Ossian Collection > Macdonald bards from mediaeval times

'AN CIARAN MAPACH,"
GILLEASBUIG RUADH MAC DHOMHNUILL.
Contemporaneously with " Iain Loin " was
Archibald MacDonald, better known as "An
Ciaran Mapaeh," who has hardly been done justice
to by historians. I am indebted to the Rev. A.
J. MacDonald, Killearnan, one of the historians
of the great Clan Donald, for a coirect account of
this famous clansman's pedigree. He was a
lawful son of Sir Donald Gorm Og, Mac-
Ghilleasbuig Chleirich of Sleat, and a brother of
Sir James Mor MacDonald, who died on the 8th
of December, 1678. This poet and soldier was a
man of great bravery, sagacity, and prudence,
and, as alieady mentioned, was Iain Lom's co-
adjutor in punishing the murderers of the lawful
heirs of Keppoch. His father placed the greatest
reliance upon his fidelity in any thing requiring
jn-udence, tact, and zeal, and allotted him a grant
of land in North Uist, which was seldom given
except to gentlemen of liberal education for the
times. As a poet he does not seem to have been
a voluminous author, few of his compositions
having been preserved, which is a pity, as his
taste, education, and natural powers entitle him
to a high place among our Gaelic bards.
One of his songs, " B' annsa cadal air Fraoch,"
"'Twere better to sleep on heather," was com-
posed when the poet-soldier was in Edinburgh
under the care of a surgeon for an injured ankle.
It extends to 66 lines, each verse consisting of 8
lines, and judging from the tenor of the song, the
air of which is slow and plaintive, it must have
been very popular. The melody is in the last
edition of the " Gesto Collection of Highland
Music," and has got an ancient ring about it
which is very pleasing.
The plaintive nature of the song, " B'annsa
cadal air Fraoch," will be seen from the following
words in the 1st stanza : —
Ge socrach mo leabaidh,
B' annsa cadal air fraoch
Ann an lagan beasc vxai^neach
A's bad de'n luachair ri'm thaobh ;
'Nuair a dh'eirinn 's a' mhaduinn
'Bhi siubhal ghlacagan caol,
Na bhi triall thun na h-Abaid,
'G èisdeachd glagraich nan saor.
The above lines breathe home-sickness. It seems
that he was a sportsman also, for in the second
stanza he says —
Agus Uiginnis riabhach
An trio a dh'iarr mi an damh donn,
adding to his attainments of poet and soldier
that of deer-stalker. His " Marbhrann Do Shir
Seumas Mac-Dhonuill " — " Elegy on Sir James
MacDonald," the poet's brother — is a much longer
poem, and extends to 144 lines. In the 6th
stanza there is mention of " Port Raoghuill
Uidhir " "Dun Donald's tune," about which
the following story is told. " RaoghuU Odhar
was a jjiper and a great coward. On one occasion,
in the exercise of his calling on the field of battle
with his clan, he was seized with such fear at the
sight of the enemy that he left ott' playing and
began to sing some dolorous song to a lachrymose
air, some stanzas of which had been picked up
and preserved by his fellow soldiers, and which,
on their return from the war, they did not fail to
repeat. When an adult is seen crying for some
trifling cause, he is said to be singing "Port
Raoghuill Uidhir." Similai'ly, when a High-
lander is threatening vengeance against any one
he will say — " Bheir mi ort gu seinn thu Port
Raoghuill Uidhir, — " I will make you sing Dun
Donald's tune." The folio >ving stanzas give an
idea of the song : —
" B'e so an talanih mi-shealbhach !
Tha gun chladach gun gharbhlach gun chòs
Anns an rachainn da' ra fhalach,
'S sluagh gun athadh a' teannadh faisg oirnn.
Fonn (Chorus).
Tha mi tinn leis an eagal,
Tha mi cointeach gur beag a bhios beò ;
Chi mi lasadh an fhiidair,
Chluinn mi sgoilteadh nan dubh-chlach ri ord.
Fhuair mi gunna na^h diiilt mi,
Fhuair mi claidheamh nach lùb ann am dhòrn,
Ach ma ni iad mo mharbhadh,
Ciod am feum a ni 'n àrmachd sin dhòmhs' ?
Tha mi tinn, etc.
Ged do gheibhinn-sa sealbh.
Air li\n a' chaisteil de dh-airgead 's de dh-òr,
Oich ! ma ni iad mo mharbhadh !
Ciod am feum a ni 'n t-airgead sin dhònihs' ?
Tha mi tinn, etc.
We should like to know a little more about
this famous man, how many songs he composed,
and how long he lived, etc., but I fear that little
more can be ascertained about him.