MacIntyre, Duncan Ban

(1724-1812)

   Gaelic poet "Donnacha bàn nan Oran, fair-haired Duncan of the songs" was born of humble parents at Druimliaghart of Glenorchy, Argyllshire. Though he could not write, nor could he speak English, he could repeat all seven thousand verses of his poems. He fought for the Hanoverian army against Bonnie Prince Charlie and was present at the Battle of Falkirk on 17 January 1746, memorialized in some of his poems. He was a sergeant in the private regiment of the earl of Breadalbane from 1793 to 1799, and from 1806 until his death the bard lived on the earnings from his poetry. He died at Edinburgh and was buried in Greyfriars churchyard. In 1859 a monument was erected to him, under Celtic and Masonic auspices, on the Beacon Hill of Breadalbane, near Dalmally. Hugh MacDiarmid (see entry) translated MacIntyre's "Praise of Ben Doran." Some of his other poems: "Aoir Anna," "Final Farewell to the Bens [hills]," "Praise of Ben Doran," "Song of Edinburgh," "Song of the Battle of Falkirk," "Song to the Argyll Regiment," "The Author's Epitaph on Himself," "The Dark Maid of Rannoch," "Verses on Iona."

   Sources: 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 Songs of Duncan Ban Macintyre. Angus Macleod, ed. Scottish Gaelic Text Society, 1952. Poems of Duncan Ban Macintyre (http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/macintyre/).