Iain Eairdsidh MacAsgaill (19 February 1898 – 4 June 1934), alias the Bàrd Bheàrnaraigh ("the Bard of Berneray") was a Scottish

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran of the King's Own Cameron Highlanders, a

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n bush poet 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 ...

, and a highly important figure in 20th-century

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Iri ...

. He was also known as Iain Archie MacAskill and John Archie MacAskill.Clach-uaighe Iain Eairdsidh mar a chithear ann an "Tilleadh Dhachaigh." His Gaelic genealogical name was Iain-Eirdsidh Dhòmhnaill Thormoid-Shaighdeir ("John Archie son of Donald son of Norman the soldier.").

Life

He was born on 19 February 1898 in

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island. Great Bernera l ...

Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...

,Ronald Black (1999), ''An Tuil: Anthology of 20th-century Scottish Gaelic verse'', Polygon,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. Page 752. he was the son of Dòmhnaill MacAsgaill ( gd, Dòmhnaill Tharmaid Shaighdeir) (1873–1955) and Anna Chaluim Mhoireasdan. He had three sisters, Effie, Mary, and Kate and four brothers, Norman, Alexander, Malcolm, and John.

Scotland

He attended the Berneray School between 1903 and 1912. The editor of MacAsgaill's posthumous 1961 poetry collection, Alick Morrison, is also the poet's first biographer and has left behind a detailed account of his childhood in the Outer Hebrides during the early 20th century. According to Ronald Black, the

culture clash Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash. Broad and narrow definitions exist for the concept, both of which have been used to explain violence (including war) and crime, on either a mic ...

between the Gaelic oral literature taught at the Ceilidh houses and the Anglicisation enforced through corporal punishment in the schools after the 1872 Education Act is crucial to understanding Iain Eairsidh MacAsgaill and all other

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...

of his generation. As Alick Morrison wrote, "Gaelic culture reigned supreme all over the island except one spot; it stopped dead at the threshold of Berneray Public School." In 1911, he and his sister Effie lived with their mother's parents, Calum and Effie Moireasdan, at Croft 3, Borbh. When he left school, he found employment as a shepherd and worked for Calum MacLeòid for seven years at Sandhill. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he left MacLeòid's employment to enlist in the 5th (Service) Battalion, Cameron Highlanders. Along with the rest of his Battalion, he landed at

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

as part of the 26th Brigade in the

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

in May 1915. At the age of 17, he saw combat at the

Battle of Festubert The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British ...

and the

Battle of Givenchy A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. MacAsgaill was also one of the regimental bagpipers who led the Cameron Highlanders over the top on the first day of the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

. Three of his fellow pipers were killed and eighteen were wounded, but, even though the ribbons were shot off of MacAsgaill's pipes, he survived the Battle of Loos unscathed. At the end of the war, he was moved from the 5th to the 3rd

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

. In October 1919, Iain Eairdsidh obtained employment as a constable for the

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 3 ...

. He also played in the

Glasgow Police Pipe Band Glasgow Police Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band from Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1883 as the Burgh of Govan Police Pipe Band, the band enjoyed its greatest competitive success as the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. History The band was one o ...

and won the World Prize in 1920. After four years, in 1923, he left the police force and returned to Berneray, where he worked as an agricultural laborer for Reverend Tormod Moireasdan"John Archie MacAskill"
hebrideanconnections.com. Accessed 12 May 2022. and began for the first time to versify in earnest.

In Australia

In 1924, Iain Eairdsidh decided to emigrate and take advantage of a Government scheme to settle 75,000 immigrants over five years in

. There were attractive opportunities in Australia for young people willing to work on the land. He sailed on New Year's Day 1925 on . Initially, he received a 1,500 acre wheat farm, which he dubbed, 'Borvedale' near Lake Varley,

Shire of Lake Grace The Shire of Lake Grace is a local government area in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about ESE of the state capital, Perth. The Shire has a land area of and its seat of government is the town of Lake Grace. History T ...

, located in the Wheatbelt one-hundred miles east of Fremantle, in

. At Borvedale, MacAsgaill owned a house, a

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

, and a horse whom he named "Prince Charlie". MacAsgail also employed an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

servant, whom he suspected of being in league with the local

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

, who sometimes stole MacAsgaill's chickens and other property. His health broke and he was in debt. Against his will, his brother, Calum, came from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

to help him. Calum returned after two years, but Iain Eairdsidh's affairs only worsened. The Great Depression made wheat farming unprofitable. MacAsgaill lost Borvedale, and had to earn his livelihood by working as a hired hand on another farm. Most of his Gaelic poems and songs were composed during this period, in which MacAsgaill suffered greatly from homesickness and bitterly regretted his decision to leave behind the happy life he had known in both Berneray and Glasgow. MacAsgaill had always been fond of drinking, but now that ceased to help him.

Death and legacy

His health worsened again and, at the age of only 35, Iain Eairsidh MacAsgaill died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at Perth in June 1934. He was buried under the marker 377 in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

, in the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

suburb of the same name. In 1983, Dr Iain Napier MacAsgaill put a gravestone where Iain Eairdsidh was buried.
Trusadh: Tilleadh Dhachaigh
' BBC Alba first broadcast on Monday 14 June 2010. 60 minutes. At Dr. MacAsgaill's request, acclaimed bagpiper John D. Burgess visited the grave during a tour of Australia and played a lament for the deceased poet and piper.The Bard of Berneray, Piper John Archie MacAskill, Cameron Highlanders and City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band
by Robert Wallace. After first reading her great-uncle's

Australian poetry Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...

of homesickness during a Gaelic class held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

,Berneray Bard returns home after 76 years
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'', 14 April 2010. Alina NicAsgaill Simpson took the initiative to repatriate MacAsgaill's remains to

. Alina raised £6000 within six months and fulfilled her great-uncle's last wishes in 2010. Following a Reformed funeral in Gaelic which was attended by more than 40 relatives, MacAsgaill was laid to rest beside his parents. In a subsequent interview with ''

'', Simpson revealed that the current owner of her great uncle's farm near

Varley, Western Australia Varley is a small town located between Hyden and Lake King in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The area surrounding the town was opened for agricultural purposes in the 1930s and by 1938 the local progress association began campai ...

, Gary Struthers, had recently changed its name back to "Borvedale" in honor of the former owner of the land.

Publications

* 1961. ''An ribheid chiùil: being the poems of Iain Archie MacAskill 1898–1933, Bard of Berneray, Harris'' edited by Alick Morrison (Stirling: printed for the editor by Learmonth)

Writings about him

* Martin, Ruth Lee. 2013. 'Paradise Imagined: Songs of Scots Gaelic migrants in Australia, 1850–1940' ann an ''Humanities Research'' àir. XIX. No.3. 2013. dd. 27–44.

Songs

* "Eilean Bheàrnaraigh".

References

External links

The Bard of Berneray, Piper John Archie MacAskill, Cameron Highlanders and City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band
by Robert Wallace
Berneray Bard returns home after 76 years
''

'', 14 April 2010.
Iain Eairdsidh
at Làrach nam Bàrd at BBC
Iain Eairdsidh
at the website of Hebridean Connections.

At Tobar an Dualchais

Am bàrd Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill a' falbh gu Astràlia
"The bard Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill leaves for Australia" (Record number 74979) in 1980, Raonaid NicLeòid explains how she saw Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill as he was leaving Berneray for Australia in 1924
Òran caillte le Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill
"Lost songs of Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill" (Record number 74982) in 1980, Raonaid NicLeòid talks about the songs of homesickness for Berneray that Iain Eàirdsidh MacAsgaill wrote in Australia and sent to her brother Aonghas. {{DEFAULTSORT:MacAsgaill, Iain Eairdsidh 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Scottish poets category:Officers in Scottish police forces 20th-century Scottish Gaelic poets Australian male poets Australian poets Bagpipe players British Army personnel of World War I Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery People from the Isle of Lewis People from Lake Grace, Western Australia People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Police officers from Glasgow Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders soldiers Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish Gaelic diaspora poets Scottish police officers