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The poets Donald and John MacLean of Tiree.

Date 21 May 1970
Track ID 66500
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1970.108

Original Tape ID

SA1970.108

Summary

The poets Donald and John MacLean of Tiree.

The poet known as Donald the Cooper would often be away at the herring fishing because he was a cooper and could mend the barrels or make new ones. At that time, all big boats would have a cooper in the crew.

Donald Sinclair remembered his son, John, who was a crofter, and his grandchildren, who had died not long previously. They had a croft close to his own and they were his tenants at one time. There was now a man named MacPhail who lived at Lochside who was the tenant. He was married to a niece of Archibald Maclean, who had inherited the croft at Lochside from Archibald. MacPhail himself was a great-great-grandson of Donald the Cooper, and also held a croft inherited from him. Donald Sinclair gives further details as to the location of the crofts.

Donald the Cooper had a brother who was also a poet known as Iain Mac Ailein (John MacLean). Several of his grandchildren were also poets, but they mostly composed hymns. Most ministers were not against the composition of songs, as most of the poets wrote good verse. Even Iain Mac Ailein, who had written some verse miscalling people, he did not do so badly.

Iain Mac Ailein had composed a song to a Mrs Noble, a woman who had emigrated from Tiree and married a man named Noble in Canada.

Item Subject/Person

MacLean, Donald [Donald the Cooper]; MacLean, John;

Item Location

County - Argyllshire

Parish - Tiree

Island - Tiree

Language

English

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good