Alice MacDonell (31 January 1854 – 12 October 1938) was a Scottish poet who claimed to be Chieftainess of the MacDonell clan of Keppoch, and was recognised as

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

ess to that clan. Her full name and title was Alice Claire MacDonell of Keppoch, or in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''Ailis Sorcha Ni' Mhic 'ic Raonuill na Ceapaich''. She wrote verses as “Alice C. MacDonell of Keppoch”.

Life

Born in 1854 at

Kilmonivaig Kilmonivaig ( gd, Cill Mo Naomhaig) is a small village, situated close to the southeast end of Loch Lochy in Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Fort William lies approximately 15 ...

in the Scottish Highlands, Alice MacDonell was the youngest child and eighth daughter of Angus McDonnell (titled Angus XXII of Keppoch) and his wife Christina (née MacNab). Her great-great grandfather was the Keppoch who led the MacDonalds at Culloden. She was educated by private tuition, and at the Convent of French Nuns in Northampton and at St. Margaret's Convent, Edinburgh. She gave early signs of the gift of poetry, stringing together couplets on incidents she had heard, her favourites being tales of battle and chivalry. She was steeped in the Jacobite sentiment of her ancestors, composing about the heroics of the Rising, though she also included more contemporary examples such as ''The Highland Brigade at the

Battle of the Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septemb ...

'', ''The Rush on Coomassie'', and the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

at ''

Dargai Heights Dargai ( ps, درگئی; ur, ) is one of the Tehsil, tehsils of Malakand District (the other being Batkhela) in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It located on the main highway from Peshawar to Swat (princely state), Swat, D ...

''. She was

Bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

ess to the Clan MacDonald Society. Her poetry was composed in English, with occasional use of nominal

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

titles. She did not marry. In 1911, she was living with her sister Josephine in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, London. She died on 12 October 1938 in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, East Sussex, England.

Works

An incomplete list of her works includes

Books of poems

*''Lays of the heather: poems'', dedicated to Prince Rupert of Bavaria, London: E. Stock (1896) from ''Songs of the mountain and the burn'', London: J. Ouseley (1912) *''The royal ribbon'', Edinburgh: T. Allan (192- ?) *''The crushing of the lilies'', Edinburgh: T. Allan (1927) *''For God and St. Andrew'', Edinburgh: (1928) *''The Glen o’ dreams'', Edinburgh: T. Allan (1929)

Poems

*''The Weaving of the Tartan'' poem in ''Celtic Monthly'' (1894) *''Culloden Moor (Seen in Autumn Rain)'' *''Lochabair gu Bràch (Lochaber for Ever)'' introductory poem to ''Loyal Lochaber and its Associations'', by W. Drummond Norie. Glasgow: Morison Brothers (1898) *''The mother land'' poem in the year book of the MacDonald Society (1899)

Articles

*''Deirdre: The Highest Type of Celtic Womanhood'', from ''The Celtic Review'' Vol.8 No.32 (1913) p. 347 *''Unforgotten'', in ''The Irish Monthly'' Vol.56 No.656 (1 February 1928) p. 65

Songs

*''The Thin Red Line (Of the Highlanders at Balaclava)'',

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

with piano, music by Stanley Hawley. London: Bosworth & Co., Recitation music series No.12 (1896) *''The Lad with the Bonnet of Blue'' from ''Lays of the heather'', music by

Colin McAlpin Colin McAlpin (9 April 1870 – 13 May 1942) was an English composer of songs, operas and ballet music, an organist and a writer of critical essays on music. Life Colin McAlpin was born in 1870, at 15 Gallowtree Gate, Leicester, England. He wa ...

, London: Cary & Co. (1899)British Library ref. H.1799.i.(56.) *''The Doom of Knocklea'', music by Colin McAlpin, unpublished *''Our Heroe's welcome'', music by Colin McAlpin *''Gillean an fhèilidh ("The kilted lads")'' from ''A' tarraing às an tobar: tionndaidhean ùra de dh'òrain thraidiseanta ann an Gàidhlig agus Albais, a' tarraing o na clàran aig Tobar an Dualchais'' ("Raisin the riches: new arrangements of traditional Gaelic and Scots songs, drawing on the Kist o Riches")

Sleat Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan ''MacDonald of Sleat''. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic , which in turn comes ...

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig () (Great Barn of Ostaig) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay, Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle (the ...

("Great Barn of Ostaig" higher education college), Tobar an Dualchais (Kist o Riches Project) (2014)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Keith Norman MacDonald, M.D. ''MacDonald Bards from Mediæval Times'' (reprinted from the "Oban Times") Edinburgh: Norman MacLeod (1900) * Sir Thomas Innes of Learney ''The Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland'' Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston (1938)

External links

Descent from Adam
Alice Claire MacDonell, Chieftainess of Keppoch
Descent from Adam
''Culloden Moor'' by Alice MacDonell of Keppoch
Scottish Poetry Library
''Lochaber for Ever'' by Alice MacDonell

''The Weaving of the Tartan'' by Alice MacDonell {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonell, Alice 1854 births 1938 deaths Scottish poets Scottish women poets