Review by Jenny McBain
SORLEY MACLEAN AND MAIRI MHOR NAN ORAN – A CELEBRATION (Tarskavaig Communities Hall, Isle of Skye, 3 August 2009)
5 Aug 2009 in Highland, Music, Visual Arts & Crafts, Writing
TERRY WILLIAMS sees Aos Dana launched with a double celebration of two great Skye artists
Sorley MacLean by Donald MacKenzie (© Terry Williams)
TARSKAVAIG are taking Aos Dana – the literary side of Feis an Eilean – into their own community Feis this week, squeezing six days of literary and music events into one of Skye’s smallest village halls. It began with a packed audience and a mix of painting, song and poetry in Gaelic and English.
Skye artist Donald MacKenzie had two fine portraits on display. “Her songs jump out at you,” he said of Mairi Mhor nan Oran (1821-98). And, on discovering the poetry of Sorley MacLean (1911-1996), “the more I read, the more amazed I became”. On the wall behind him, an assured woman with a twinkle in her eye and a man with a penetrating gaze stood among incidents and landscapes that shaped their lives and poetry. “They were completely different but with a lot in common,” said Donald.
Mairi Mhor couldn’t write but had a phenomenal memory. Christine Grahame sang two of Mairi’s songs, composed in a prison cell: ‘Tha mi sgith de Luchd na Beurla’ (I’m tired of the English) and ‘Moladh Beinn Li’ (Praise of Beinn Li).
In contrast, Sorley’s written language was complex, existentialist and multi-faceted, said Angus Peter Campbell, one of the evening’s present-day poets. Maoilios Caimbeul said Mairi Mhor was “a beacon for womanhood”, combining poetry and political activism in an age when both were male territory.
Sorley MacLean had influenced all four guest poets. Rob Kerr’s pipe tunes and poetry share his sense of place, especially the Cuillin. Angus Peter referred to Sorley’s “sacredness of being born and nutured in that cradle between the Cuillin and the sea”, as he introduced a short story set in Uist. Meg Bateman drew on the theme of love and accepting “life’s dead ends”, while Maoilios adopted the cadences of Coilltean Ratharsaidh in his poem of praise.
Mairi Mhor had the last word – Christine Grahame sang ‘Eilean a’ Cheo’, and the two great poets looked on. It was a fine start and there’s more to come – from fiddle music and piping to botanising and Hebridean galleys. Tarskavaig is only four miles over the hill from Armadale!
© Terry Williams, 2009
