Blair Collection > Gaelic bards

85
is saitt to Iiave been composed by "NigFi-
enn Lachinn nihic Iain mhic Lachinn."
That Mairearad nigh'n Lachinn is the
authoress referred to is in our opinion a
matter which cannot be called in question.
But Dr. Maclean must have been ac-
quainted with her. We may take for
granted then that he gives her genealogy
Dorrectly.
We are inclined to think that Mairearad
nigh'n Lachinn was a Macdonald. We
got the follo^\4ng account of her, October
14th, 1873, from a daughter of Jt»hn Mac
lean, the poet, who told us that she had
received it fi-om her father: "Mairearad
nisfh n Lachinn was born in Mull, and
lived and died there. Her father was a
Macdonald, and her mother a Maclean.
She was married, and had a large family.
All her children died before herself. She
nursed sixteen Macleans of the best
families in Mull. All these, like her own
children, predeceased her. She used to
go very frequently to the grave of the
last of them, and sit there. She was a
very old woman, and was much bent by
old age." John Maclean took down
several of her poems fiom oral recitation
about the year ISIH. In the heading of