MacDonald, Alexander, Alasdair

(?1700-?1780)

   His Gaelic name is Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair. He was born at Dalilea on Loch Shiel, Argyllshire, the son of the Episcopal clergyman of Ardnamurchan. He attended Glasgow University and was teacher in Ardnamurchan in the service of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands and Isles. He held a commission in the highland army under his cousin, Charles MacEachainn, and was active in the '45 Rebellion. When the battle was lost, his property was confiscated and he wandered the Highlands until the passing of the Act of Indemnity gave him again a settled home. He was buried in the cemetery of Kilmhoree, Arisaig. Some of his publications: Gaelic and English Vocabulary, 1741. Incitement to the Highland Clans, 1745 (a rallying call for Bonnie Prince Charlie in the '45 rebellion). Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Tongue, 1751 (the first book of Gaelic Poetry). Some of his poems: "Clanranald's Galley," "Song of Summer," "The Birlinn of Clanranald," "The Manning of the Birlinn," "Oran Nam Fineachan Gaidhealach [The Gaelic Song of the Clans]."

   Sources: Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1695-c. 1770), Poet (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/MacDonald, Alexander, Alasdaircrumey/ alexander_macdonald.html). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Gaelic Song of the Clans (http://chrsouchon.free.fr/orannam.htm). The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse. Robert Crawford and Mick Imlah, eds. Penguin Books, 2000. The Poetry of Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair. Ronald Black, ed. Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2005. The Scottish Collection of Verse to 1800. Eileen Dunlop and Kamm Antony, eds. Richard Drew, 1985. Who's Who in the Jacobite Camp (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stephen.lord2/Page%20Four.htm).