty are clubs which play under the banner of a university. However, these clubs are not always student teams in the strictest sense of the word and have a long history of participation at national senior level....
. After earning a First class degree, he returned to the Highland and Island community to teach. He was instrumental in preserving the teaching of Gaelic in Scottish schools.
MacLean turned away from the Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
faith of his community in his early teens. Like many European intellectuals of that day, he moved in sympathy to with the far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
. Much of his work touched on specifically political themes and references, and his position was overtly Stalinist until the mid-1940s, although he was never a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. He was also a skilled and delicate writer of love poetry.
He served with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was wounded on three occasions, once severely during the Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
. He died in 1996.
Poetry
His early poetry was in English, but after writing his first Gaelic poem, An Corra-Ghridheach ("The Heron"), he decided that it was far better than his English work, and resolved to continue using his native language. By the mid-1930s he was well known as a writer in this tongue.His work in the field of Gaelic poetry at a time when very few writers of substance were working in Scottish Gaelic at all, has led to his being viewed as the father of the Scottish Gaelic renaissance
Scottish Gaelic renaissance
The Scottish Gaelic Renaissance is a continuing movement concerning the revival of the Scottish Gaelic language. Although the Scottish Gaelic language had been facing gradual decline in the number of speakers since the late 19th century, the number of young fluent Gaelic speakers is quickly rising...
. He was involved in the foundation and was a board member of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Scottish Gaelic medium college located about north of Armadale on the Sleat peninsula of the island of Skye in northwestern Scotland. It is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands and also has a campus on Islay known as Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle.The college was...
on Skye.
His poetry articulated in Gaelic the crimes of the 20th century, and modernised and reinvigorated the language in the process, drawing clear and articulate analogies between such tragedies and acts of cultural genocide
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide is a term that lawyer Raphael Lemkin proposed in 1933 as a component to genocide. The term was considered in the 1948 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples juxtaposed next to the term ethnocide, but it was removed in the final document, replaced with...
as the 19th century Scottish Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
, and the contemporary viciousness and injustice of events in places such as Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
Hallaig
Hallaig
Hallaig is a poem by Sorley MacLean. It was originally written in Scots Gaelic and has also been translated into both English and Lowland Scots. A recent translation was made by Seamus Heaney, an Irish Nobel Prize winner....
, a meditative poem on the desolation associated with the Highland Clearances, forms part of the lyrics of Peter Maxwell-Davies' opera The Jacobite Rising. The poet's own reading of the poem in English and in Gaelic was sampled by Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett was a Scottish musician who was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
for his album Bothy Culture for a track of the same name.
Later life
He married Catherine (more often known as Renee) Cameron, the daughter of InvernessInverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
builder Kenneth Cameron of "Cameron and Munro". He had three daughters, in descending order of age, Ishbel, Catriona and Mary. He had six grandchildren, again in descending age order, Somhairle, Aonghas, Calum, Gilleasbuig, Catherine and Donald. His first great-grandchild, Uilleam Ruairidh was born in 2010.
He died on 24 November 1996, aged 85 from natural causes, in Scotland.
Somhairle MacGill-Eain is commemorated in Makars' Court, outside The Writers' Museum, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. Selections for Makars' Court are made by The Writers' Museum; The Saltire Society; The Scottish Poetry Library.
Works
- Wood to Ridge (Carcanet PressCarcanet PressCarcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt.Carcanet Press is now in its fourth decade. In 2000 it was named the Sunday Times millennium Small Publisher of the Year...
, 1989 in hardback and 1999 in paperback) - do Eimhir (Association for Scottish Literary Studies 2002; BirlinnBirlinn LimitedBirlinn Limited is an independent publishing house based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Established in 1992 by Managing Director Hugh Andrew, Birlinn Limited is composed of a number of imprints, including, among others:...
2008) - Cuilithionn 1939 (Association for Scottish Literary Studies 2011)
- MacLean: Collected Poems (Polygon 2011)
Anthologies
- MacAulay, Donald (Domhnall MacAmhlaigh) [ed] (1977). Nua-Bhàrdachd Ghàidhlig / Modern Scottish Gaelic Poems: A Bilingual Anthology. New Directions, New York. pp. 70–115: "Am Mùr Gorm/The Blue Rampart", "Camhanaich/Dawn", "An Uair a Labhras mi mu Aodann/When I Speak of the Face", "Cha do Chuir de Bhuaireadh riamh/Never has such Turmoil been Put", "Gaoir na h-Eòrpa/The Cry of Europe", "An Roghainn/The Choice", "Coin is Madaidhean-Allaidh/Dogs and Wolves", "A' Chorra-Ghritheach/The Heron", "Hallaig/Hallaig", "Coilltean Ratharsair/The Woods of Raasay", "Ban-Gàidheal/Highland Woman", "Glac a' Bhàis/Death Valley", "Latha Foghair/An Autumn Day", "Aig Uaigh Yeats/At Yeats's Grave".
External links
- Profile at Carcanet Press
- BBC Bio - Làrach nam Bàrd
- Sorley MacLean Online - the Sorley MacLean Trust
- Full text of Hallaig in Gaelic, with Sorley MacLean's own translation into English
- Article summarizing a lecture by Heaney on Hallaig and MacLean's writing.
- Sorley Maclean's Island short Quicktime clip from the documentary at the Scottish Screen Archive.
- Maclean at the Scottish Portrait Gallery