''Hallaig'' is the most recognized poem of

Sorley MacLean Sorley MacLean (; 26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996) was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement ...

, an important Scottish poet of the 20th century. After writing it, MacLean rose to fame in the English-speaking world. It was originally written in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

since the author was born on the island of

Raasay Raasay (; ), sometimes the Isle of Raasay, is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound, Scotland, Inner Sound. It is famous fo ...

, where

was the everyday language. During the course of time the poem has been translated into both English and Lowland Scots. A recent translation (2002) was made by

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

, an Irish

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner.

Background

The poem is named after a deserted township located on the south-eastern corner of the Hebridean island of

, the poet's birthplace. The settlement of Hallaig depopulated between 1852 and 1854 under

George Rainy George Rainy (6 June 1790—9 June 1863) was a Scottish merchant, slave owner and land owner. In the early 1800s, Rainy became involved in sugar plantations in the Caribbean which were Slavery in the British and French Caribbean, worked by Afric ...

and since MacLean's relatives were affected, the author decided to evoke the community of this abandoned village in his poem. It is a reflection on the nature of time and the historical impact of the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( , 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 resulted from Scottish Agricultural R ...

leaving an empty landscape populated only by the ghosts of the evicted and those forced to emigrate. ''Hallaig'' was written in Edinburgh about 100 years after depopulation of the Isle of Raasay and it was originally published in the Gaelic-language magazine ''

Gairm ''Gairm'' was a Scottish Gaelic quarterly magazine founded in 1951 by Derick Thomson, and Finlay J. MacDonald (Fionnlagh Domhnallach). Its first issue was published in Autumn 1952. MacDonald served as an editor until 1964; Thomson remained prese ...

''. The poem is notable for its deployment of imagery of nature, and in this respect is redolent of Duncan Ban MacIntyre's '' Beinn Dorain'', particularly in its references to woodlands and deer.

Cultural influences

''Hallaig'' is incorporated in the lyrics of '' The Jacobite Rising,'' an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

, and can be heard read by MacLean, as part of the song "Hallaig" on Martyn Bennett's album '' Bothy Culture''. MacLean talked extensively about the poem in Timothy Neat's documentary for

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

, ''Hallaig: the Poetry and Landscape of Sorley MacLean'' in 1984, for example he analyzed how much traditional Gaelic song influenced him. The poem inspired an organ work by William Sweeney called " Hallaig 12' " commissioned for the inaugural concert of the Flentrop Organ in

Dunblane Cathedral Dunblane Cathedral is the larger of the two Church of Scotland parish churches serving Dunblane, near the city of Stirling, in central Scotland. The lower half of the tower is pre- Romanesque from the 11th century, and was originally free-stan ...

. The name was chosen for

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne (), in short form CalMac, is the trade name of CalMac Ferries Ltd, the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries to the west coast of Scotland, serving ports on the mainland and 22 of the major islands. It is a subsid ...

s first hybrid-powered vehicle ferry, launched in December 2012, now serving the Sconser to

route.

Analysis

Analyzing the English version (translated by MacLean himself) it is possible to notice that he used the first person narration and this technique enables the audience to share the emotions of the author. :"The window is nailed and boarded / Through which I saw the West / And my love is at the Burn of Hallaig, / A birch tree," The timeframe is uncertain as MacLean uses different tenses to mix past and present. According to the analysis of the BBC, "the birch tree depicts something alive but also rooted in the nature and history of the place." Also, they add that "MacLean's love is both compared to a tree and personified as a woman or girl. It could refer to his love of the place and the people (...) or it could be a specific woman he admires and feels love for." :"She is a birch, a hazel, / A straight, slender young rowan." MacLean establishes also a relation between people and nature, suggesting that they are one and the same and the pine trees plantations are related with artificial landscapes: :"They are not the wood I love" In the following line the narrator shows his suffering when he realizes that his people are dead and the village they left behind is empty, that makes the audience share his pain. However, it is still very hard for him to accept it because of his denialism of what happened. :"They are still in Hallaig... The dead have been seen alive."

Footnotes

External links

Text of the poem in Gaelic, with Sorley Maclean's own translation into English

* ttp://www.jmswd.com/sweeneyclan/misc/williamsweeney02.html A list of William Sweeney's works to 1996 including " Hallaig 12' "
Version of the poem in Scots
{{coord, 57.37205, N, 6.01019, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NG590384), display=title Scottish poems Scottish Gaelic poems Raasay

Background

Cultural influences

Analysis

Footnotes

See also

External links