Iain Mac Fhearchair (John MacCodrum) (1693-1779) was a
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 ...
-speaking
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 ...
and
seanchaidh "who lived and died in the island of
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
." Later in his life, Iain served as
Chief Bard to the
Chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
of
Clan MacDonald of Sleat
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
.
Life
According to his song ''Smeòrach Chlann Dòmhnaill'' ("The
Mavis
Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...
of
Clan Donald
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...
"), Iain Mac Fhearchair, alias John MacCodrum, was born near ''Cladh Chomhgain'', which is, according to Bill Lawson, "a disused graveyard in which were the ruins of a little chapel, dedicated to St
Comgan - one of many church dedications in the immediate neighborhood. In MacCodrum's time, it would have been part of the township of ''Hoghagearraidh''." The future
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 ...
was raised on the nearby farm of ''Aird an Runair''.
According to
John Lorne Campbell
Dr John Lorne Campbell FRSE LLD OBE ( gd, Iain Latharna Caimbeul) (1906–1996) was a Scottish historian, farmer, environmentalist and folklorist, and recognized scholar of Scottish Gaelic literature.
Early life
According to his biographer, Ray ...
, Iain, "was in the technical sense of the term, illiterate." In a footnote, however, Campbell explains, "Which is to say that he never learned English. In MacCodrum's day little education was available for the Highlanders, and none at all in their own language."
During the era, the people of Hoghagearaidh paid the
Chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
of
Clan MacDonald of Sleat
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
a rental fee called "The Seal Dues", in return for the right to kill the seals on the nearby rock of Causamul. The rock remains, according to Bill Lawson, "one of the main breeding areas for the
Atlantic seal."
The MacCodrums of Hoghagearaidh, however, never participated in the killing of seals. This was because, according to legend, an ancestor of theirs had stolen the skin of a
selkie
In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled ', ', ') or selkie folk ( sco, selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk' are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found ...
while she was ashore in human form and forced her to marry him. As told in a local folk song, however, one of the couple's children later returned the seal skin to her mother, who put it on, abandoned her human family, and returned to the sea. For this reason, the MacCodrum descendants of the couple were referred to 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 ...
as, ''Clann righ fo gheasan'', ("King's children under a spell") and never harmed seals, whom they believed to be their relatives.
Although Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat had promised Prince
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...
that he would do raise the Clan if the Prince arrived from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the Chief and his Clansmen took no part in the
Jacobite Uprising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 ...
. The Chief's reason for going back on his word was that the French troops that had also been promised had failed to arrive with the Prince. Despite the Clan's neutrality, all the lands of MacDonald of Sleat were included in the savage repression of Highland dress, language, and culture that followed the defeat of the uprising at the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
in 1746. John MacCodrum's satirical poem, ''Oran an Aghaidh an Eididh Ghallda'' ("A Song Against the Lowland Garb"), "shows clearly where his own sympathies lay."
In 1760,
James Macpherson
James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...
, who was collecting stories from the
Fenian Cycle
The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossian ...
throughout the Scottish
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
, visited
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
. During Macpherson's visit, MacCodrum made, according to John Lorne Campbell, "a brief appearance in the Ossianic controversy which is not without its humorous side." When Macpherson met MacCodrum, he asked the Bard, ''"A bheil dad agaibh air an Fheinne?"'' Macpherson believed himself to be asking, "Do you know anything of the
Fianna
''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; gd, Fèinne ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young males, often aristocrats, "who had left fosterage but had n ...
?" He had actually said, however, "Do the Fianna owe you anything?"
In reply, MacCodrum quipped, ''"Cha n-eil agus ge do bhiodh cha ruiginn a leas iarraidh a nis"'', "No, and if they did it would be useless to ask for it now." According to Campbell, this, "dialogue... illustrates at once Macpherson's imperfect Gaelic and MacCodrum's quickness of reply."
In October 1763, as the controversy over the authenticity of Macpherson's
epic poem
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
''
Ossian
Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...
'', which he alleged was a translation from
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 ...
, was heating up, Sir James MacDonald of Sleat wrote a letter to Doctor
Hugh Blair
Hugh Blair FRSE (7 April 1718 – 27 December 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse.
As a minister of the Church of Scotland, and occupant of the Ch ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
which sheds light on MacCodrum's role as a
seanchaidh.
According to The MacDonald of Sleat, "The few bards that are left amongst us, repeat only detached portions of these poems. I have often heard and understood them, particularly from one man called John MacCodrum, who lives on my estate in
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
. I have heard him repeat, for hours together, poems which seems to me to be the same with Macpherson's translation."
Campbell writes, however, "None of MacCodrum's Ossianic verses have survived him.
One of MacCodrum's closest friends was the famous Gaelic poet
Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), legal name Alexander MacDonald, or, in Gaelic Alasdair MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish war poet, satirist, lexicographer, political writer and memoirist.
The poet's Gaelic name means "Alasdair, so ...
, who was related to the Chief of the
Clanranald branch of
Clan Donald
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...
. According to John Lorne Campbell, MacCodrum's surviving poems in Gaelic "show considerable signs" of the Clanranald Bard's "influence." Despite their friendship, however, Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair did not hesitate to include two of MacCodrum's poems, ''Òran air Sean aois'' ("A Song on Old Age") and ''Comh-radh, Mar go b' ann eider caraid agus namhaid an Uisgebheatha'' ("A Dialogue between a Friend and a Foe of
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
"), in his groundbreaking 1751 poetry collection ''Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich'' and to pass them off as his own work.
MacCodrum also composed poetry criticizing both the
Scottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...
s and the
Anglo-Scottish
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people o ...
landlords of the
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
for the often brutal
mass evictions of the Scottish Gaels that followed the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
and on mundane topics such as old age and
whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...
.
Among MacCodrum's most popular anti-landlord poems mocks Aonghus MacDhòmhnaill, the post-Culloden
tacksman
A tacksman ( gd, Fear-Taic, meaning "supporting man"; most common Scots spelling: ''takisman'') was a landholder of intermediate legal and social status in Scottish Highland society.
Tenant and landlord
Although a tacksman generally paid a year ...
of
Griminish. It is believed to date from between 1769 and 1773, when overwhelming numbers of Sir Alexander MacDonald's tenants on the isles of
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
and
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 b ...
were reacting to his
rackrenting
Rack-rent denotes two different concepts:
# an excessive Renting, rent.
# the full rent of a property, including both land and improvements if it were subject to an immediate open-market rental review.
The second definition is equivalent to the ec ...
and other harsh treatments by immigrating to the area around the
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...
in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. The song is known in the oral tradition of
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
as ''Òran Fir Ghriminis'' ("A Song on the Tacksman of Griminish"). The song is equally popular among speakers of
Canadian Gaelic
Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig Chanada, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada.
Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scot ...
in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, where it is known under the differing title, ''Òran Aimereaga'' ("The Song of America").
Death and burial
According to Bill Lawson, John MacCodrum lies buried near his birthplace in
Kilmuir cemetery, " under a plain lump of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
which had chosen for himself. When asked why he had picked such a stone, he replied that people would ask who lay under such an ugly lump of rock, and so he would be remembered. Unfortunately he was wrong, and I could find no one to show me the original stone - if indeed it is still there. An
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
to his memory was later raised on the summit of the knoll, with the inscription, ''In memory of John MacCodrum - The Uist Bard - Born at Aird an Runair 1710 - died 1796 - erected by numerous admirers 1894''. Unfortunately, the dates are badly wrong. MacCodrum did die at the age of 86, but it has been established, from the ''Balranald Papers'', where MacCodrum's funeral expenses are noted, that his date of death actually 1779, and his date of birth therefore 1693."
Following his death in 1967, Scottish Gaelic
war poet
A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...
and fellow North Uist native
Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna
Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna (Red Donald of Coruna; 9 July 1887 – 13 August 1967), legally Donald MacDonald or Dòmhnall MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish Gaelic Bard, North Uist stonemason, and veteran of the First World War. Literary historian Rona ...
was buried in the same cemetery.
Legacy
According to John Lorne Campbell, "MacCodrum in his lifetime enjoyed considerable popularity as a wit and a poet, and he composed a large number of poems, consisting of satires or rather lampoons, elegies, patriotic verse, and didactic songs; but as he was unable to write, and no one took down his poems from his own recitation, many of them have been lost, and those surviving have all suffered some degree of corruption."
One of Iain's most popular songs is ''Smeòrach Chlann Dòmhnaill'' ("The
Mavis
Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...
of
Clan Donald
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...
"), in which the Bard, according to Bill Lawson, "praises the isle of his birth." The song was recorded by Scottish vocalist and fellow
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
native
Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis (born 20 June 1978) is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
Early life
Fowlis grew up on North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community. Her mothe ...
on her 2014 album ''
Gach sgeul - Every story
Gach ( fa, گاچ, also Romanized as Gāch; also known as Kāj and Kaj) is a village in Beyhaq Rural District, Sheshtomad District, Sabzevar County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, ...
''.
Due to both the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
and to voluntary emigration, there are no longer any MacCodrum descendants living on
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
. The last MacCodrum to leave the island was ''Dòmhnall mhic Aoidh mhic Mhurchaidh mhic Iomhair mhic Iain mhic Iomhair'', whose great-grandfather was the first cousin of the Bard. Donald, a former farm worker in Paiblesgarry, left North Uist, first for the nearby island of
Barra
Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is na ...
, and then for the
Mira River valley in
Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, during the
1820s.
[Lawson (2011), pages 27-28.]
References
;Attribution
*
Links
Gaelic Resource Database: Iain MacCodrumArchive.org: The Uist collection : the Poems and Songs of John MacCodrum, Archibald Macdonald, and Some of the Minor Uist Bards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Fhearchair, Iain
1693 births
1779 deaths
18th-century Scottish Gaelic poets
Calvinist and Reformed poets
Clan Donald
Clan Macdonald of Sleat
Jacobite poets
North Uist
People from Uist
Scottish Jacobites