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218:, and sentenced to 40 days imprisonment. All court documents relating to the case appear to have been lost and it is unclear exactly what happened. It is often claimed that another servant with a grudge against her planted the stolen clothes in Mairi Mhòr's box. She protested her innocence for the rest of her life and was almost universally believed by the
372:
319:. She was a skilled spinner and wool worker and made Blackie a tartan plaid. Later she devised a tartan which she called "The Blackie". Blackie gave her a beautifully crafted cromag (shepherd’s crook). She also presented Fraser-Mackintosh with a woollen suit. She had done the spinning and dying but not the weaving.
444:) had more vitality and ‘’joie de vivre’ than Màiri Mhòr…. Màiri’s poetry is rich in imagery and symbol although it is not very rich in metaphor … Màiri Mhòr’s poetry has always been greatly moving to the ‘sophisticated’ as well as a great many of the ‘unsophisticated’ among those who know her language”.
307:
with Fraser-Mackintosh, Mackenzie (Clach na Cùdainn), his son and
Kenneth MacDonald to gather support for the land struggle. ‘’Clach’’ tells her that the boat will sink if she gets on board with the rest as she weighs in at 17 stone (108 kg). Instead she is to wait behind and the boatman will return
308:
for her alone. She was 5 ft 9 inches tall (172.5cm) tall so the epithet mhòr can refer to her physique as well as to her status in Gaelic poetry. Among other well known and frequently sung songs from her Land League period are ‘’Oran Beinn Li’’, ‘’Coinneamh nan
Croitearan’’ and ‘’Eilean a’ Cheò’’
283:
On returning to Skye she lived with a friend, Mrs MacRae of Os, until
Lachlann MacDonald, laird of Skeabost provided her with a rent free cottage. She then became actively involved in the Crofters' War and the Highland land issue, which provided the themes of some of her best known songs. She is
267:
and other gatherings of Skye people. Both
Glasgow and Greenock had sizeable Gaelic-speaking communities at the time. It is thought that she probably sang at many of these cèilidhs as there is evidence of her frequently doing so after she retired to Skye in 1882. By this time she had acquired a
243:
and politician, is also said to have acted on her behalf, but it is unclear in what capacity. This marks the start of a friendship between the poet and the politician that lasted for the rest of her life. Her brush with the law and the feeling it aroused is recorded in
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in his ‘’History of the Island of Skye’’ as saying that Màiri’s songs had little permanent value after the events they commemorated has passed. Nicholson felt that ”few of her productions are worthy of preservation…. her imagery was too fleeting and superficial”
357:
During the
Highland Land League, song was a key mode of spreading information to local Gaelic speaking communities in Skye, many of whom were not literate in Gaelic. Furthermore her poetry now provides a significant body of evidence about the crofters' uprisings.
185:. Although she could read her own work when it was written down, she could not write it down herself. She retained her songs and poems in her memory and eventually dictated them to others, who wrote them down for publication. She often referred to herself as
209:
in 1844 where she married shoemaker Isaac MacPherson on 11 November 1847. She and Isaac had five children who lived to maturity. Following the death of her husband in 1871, Mairi Mhòr took employment as a domestic servant with the family of a
440:, on the other hand, wrote of her work that “Its greatness consists of the fusion of social and private passion…..with extra-ordinary vitality and ‘’ joie de vivre’’; for of all the Gaelic poets not even Alexander MacDonald (
463:). According to Maclean, "She attacked the English for their doings in Skye, though it was very plain that not one clearance had been made in Skye by anyone who had not a name as Gaelic as her own."
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Dòmhnall
Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)pp27-28 &30
641:
Dòmhnall
Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)19 &186-9
341:
Màiri Mhòr died in
Portree 1898 and was buried in Chapel Yard Cemetery in Inverness beside her husband. A gravestone was erected by Fraser-Mackintosh.
255:, aged about 50. Here she seems to have learned to read and write in English, and qualified with a nursing certificate and diploma in obstetrics from
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Dòmhnall
Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998) 19 & 29
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Dòmhnall
Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)31&186
614:
Dòmhnall Eachainn Meek, “Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)23-27
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Dòmhnall Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)45-46
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Dòmhnall Eachainn Meek, “Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain”(Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)30-31
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Dòmhnall Eachainn Meek,“Màiri Mhòr nan Òran : Taghadh de a h-Òrain” (Dùn Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gàidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)51-56
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reputation for her songs and her championing of the crofters in the increasingly heated debate over land rights. She sang at the first ever
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Somhairle Mac Gill-eain, "Ris a' Bhruaithaich The Criticism and Prose Writing of Sorley MacLean" (Stornoway : Acair, 1985)253&257
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Somhairle Mac Gill-eain, "Ris a' Bhruaithaich The Criticism and Prose Writing of Sorley MacLean" (Stornoway : Acair, 1985)251-2
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Somhairle Mac Gill-eain, "Ris a' Bhruaithaich The Criticism and Prose Writing of Sorley MacLean" (Stornoway : Acair, 1985)251
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At the same time, however, Maclean had pointed criticism of Màiri Mhòr's repeated decision in her poetry to blame the
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248:(I'm tired of the English speakers). She said that the humiliation (tàmailt) she endured brought her muse to life.
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682:"(1) Blair Collection > Dàin agus òrain Ghàidhlig Early Gaelic Book Collections National Library of Scotland"
189:(Mary, daughter of fair haired John), the name by which she would have been known in the Skye of her childhood.
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In one of her songs of this period, ‘'Nuair chaidh na ceithir ùr oirre’’ Mairi describes a crossing of the
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The great book of Skye : from the island to the world : people and place on a Scottish island
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16:"Mary MacPherson" redirects here. For the English socialist activist, see
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Mairi's loyalty to ancient Highland tradition and her people shows in
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Beaumont Crescent, Portree. Last known address of Mairi Mhor nan Oran
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meetings and to have been actively involved with campaigners such as
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speaking community. At the time of her trial, she was supported by
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315:, Mairi Mhòr greatly admired and became friendly with Professor
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Grave Stone of Mairi Mhòr in Chapel Yard Cemetery, Inverness
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Plaque on the Rosedale Hotel, Portree to Mairi Mhor nan Oran
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and her friend Fraser-Mackintosh in the run up to the
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367:Gaelic Songs and Poems, by Mary MacPherson, 1891.
311:Like her contemporary Gaelic bard and activist,
279:Photograph of Màiri Mhòr with her spinning whorl
322:Her last known address, at Beaumont Crescent,
788:
592:. Oxford University Press. 23 September 2004.
388:she tells of her hopes for her native Skye;
153:(English: Great Mary of the Songs) or simply
8:
662:, Waymarking.com, Retrieved 29 January 2016
251:On her release in 1872 Mairi Mhòr moved to
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567:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
263:to work but often returned to Glasgow for
24:
419:from the Green Island of the mist (Skye)
272:in Oban in 1892 but did not win a medal.
157:(10 March 1821 – 7 November 1898), was a
226:, campaigning journalist and founder of
605:, DASG.ac.uk, Retrieved 29 January 2016
590:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
497:
560:
1111:Resistance to the Highland Clearances
140:
7:
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580:
578:
1091:19th-century Scottish Gaelic poets
1086:19th-century British women writers
709:, (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2005)272-3.
480:1, Winter 1975, pp. 49 – 52,
14:
1136:Scottish women singer-songwriters
397:Gum bi ur crodh air bhuailtean ,
877:Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
442:Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
413:that your cattle will be penned
1126:Scottish human rights activists
246:Tha mi sgìth de luchd na Beurla
417: and the English cleared
400:'S gach tuathanach air dòigh,
284:known to have been present at
1:
851:Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh
539:. Maclean, Cailean. Portree.
402:'S na Sasannaich air fuadach,
1106:People from the Isle of Skye
1096:Calvinist and Reformed poets
404: A Eilean uain' a' Cheò
169:is focused heavily upon the
1121:Scottish Gaelic women poets
823:Scottish Gaelic Renaissance
429:Donald Meek quotes Sheriff
197:Mary MacDonald was born at
1162:
1045:Modern literature in Irish
818:Scottish Gaelic literature
804:Scottish Gaelic literature
535:Norman, Macdonald (2014).
173:and the Crofters War; the
167:Scottish Gaelic literature
15:
234:Charles Fraser-Mackintosh
1131:Scottish women activists
707:Songs of Gaelic Scotland
472:MacLean, Sorley (1975),
353:Significance of her work
187:Màiri Nighean Iain Bhàin
165:, whose contribution to
1141:Scottish Gaelic singers
1101:Land reform in Scotland
1005:Catrìona Lexy Chaimbeul
415:and every farm in order
259:. In 1876 she moved to
257:Glasgow Royal Infirmary
112:Glasgow Royal Infirmary
94:Nurse and midwife, poet
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944:Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna
736:Marcus Tanner (2004),
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738:The Last of the Celts
380:Critiques of her work
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995:Angus Peter Campbell
882:Duncan Ban MacIntyre
286:Highland Land League
175:Highland Land League
121:Highland Land League
969:Iain Crichton Smith
959:George Campbell Hay
913:Màiri Mhòr nan Òran
887:Iain Mac Fhearchair
767:Màiri Mhòr nan Oran
758:Màiri Mhór nan Òran
705:Anne Lorne Gillies,
474:Màiri Mhòr nan Òran
449:Highland Clearances
317:John Stuart Blackie
290:Alexander Mackenzie
181:and other forms of
171:Highland Clearances
151:Màiri Mhòr nan Òran
39:Màiri Mhòr nan Òran
1015:Aonghas MacNeacail
856:Sìleas na Ceapaich
769:by Saltire Society
455:on "the English" (
431:Alexander Nicolson
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1000:Maoilios Caimbeul
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224:John Murdoch
212:British Army
203:Isle of Skye
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179:rent strikes
163:Isle of Skye
154:
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149:), known as
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136:
135:
79:(1898-11-08)
22:
1081:1898 deaths
1076:1821 births
990:Anne Frater
985:Meg Bateman
328:blue plaque
35:Native name
1070:Categories
691:19 October
492:References
155:Màiri Mhòr
91:Occupation
53:1821-03-10
563:cite book
555:897503159
486:0307-2029
451:upon the
300:of 1886.
241:solicitor
238:Inverness
207:Inverness
146:MacDonald
109:Education
892:Rob Donn
846:Iain Lom
478:Calgacus
265:cèilidhs
261:Greenock
199:Skeabost
99:Language
68:Scotland
60:Skeabost
1028:Related
832:Writers
811:General
324:Portree
253:Glasgow
216:typhoid
84:Portree
553:
543:
484:
220:Gaelic
144:
127:Spouse
476:, in
693:2018
569:link
551:OCLC
541:ISBN
482:ISSN
193:Life
74:Died
64:Skye
45:Born
760:by
142:née
1072::
740:,
684:.
577:^
565:}}
561:{{
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500:^
459::
330:.
236:,
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66:,
62:,
796:e
789:t
782:v
695:.
571:)
557:.
139:(
55:)
51:(
20:.
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