Seanchaidh na Coille
The Memory-Keeper of the Forest
Anthology of Scottish-Gaelic Literature of Canada
Michael Newton, Editor
CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA
Do dh’Eòin G. MacFhionghain
Caraid nan Gàidheal Canadach
Portrait from the archives of the Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.
79-1005-3985. ca.1910. Photographer Unknown.
Praise for Seanchaidh na Coille
The Memory-Keeper of The Forest
An t-Ollamh Roibeart Dunbar
Cathair Chànanan, Litreachais, Eachdraidh agus Àrsaidheachdan
Ceilteach, Ceannard Roinn na Ceiltis agus Eòlas na h-Alba
Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann
’S
e an cruinneachadh saoibhir seo de bhàrdachd agus rosg Gàidhlig
à Canada na chruinneachadh as iomlaine dhen litreachas sin a
bha againn a-riamh, agus bidh e na ghoireas sònraichte, gun choimeas
fad bhliadhnaichean mòra san àm ri teachd. Tha an t-Oll. Newton air
obair shuaicheanta a dhèanamh ann a bhith a’ lorg agus a’ mìneachadh
gu gleusta an uiread de stuth taitneach, agus anns an dòigh sin a’
sealltainn dhuinn cho iomadh-fhillte is a bha agus a tha beatha nan
Gàidheal anns gach àite air feadh Chanada anns am faighear iad. Bidh
na h-eadar-theangachaidhean ealanta aige air leth feumail do leughadairean gun Ghàidhlig. Bidh an leabhar barraichte seo cho feumail
is a ghabhas do sgoilearan agus oileanaich, do luchd-rannsachaidh,
agus do dhuine sam bith aig a bheil ùidh anns a’ phàirt chudromaich
seo ann an eachdraidh de dh’ ioma-chultarachd agus ioma-chànanas
Chanada, agus ann an cultar na Gàidhlig san fharsaingeachd.
vii
Dr. Robert Dunbar
Chair of Celtic Languages, Literature, History and Antiquities,
Head of Celtic and Scottish Studies
University of Edinburgh
This extremely rich collection of Gaelic poetry and prose literature
from Canada is the single most comprehensive collection of such
material we have ever had, and will be an outstanding and unique
resource for a long time to come. Dr. Newton has done a remarkable
job in retrieving and expertly contextualizing a large amount of
fascinating material, showing the rich variety and national extent of
the Gaelic experience in Canada. His sensitive and skillful translations open up this material to an English-speaking readership. This
outstanding book will be of inestimable value to students, researchers
and anyone interested in an important strand in Canada’s multicultural and multilingual identity and in Gaelic culture more generally.
Lodaidh MacFhionghain, Tagraiche dha na Gàidheil, Ceannard
Iomairtean na Gàidhlig is Bàrd
Tha an co-chruinneachadh seo a’ toirt am follais ann am faclan is an
cànan nan Gàidheal fhéin – aig a’ robh tùs ann an Gàidhealtachd na
h-Albann – an eachdraidh cho-fhillte, mì-bhreithnichte, dhoilleir fad
linntean anns a’ Cho-chomann Chanéideanach agus an làmh a bh’aca
air Uachdaranachd Chanada. Tha e a’ sealltainn do mhuinntir Chanada cho fada is farsuing ’s a bha tuineachadh nan Gàidheal aig àm a’
Cho-chaidreachais: na suidheachaidhean poileataigeach, sòisealta is
eaconamach a mhùchaich cha mhór an cànan agus an dearbh-aithne
chultarach; agus tha e a’ sònrachadh na h-aon mhór-roinneadh ’s an
dùthaich ’s a’ là an diugh far a bheil Gàidheil agus a’ Ghàidhlig agus a
cultar a’ leanaid agus a’ fantainn mar choimhearsnachd bheò; is mar
a ’s urrainn dhan roinn seo a bhith ’na goireas do fheadhainn a tha
airson ceangal ás ùr a dhèanadh ri’n dualchas Ghàidhealach ann an
roinntean eile na dùthcha. ’S ann ’s a’ leabhar seo goireas eireachdail
do dhuine sam bith a tha ’sgrìobhadh neo a’ bruidhinn air, no a’ cur
an gnìomh, iomairtean a bhuineas dha na Gàidheil is an cànan is an
cultar anns a’ cho-theacsa Chanéideanach.
Lewis MacKinnon, Poet, Gaels’ Advocate and Executive Director of
Nova Scotia Office of Gaelic Affairs
This anthology brings to light in the words and language of the
Gaels themselves – whose origins were the Highlands and Islands
of Scotland – their long, complex, misunderstood, obscure history
in Canadian Society and their role in the Canadian State. Newton
demonstrates to Canadians how far and widespread the settlement
of Gaels was at the time of Confederation: the political, social and
economic circumstances that almost smothered their language and
cultural identity. The only remaining jurisdiction in the country,
Nova Scotia, is where Gaels and their language and culture persist in
a vestigial and active communal sense, and can be an asset to those
who want to reconnect with their Gaelic heritage in other regions of
the country. For anyone who is writing on, speaking of or establishing
initiatives pertaining to Gaels and their language and culture in the
Canadian context, this book is an excellent resource.
Dr. Silke Stroh,
Assistant Professor of English, Postcolonial and Media Studies,
University of Muenster (Germany)
Presenting a wide range of Gaelic poetic and prose texts, along with
English translations and information on biographical, historical,
socio-cultural and literary contexts, this excellent anthology significantly enhances the accessibility of important primary sources. It also
contains analytical commentary which, despite its necessary brevity,
includes many thought-provoking observations, making this book
an important intervention in contemporary criticism linking Gaelic
Studies to wider comparative debates on North American multiculturalism, minority identities, international diaspora studies, colonialism and postcolonialism. While promising to become an important
reference for scholars in literary and cultural studies—as well as for
historians—this anthology is also of interest to the general reader,
being very successful in explaining complex matters in a jargon-free,
succinct and compelling manner. It not only contributes to a more
nuanced understanding of Canadian colonial and postcolonial identities, but also has implications for contemporary debates about future
cultural and educational policies.
Contents
Acknowledgements
xii
Foreword
xiv
1 – Introduction
A Multitude of Solitudes
Gaelic Perspectives, Gaelic Sources
Reading Gaelic Literature
Transmission and Transcription
About this Volume
1
1
8
13
21
28
2 – The Subjugation of Gaeldom
32
40
44
52
59
62
1: A Song in the Wake of Culloden
2: The Tacksman of Griminish
3: The Lament of the North
4: Glencalvie Clearances
5: A Gael’s Lament
3 – Militarism and Tartanism
1: The Song of the Gaels
2: The Renown of the Gaels
3: The Gaels at War and the Gaels at Peace
4: Antigonish Highland Games
5: Address to Hamilton and Toronto Gaelic Societies
6: Speech by Niall Mac na h-Innse at Lochiel
7: The Scots of Canada
8: The Gaels of Nova Scotia
68
78
83
91
95
100
108
116
118
4 – Migration
121
129
132
138
142
147
150
154
161
167
170
175
1: “That is the Way I Would Go”
2: “It was on Sunday Morning”
3: The Song of the Big Sheep
4: Coming to America
5: MacNiven and the People of Uist
6: Sailing to Prince Edward Island
7: From Kilmartin to Tiverton, Ontario
8: Gaelic Guidebook for the Emigrant
9: From the Isle of Lewis to Quebec
10: Dòmhnall’s Testimony about Manitoba
11: In Praise of the Canadian Prairies
5 – Settlement
184
189
193
194
196
199
201
203
215
219
221
224
227
246
250
256
1: “I Am Dejected In The Bog By Myself”
2: Clearing the Forests
3: “I Am Vexed Today”
4: “I am Gloomy”
5: Curses on the Mice
6: The Bear’s Song
7: An Account of Prince Edward Island & Cape Breton 8: The Song of the Fire
9: The Gaelic Communities of Megantic, Quebec
10: Immigration to Saltcoats, Saskatchewan
11: Gaelic Communities in Prince Edward Island
12: The Gaels in Cape Breton
13: The Song of Clandonald
14: The Gaels of Winnipeg
15: The Song of the Reaper
6 – Love and Death
261
263
268
274
275
282
285
286
289
295
298
302
305
308
311
1: Elegy to Tòmas Friseal
2: Elegy to Bishop Uilleam Friseal
3: Ontario Love Song
4: Elegy to Iain MacGilleBhràth
5: Seònaid’s Lullaby
6: “The Great Hearts of Generosity”
7: Lament for Edith and Dòmhnall
8: Elegy for Father Niall MacLeòid
9: “My Heart is Agonized”
10: Lament for Gilleasbaig MacEalair
11: Eulogy to a Horse
12: The Macdonalds of Bailey’s Brook
13: “The Journey that I Took from the Town”
14: Elegy for Iain Alasdair MacLachlainn
7 – Religion
315
322
323
333
338
340
347
349
353
357
1: Odes to Assist the Faith of the Gaels
2: The Dissemination of the Scriptures
3: A Song to Bishop Cailean MacFhionghain
4: A Morning Hymn
5: A Song about the Presbyterian Church of Canada
6: The Farmer’s Thanksgiving Hymn
7: “That is the Drink I Would Imbibe”
8: The Bible
9: The Missionary on Lake Winnipeg
10: About the United Church of Canada
11: National Hymn
8 – Language and Literature
361
369
371
1: New Year’s Eve near Lake Huron
387
2: A Song to the Traveller
389
3: In Praise of the Young Highland Traveller395
4: In Praise of Gaelic in Hamilton, Ontario
398
5: A Portrait of Eóghann MacColla
401
6: Salutations to Eóghann MacColla
405
7: In Praise of Gaelic and of Echo
406
8: “A Toast to the Gaelic Mothers”
411
9: Silenced Voices in Saskatchewan
413
10: News of Awakening417
9 – Identity and Associations
421
431
434
439
442
444
450
456
1: An Ode to the Gaelic Society of Toronto
2: A Song to the Glengarry Highland Society
3: An Ode to the Celtic Society of Montreal
4: A Letter from Glengarry
5: An Ode to the Antigonish Highland Society
6: The Scotch Gathering of Alexandria
7: A Song to the Gaels of Vancouver
10 – Politics
463
469
474
477
480
484
487
493
496
499
502
1: Election Rally of Pictou
2: Gaelic in the Nova Scotia Assembly
3: The Election of John Thompson
4: The Death of the Repeal of Canadian Federation
5: A Letter from the Gaelic Society of Bruce County
6: A Speech about Gaelic in the Canadian Senate
7: A Song about the Glengarry Election
8: Scorn for the Bolsheviks
9: A Song about the Nova Scotian Election
10: A Song about the General Election
Conclusions
504
Biographies
515
Maps
524
Notes
530
References
551
Index
564
Acknowledgements
T
he Gaelic title seanchaidh has no exact equivalent in English. A
seanchaidh is a professional custodian of seanchas: communal
memory, history and experience, often in the form of literature, especially song-poetry. The title of this volume alludes to an attempt
to restore this largely neglected storehouse of material to its rightful
place in the historical annals and literary archives of Canada. The
title is also an homage to the work of the Rev. Dr. Alasdair MacGillEain Sinclair, an indefatigable Gaelic scholar from Nova Scotia who
produced a series of volumes of Gaelic literature around the turn of
the 20th century, two of which included the word “coille” (forest). The
image of the forest is a dominant one in the Gaelic literature of North
America which refers to the continent with such kennings as “Dùthaich
nan Craobh” (The Land of Trees) and “A’ Choille Ghruamach” (The
Gloomy Forest).
I have been aware of and engaging with the heritage of Scottish
Gaels in Canada to some degree since the mid-1990s, when I was
conducting research in Celtic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
The core of the texts in this collection began in earnest in 1999 when
the late Kenneth McKenna of Glengarry, Ontario, bequeathed photocopies of newspaper cuttings from his area to me. I accumulated
much more material and a heightened motivation for publishing it
while teaching Celtic Studies at St. Francis Xavier University. The
absence of any substantial body of primary texts in Gaelic about the
immigrant experience, despite the prominence of the iconography of
Highlandism in popular Canadian history, became quite apparent to
me in the course of research and teaching.
My efforts have been aided by the help and cooperation of many
individuals and institutions. I am especially grateful to the staff of
the Angus L. Macdonald Library, St. Francis Xavier University, the
Archives of Ontario, the National Library of Scotland, the library
of the School of Scottish Studies and the Special Collections of the
University of Edinburgh for enabling me access to rare and important
materials as well as permission to print them. Permission to reprint
items that have appeared in previous publications has also been graciously granted by Comann Eachdraidh Tholastaidh bho Thuath and
xiv
the Stornoway Gazette. A digital image of the frontispiece portrait of
Gilleasbaig MacFhilip (in his book Collected Verse: The Blind Bard of
Megantic, 1913) was kindly provided by the Rare Books and Special
Collections of McGill University Library. Thanks to the Beaton
Institute of Cape Breton University for permission to use the portrait of Eòin G. MacFhionghain, to Jocelyn Gillis of the Antigonish
Heritage Museum for the portrait (presumed to be) of Iain Boid (John
Boyd) and to Laurinda Matheson at the Angus L. Macdonald Library
for scanning the image of Alasdair MacGill-Eain Sinclair.
Many individuals have been generous in sharing their knowledge
and materials with me: Sister Dr. Margaret MacDonell volunteered
historical references and much encouragement to me; the late Dr.
Kenneth Nilsen provided me with his photocopies of Cuairtear nan
Coillte; Margaret Bennett gave me a photocopy of the booklet of songs
by Cailean MacÌomhair; Susan Cameron and Kathleen MacKenzie
of Saint Francis Xavier University aided me in finding and accessing many rare sources; Professor Robert Dunbar of the University
of Edinburgh shared his research on the Bard MacGill-Eain and Dr.
Michael Linkletter his thesis on Alasdair MacGill-Eain Sinclair; David
Anderson of Williamstown, Ontario, furnished notes about some
Glengarry authors; Alexander MacLennan of Carleton University was
able to track down information about several Cape Breton poets on
my behalf.
I am grateful for comments, corrections and suggestions on drafts
of chapters from James Ambuske, Matthew Dziennik, Steve Johnston,
Stephanie Johnston, Sarah McCaslin, Lodaidh MacFhionghain
(Lewis MacKinnon of Antigonish/Halifax), Iain MacFhionghain
(Iain MacKinnon of Skye), Silke Stroh and Wilson McLeod. I am
particularly indebted to Alexander MacLennan for his copious comments and suggestions. Friends who kindly provided help in several
points of translation and cultural nuances include Michael Bauer,
Robert Dunbar and Donald Meek.
Cape Breton University Press has been very supportive in the development of this volume and I am grateful for bringing it to fruition.
Thanks are due, finally, to my wife Stephanie and my daughter
Róisín for their patience as I spent nights, weekends and holidays
completing this extensive project.
M.N.
xv
Foreword
Diana Gabaldon
W
hat a privilege to be asked to introduce such a fascinating,
elegant and invaluable book!
My own experience with Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic, the Irish form
is “Gaeilge”) began in 1988, when I began to write a novel for practice,
and chose (on the basis of seeing a young man in a kilt on a “Dr. Who”
re-run) to set it in the Scottish Highlands of the 18th century. A modicum of initial research revealed that the language of the Highlands at
that time was almost exclusively Gaelic, and – conscientious writer
that I was – I thought I must both make that fact clear in my novel,
and somehow contrive to give an actual flavour of the language.
All I can say is that if you think it was easy to find a Scottish Gaelic/
English dictionary in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1988 ... think again. The
Internet, as we now know its illimitable quantities of information,
contacts and sources, didn’t exist. The local Caledonian Society, while
very friendly, had no Gaelic speakers. I had never met a Gaelic speaker,
native or otherwise, and was not infrequently informed that it was a
dead or dying language – who cared?
I persevered and was eventually able to acquire a slender Gaelic/
English dictionary from Schoenhof’s Foreign Books, in Boston. Even
they appeared somewhat bemused by my exotic request, but they did
manage to find the book and ship it to me at fantastic expense (no
Amazon Prime back then, either).
I used this book to cobble together bits of spoken Gaelic for
Outlander, my first novel. Much to my surprise, this novel was not only
published, but resulted in a three-book contract, at which point I said
to my husband, “OK. I really must go and see the place.” Scotland, that
is. And on my list of Things to See and Do was #3: Find a better Gaelic
dictionary. (#1 was “Look at Everything” and #2 was “Eat Haggis.”1)
I did find a much bigger and more comprehensive dictionary,
and with that, made further forays into quasi-Gaelic while writing
Dragonfly in Amber. That novel, too, was well received, and I began
to get fan-mail (real letters; email didn’t exist, either). Among these
lovely letters was one from a gentleman named Iain MacKinnon
Taylor. Mr. Taylor praised my books, saying how wonderful it was to
xvi
see Scottish history handled so well, and how much he enjoyed the
story. He then coughed metaphorically and said delicately that he had
just one observation: he had, he said, been born on the Isle of Harris,
and was a native Gaelic speaker. And, “I think you must be getting
your Gaelic from a dictionary.”
It wasn’t, he said, so much that the words I was using were wrong,
as that I had no grammar, voice, or idiom with which to arrange them.
Might he, perhaps, offer his assistance?
To which my response was a fervent, “Mr. Taylor, where have you
been all my life?”
Iain – with the assistance of his twin brother Hamish and other
family members still living on Harris – helped me with the Gaelic for
the next three books. Health issues unfortunately stopped him from
further involvement, but good fortune (and an internet friend named
Cathy MacGregor – by this time, there was an internet, with email,
no less) introduced me to the redoubtable Catherine-Ann MacPhee,
native Gaelic speaker from Barra, and a well-known radio and TV
presenter in the U.K. The two Cathys – and much more recently,
the delightful Àdhamh Ó Broin (Gaelic tutor and consultant to the
Outlander TV show) have made the Gaelic in my novels ever more
plentiful and authentic – and given me the barest smattering of familiarity with that amazing language and its history.
Language is the first thing that defines a culture. Nothing else is more
important to a people than a shared tongue. Even though language is
an ever-living, ever-flexible thing, the fact that it binds human beings
in an immortal chain, binding them together. And even though that
chain may be stretched and twisted by time and distance, it endures.
One day my husband came back from a short motorcycle trip, and
told me that while parked at one rest-stop, he’d been approached by
two Spanish tourists, asking directions. He does speak Spanish, but
isn’t truly fluent, and was pleased when another man, a local monoglot
Spanish-speaker,2 overheard the tourists and asked if he could help.
The conversation was going well, my husband said, but ran into a
sudden snag. The man giving directions asked the men where they’d
turned, off the main road and they replied that it was at a “semafora.”
A what? My husband and the local man exchanged baffled looks. “A
semafora,” the tourists repeated, looking anxious. “Describe it,” my
husband suggested, in Spanish. “What does a semafora look like?”
xvii
They did, and my husband and local man laughed in revelation. “Es
un alto,” the local man informed them. A stop sign.
Divergence in geography or time results in difference – but not in
basic identity. Gaeilge and Gàidhlig have very obvious commonalities,
though the Irish and Scottish branches of the language diverged long
ago.
To track such divergences, to identify the ancient commonalities
and to preserve the more recent past for the benefit of present and future, is the blessed job of a scholar and a lover. Someone so in love with
a language and a culture that the largest themes are easily apparent
and the smallest details treasured. Luckily for us and for the history of
the Gaelic tongue and diaspora into the New World, Michael Newton
is just such a one.
This book is as elegantly and passionately written as a novel, while
providing enough detail to satisfy the most exacting academic sense
of curiosity.
It modestly purports to be an anthology of Canadian Gaelic
poetry – and certainly it’s that. It’s much more, though: a stunning
description of a culture, both in situ and in transition, and an analysis
of the enduring themes in Gàidhlig literature and poetry.
It’s also remarkable for its discussion of matters literary, and the
durability of the Celtic oral tradition, with its emphasis on the warrior
as a common central figure. I found that most interesting myself, as I’d
noticed exactly that emphasis in my historical research. The Scottish
Highlands were a tribal culture; this is why emigrant Highlanders in
America often had no trouble joining or dealing with Native American
groups – they identified with both the group dynamics and traditions, the value of a warrior and with the strong oral culture. Stories
and songs are paramount in such a culture, because these are the chief
means of preserving not only history, but also language.
As I noted above, when I began my research some twenty-five
years ago, I was routinely told that Scottish Gaelic was a dying tongue.
In fact, Iain Taylor expressed just such a fear to me, saying that he was
afraid it wouldn’t last past his own generation in the Highlands.
Moved by his letter, I wrote back and said, “I tell you what, Iain; if
the Gaelic language dies, it won’t be because neither you nor I tried.”
Language is the first thing that defines a culture. Sometimes, it’s
also the last. Many of the smaller Native American tribes have disappeared – because there is no longer anyone who knows their tongue.
xviii
A few years ago, I was invited to a book festival in Lithuania; a
fascinating experience, the more so as Lithuanian has no perceptible
common links to any of the few languages I have a passing familiarity
with. I hastily learned “exit,” “push,” “pull,” “toilet,” and “ice machine”
(the latter by accident), but was for the most part dependent on the
kindness of multilingual strangers.
These Lithuanian strangers were very kind indeed. At one point,
my hosts took me (with the translator of my books, the only person
there who spoke fairly fluent English) to Vilnius University, an ancient and venerable establishment. There isn’t much left in Lithuanian
that is ancient and venerable any more, save the buildings. Lithuania
was occupied for most of the last century, by waves of invaders: the
Russians, the Germans, and then the Russians again. Each wave of
plunderers receded with the valuables – and much of the tangible history – of the country.
The last wave of Russians tried to take the intangible, too. The
invaders forbade Lithuanian to be spoken in public. Only Russian
could be used.
But the Russians have been gone for nearly a quarter-century3 and
the Lithuanians have begun stubbornly salvaging their history. One
small room at the university contains a small bronze monument, a
slab set in the floor, called “The Grave of the Balts,” which shows a
supine woman in prehistoric costume and lists the contents of a traditional Baltic burial. The walls of the room are painted with figures
illustrating one of the classic myths of Baltic history.
Above the monument is a window, made of small diamond-shaped
panes. Some are stained glass and some are clear, and the design is
intricate. Alone, I would never have seen what my host pointed out:
on one of the small, clear panes of glass, someone had painstakingly
written with a diamond, “They are trying to kill us. They can’t....” In
Lithuanian.
We owe a great debt to the stubborn faith of people like the person
who wrote that – and people like Michael Newton. People who have
kept faith with the past, the singers of songs, the record-keepers, who
will not let love or language die. The seanchaidhs. March 15, 2015
Scottsdale, Arizona
Diana Gabaldon
xix