Ossian Collection > Macdonald bards from mediaeval times

There is another long elegy by her to Sir Hector
MacLean, who died in Rome in the year 1851, of
128 lines. It also seems a good poem of eight
lines in each verse of which the following is a
stanza : —
'Fhir 'tha 'n cathair an Fhreasdail
Cum-sa ceart agus coir ruinn,
'S cuir deagh sgeul iigainn dhachaidh,
Air Sir Eachann nan rò-seòl :
Tha e fad' uainn a 'fhearann,
Agus tamull air fògradh ;
Gur h-e sgeula mo sgaraidh
each 'bhi 'g aithris nach beò e.
We are glad toappropriate this excellentpoetess,
even if she had some MacLean* blood in her, as
she certainly deserves a niche in the temple of
Fame ; we only regret that so little is known of
one who lived not so very long ago, and to such a
great age. A fuller account of her poems and
songs will be found in Mr A. MacLean Sinclair's
" MacLean Bards."
BAINTIGHEARNA GHIUTHSACHAIN.f
(THE LADY OF GIUSACHAN).
Margaret MacDonell was a daughter of Mac-
Donell of Ardnabie, in Glengarry. She was born
about 1715, and M'as married to William Fraser,
of Giiisachan and Culbokie. She had nine sons ;
Simon, John, Archibald, Donald, Rory, and other
four, wliose names are not known. She was a
very clever woman.
Simon left Scotland in 1773, and settled near
Bennington in tlie state of Vermont. He was a
captain in Burgoyne's army, and died in 1778.
His youngest son, Simon, explored the Fraser
River, which is named after him. Mrs Eraser's
sons, John and Archibald, fought under Wolfe
at (Quebec. Donald and anotlier were officers in
the Austrian Army. Donald was killed on the
battlefield in Germany. Two other sons died in
India, one of them in the ''black hole of Cal-
cutta." One of her sons, Rory, was only a week
old when the Hanovarian butcher, the Duke of
* The MacLeans were brave and stubborn warriors,
as instanced in the following stanza from " Oran nam
Fineachan Gaelach " :—
Clann-'Illean o'n Dreòlluinn
'Thtìid sunndach 's an ruaig.
Dream a chlosadh ainneart,
Gun taing 'choisinn biiaidh :
Dream riogiiail do-chiosaicht'
Nach strioehdadli do'n t-sluagh :
S iomadh mile deas, direach,
'Bheir inntinn dhuibh suas.
t From Mr MacLean Sinclair's " Gaelic Bards."
Cumberland, sent an officer with some soldiers to
set fire to her house. To this event she refers in
tlie following stanzas : —
'Bhliadlin' a rugadh thus', a Ruairi,
'S ann a thog iad bhuainn na creachan.
'S trom 's gur muladach a tha mi
'Cumail blaiths air aoia na seachduin.
Loisg iad mo shabhal 's mo bhàthach,
'S chuir iad mo tbaigh-clair 'n a lasair.
She also composed a lament for her son Donald.
The first stanza of it runs as follows : —
La na nollaig mhòir a b' fhuar
Fhuair mi sgeula mo chruaidh chàis,
DòmhnuU donn-gheal òg mo ruin
Bhi 'na shineadh 'n tiugh a' bhlàir.
It extends to 28 lines, and is a fairly good poem.
Tlie date of her death is unknown.
Alasdair Og Macdonell also belonged to tlie
Glensrarry branch of the MacDonells of Ardnabie.
He was a contemporary of Alasdair Mac Mhaigh-
stir Alasdair, and was alive in 1751. There is a
John MacDonell, Ardnabie, mentioned in 1744,
but it is not known what relation he was to
Alasdair og MacDonell and Mrs Fraser of Cul-
bokie, both of whom were of the Ardnabie family.
Tlie following is a stanza of Alasdair Og Mac-
Donell's song.
"MairiNigh'n Deorsa." — Oran do'n Fhiodhail —
(song to the fiddle).
Gu'm b' ait leam 'bhi làimh-riut
A Mhàiri nigh'n Deorsa,
Deri ral dal deri
Re di ridil dan,
De tidil dan dan,
Tha gliocas is nàire
'Am Màiri nigh 'n Deorsa
Deri ral dal deri
Re di ridil dan,
De ridil dan dan.
Guth do chinn 's taitneach leinn,
'S ait leam fhin beò thu,
Gur suairc thu le solas,
Tha thu caoin ceòlmhor,
B' ait le m' chluais caismeachd bhuair,
'S leat gach buaidh òrain ;
Gu'm b' fheàrr leam na miltean
Gu'm bithinn 's tù còrdte.
It extends to 96 lines, and seems a capital song
and evidently the work of a talented man.
Tradition says that the following original
MacDonell song was the substance of an alterca-
tion between a father and a daughter, the former
abusing the MacDonells with gross invective, and
the latter extolling that illustrious race with
appropriate encomiums. It is entitled " Oran do