Calum Maclean
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
folklorist
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, collector, ethnographer
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, was born in 1915 in Òsgaig, Isle of Raasay, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, to a family of five boys and two girls to Malcolm MacLean (1880–1951), tailor, and his wife, Kirsty (1886–1974), daughter of Sorley Mor Nicolson of Braes, Skye, and his wife, Ishabel. His four other brothers were the famous Gaelic poet and scholar, Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century.-Early life:He was born at Osgaig on the island of Raasay on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language. He attended the University of Edinburgh and was an avid shinty player playing for the...
[Somhairle MacGill-Eain] (1911–1996), a schoolmaster and classicist, John Maclean (1910–1970), and two general practitioners, Dr. Alasdair Maclean (1918–1999), and Dr. Norman Maclean (c.1917-c.1980). Alasdair was also a historian. Ishabel and Mary, their sisters, were also schoolteachers.
Maclean received his early education at Raasay Primary School and then Portree
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....
High School (1929–1935), Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
. Maclean then went to the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
(1935–1939) where he took a first in Celtic Studies
Celtic Studies
Celtic studies is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to a Celtic people. This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history archaeology and history, the focus lying on the study of the various Celtic languages, living and extinct...
under the tutelage of two famous Gaelic scholars, Professor William J. Watson
William J. Watson
Professor William J. Watson was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis....
(1865–1948), and his son Professor James Carmichael Watson (1910–1942). He won the McCaig and Macpherson scholarships which enabled him to enrol at University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
where he undertook further study in Early Irish under Professor Osborn Bergin
Osborn Bergin
Osborn Joseph Bergin was a scholar of the Irish language and Early Irish literature. He was born in Cork and was educated at Queen's College Cork , then went to Germany for advanced studies in Celtic languages, working with Heinrich Zimmer at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin...
(1872–1950) and in Medieval and Modern Welsh under Professor J. Lloyd-Jones (1885–1965). At the outbreak of the Second World War, Maclean's studies came to a temporary halt and he had to cast around for some other means of livelihood. At first he worked in a factory in Clonmel
Clonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
, Co. Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
, and from there he went to stay in Indreabhán, just west of Galway City in Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
. While domiciled there, Maclean began to take an interest in the local Gaelic traditions, inspired mainly by the influence and writings of Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...
(1860–1949). With relative ease Maclean acquired a particular skill in the modern Irish of the Connaught Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
and was appointed by Professor Seumas Delargy
Séamus Ó Duilearga
Séamus Ó Duilearga was an Irish folklorist, professor of folklore at University College Dublin and the founder of the Irish Folklore Commission.-Selected publications:* The Gaelic Storyteller, 1945...
(1899–1980) as a part-time collector for the Irish Folklore Commission
Irish Folklore Commission
The Irish Folklore Commission was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland....
(Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann). During this period, Maclean turned his back on his Presbyterian upbringing and converted to the Roman Catholic faith. From August 1942 to February 1945, Maclean sent a considerable amount of southern Connemara lore to the Commission, amounting to six bound volumes. From March 1945 Maclean was employed as a temporary cataloguer by the Commission in Dublin. During the next few months, Maclean learnt the craft of folklore, extracting excerpts from 19th century printed Scottish Gaelic tale collections and gaining experience in cataloguing.
On 19 December 1945, the Irish Folklore Commission sent Calum Maclean to the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
with an ediphone recording device so that at least one serious attempt would be made at the scientific preservation of this material before the last Gaelic storytellers and folk-singers who had escaped the net of the 1872 Education Act had died. Maclean was fully conscious of the task that lay before him and applied himself to the work with gusto. An entry from a diary, which he wrote in Gaelic, gives an insight into his work as an ethnographer at this time:
Thòisich mise, Calum I. Mac Gille Eathain, a' cruinneachadh beul-airthris agus litreachas beóil ann an eilean Ratharsair am paraiste Phort-righeadh anns an Eilean Sgitheanach air an 19mh lá de 'n Dùdhlachd (Nodhlaig) 1945. Rugadh mi agus chaidh mo thogail anns an eilean seo. An uair a bha mise òg bha tòrr dhaoine anns an eilean seo aig a robh sgeulachdan agus seann-òrain nach deachaidh a sgrìobhadh sios riamh is nach téid a sgrìobhadh sios gu bràth. Tha an t-seann-fheadhainn an nis marbh agus thug iad gach rud a bha aca leotha do'n uaigh. Có dhiubh tha cuid de dhaoine ann fhathast a chuimhneachas bloighean de na h-òrain a bhiodh aca agus bloighean de'n t-seanchas eile cuideachd. Shaoil mi gu robh barrachd òran air am fàgail anns an eilean seo na bha de aon rud eile. Uime sin chuir mi romham na h-òrain a sgrìobhadh sios uile mar a chuala mi aig na daoine iad. Ach sgrìobh mi sios cuideachd gach rud a thachair rium. Tha fhios agam gu bheil sinn tri fichead bliadhna ro anamoch gu tòiseachadh air an obair seo, ach dh 'fhaoite gu sàbhail sinn rud air chor eigin fhathast, mun téid a uile a dhìth…
I, Calum I. Maclean, began two days ago to collect the oral tradition of the island of Raasay. I was born and reared on this island. When I was young there were many people here who had tales and songs which had never been written down, and which never will be, since the old people are now dead, and all that they knew is with them in the grave. There are still some people alive who remember some of the songs and traditions of their forefathers, and as it seemed to me that there are more songs than anything else available, I decided to write down those which I could find. I realise that we are sixty years late in beginning this work of collection, but we may be able to save at least some of the traditional lore before it dies out…
It was clear from Maclean's preliminary collection he made (mainly from his own relations) in Raasay that there was still a great deal to collect and, in light of this, the Irish Folklore Commission took the decision in summer 1946 to send Maclean back to his native land in order that he could continue his work in the field. This was enabled by an official grant from the Irish Government of £2,000. Over the next four and a half years (from June 1946 to the end of December 1950), while still in the employ of the Commission, Maclean worked assiduously in collecting a further nineteen bound volumes of lore (amounting to over 9,000 manuscript pages) as well as his diaries, amounting to a further five full bound volumes (over 2,000 manuscript pages). It was during this period that Maclean collected the longest story ever recorded in Scotland, the 58,000 words of Alasdair mac a' Cheird (Alasdair son of the Caird), told to him in 1949 by Angus MacMillan. This almost doubled the previous "record" of the 30,000 words of Leigheas Coise Cein (The Healing of Kane's Leg), recorded from Lachlin MacNeill, an Islayman, by John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell , Celtic scholar, educated at Eton and Edinburgh, was afterwards Secretary to the Lighthouse Commission...
and Hector Maclean
Hector MacLean
Wing Commander Hector MacLean AE* was a Battle of Britain fighter pilot.-Biography:MacLean was educated at Canford School, Dorset and the University of Glasgow, from where he graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1935....
in 1870.
On New Year's Day 1951, Maclean formally began to work for the newly founded School of Scottish Studies
School of Scottish Studies
The School of Scottish Studies was founded in 1951, and is affiliated to the University of Edinburgh. It holds an archive of over 9000 field recordings of traditional music, song and other lore, housed in George Square, Edinburgh...
based at his alma mater, the University of Edinburgh. Since being given this long over due institutional berth, the systematic collection of Scottish Gaelic and Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
folklore began in earnest through the avid work of Calum Maclean, the School's first appointed collector, Hamish Henderson
Hamish Henderson
Hamish Scott Henderson, was a Scottish poet, songwriter, soldier, and intellectual....
(1919–2002), John MacInnes
John MacInnes
John J. MacInnes was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender and NCAA hockey head coach. He was born in Toronto, Ontario.-Playing career:...
(1930-), to name but a few, and their successors. The very first recordings that he made for the School included no less than 524 Gaelic tales from a roadman encountered "in the dead of winter, and Lochaber lay white and deep in snow." The last that Maclean made were literally on his death bed.
Maclean was the first person to undertake the systematic collection of the old Gaelic songs, stories and traditions in the Highlands and Islands with modern recording apparatus. Therein lies the importance of his work. A good deal had been done previously in the way of collecting old stories in the Highlands by John Francis Campbell of Islay (1821–1885) and his collectors, but lacking any means of making mechanical recordings, their task of writing down such tales from dictation was a very laborious one, and J. F. Campbell himself admitted that his collection in no way exhausted the stories current in the Highlands "whole districts are yet untried, and whole classes of stories, such as popular history and robber stories, have yet been untouched."
Most importantly, Maclean spent a little over a year (from Summer 1951 to Autumn 1952) undertaking professional training at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
which was then, as now, at the forefront of folklore methodology, cataloguing and archival techniques. Maclean benefited greatly by what he learnt at this institution as well as his time at the Irish Folklore Commission. Having studied under Professor Dag Strömbäck, he later set up an index system for Scottish folklore at the School of Scottish Studies based on the Uppsala one. Maclean's fieldwork experience, in-depth knowledge of Gaelic oral tradition and broad academic knowledge provided him with a unique combination of skills that were advantageous to collecting. In addition, Maclean had a remarkable facility to put people at ease and so gained their confidence. He stressed this observation in one of his articles that "for any folklore collector the crucial time is when contact is first made with the tradition bearer" and that "every folklore collector must be prepared to efface himself and approach even the most humble tradition bearer with the deference due to the high and exalted." Calum Maclean lived out this principle to the full, and so, with his easy-going personality coupled with a sometimes-mischievous sense of humour, managed to open many a door that would have otherwise been closed. Everywhere he went he found the best contacts and tradition bearers and by doing so he managed to gather in a vast amount of oral material straight from people's memories. Out of the hundreds of people recorded by Maclean, there were four storytellers that struck him as exceptionally talented: Seumas MacKinnon, known as Seumas Iain Ghunnairigh, (c. 1866-c.1946), from Northbay in Barra
Barra
The island of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay, to which it is connected by a causeway, is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.-Geography:The 2001 census showed that the resident population was 1,078...
, Duncan MacDonald, Donnchadh Mac Dhòmhnaill 'ic Dhonnchaidh, (1882–1954), from Peninerine in South Uist
South Uist
South Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...
, Angus (Barrach) MacMillan (1874–1954), from Griminish in Benbecula
Benbecula
Benbecula is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,249, with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It forms part of the area administered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or the Western...
and John (The Bard) MacDonald (1876–1964) from Highbridge in Brae Lochaber.
Maclean was struck down by cancer in 1956 necessitating the amputation of his left arm the following year. Even with the onset of cancer that was to finish him, he continued to work and remain cheerful under extremely adverse circumstances that reflected the strength of character that belied his small stature. Sadly, Maclean's only major publication was "The Highlands" (1959), and what may be described as an uncompromising view of the Highland people, history and culture from the perspective of an insider, a Gaelic-speaking Scot, received many favourable critical reviews on publication. Apart from a modest amount of academic papers and popular publications, due to the amount of time spent in recording, and the concomitant task of transcription and indexing, Maclean's foremost legacy is his vast collection of mainly Gaelic oral tradition carried out in the field over a fourteen-year period (1946–1960). The vast majority of the collection was made in the Western Isles (in South Uist, Benbecula and Barra) and on the mainland Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
. Maclean was always conscious of being a successor to those great collectors who had gone before him: John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell , Celtic scholar, educated at Eton and Edinburgh, was afterwards Secretary to the Lighthouse Commission...
(1821-1885), Hector Maclean
Hector MacLean
Wing Commander Hector MacLean AE* was a Battle of Britain fighter pilot.-Biography:MacLean was educated at Canford School, Dorset and the University of Glasgow, from where he graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1935....
(1818–1892), John Dewar (1802–1872), Alexander Carmichael
Alexander Carmichael
Alexander Carmichael was a writer and folklorist, best known for his multi volume work Carmina Gadelica.-Life:...
(1832–1912), Fr. Allan McDonald (1859–1905), as well as many others. In some ways he surpassed them all.
At the comparatively youthful age of only 44, on 17 August 1960, Calum Maclean lost his battle against cancer and died in the Sacred Heart Hospital, Daliburgh
Daliburgh
Daliburgh is a crofting township in Scotland situated one and a half miles west from Lochboisdale and has the second largest population of any township in South Uist.Like Lochboisdale, Daliburgh has undergone major changes in recent years....
, South Uist, Scotland. He was to have received, in September of that year, from the St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...
at Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
– an institution with very strong Highland connections – the degree of LL.D., honoris causa, for recognition of his work for the preservation of Gaelic oral tradition. It was a fitting honour for a scholar – the one word that he pleaded not to have marked on his gravestone – who had spent so many long hours collecting in the field. He was buried in Hallan Cemetery, South Uist
South Uist
South Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...
, an island that not only claimed him but one that he claimed to be his own. His brother, Sorley MacLean, wrote a moving elegy typifying for many the great loss felt at his death:
Tha iomadh duine bochd an Albainn
dhan tug thu togail agus cliù;
’s ann a thog thu ’n t-iriosail
a chuir ar linn air chùl.
Thug iad dhutsa barrachd
na bheireadh iad do chàch
on thug thu dhaibh an dùrachd
bu ghrìosaich fo do bhàigh.
Mhothaich iadsan an dealas
a bha socair na do dhòigh,
thuig iad doimhne throm do dhaondachd
nuair b’aotroime do spòrs.
There is many a poor man in Scotland
Whose spirit and name you raised;
You lifted the humble
Whom our age put aside.
They gave you more
Than they would give the others
Since you gave them the zeal
That was a fire beneath your kindness
They sensed the vehemence
That was gentle in your ways,
They understood the heavy depths of your humanity
When your fun was at its lightest.
----
Select Chronological Bibliography
'Traditional Songs from Raasay and their value as Folk-Literature', The Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vol. XXXIX/XL (1942–50), 176-92'Sgéalta as Albain', Béaloideas: The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society, vol. XV (1945), 237-48
'Gaidheil Eireann agus am Beul-Aithris', Alba, vol. 1 (1948), 44-47
'Hebridean Storytellers', ARV: Journal of Scandinavian Studies, vol. 8 (1952), 120-29
'Tales and Traditions among the Older Folk', Old People's Welfare Scottish Bulletin (July, 1954)
'Death Divination in Scottish Folk Tradition', The Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vol. XLII (1953–59), 56-67
'Aonghus agus Donnchadh', Gairm, air. 10 (An Geamhradh, 1954), 170-74
'A Legend of the Cross,' ARV: Journal of Scandinavian Studies, vol. 11 (1955), 150-51
'Hebridean Traditions', Gwerin: Journal of Folk life, vol. 1, no. 1 (1956), 21-33
'A Shetland Version of the Legend of Don Juan', Shetland Folk Book, vol. 3 (1957), 65-67
'Am Ministear agus an Claban', Scottish Studies, vol. 1 (1957), 65-69
'International Folk-Tales in the Archives', Scottish Studies, vol. 2 (1958), 113-17
'A Folk-Variant of Táin Bó Cúailnge from Uist', ARV: Journal of Scandinavian Studies, vol. 15 (1959), 160-81
'A Variant of the Charm of the Lasting Life from Uist', Saga och Sed (1959), 75-78
'An Donn Ghuailleann', Gairm, air. 29 (Am Foghar, 1959), 67-71
The Highlands (London: Batsford, 1959) [repr. Inverness: Club Leabhar, 1975; Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1990, 2006]
'Traditional Beliefs in Scotland', Scottish Studies, vol. 3 (1959), 189-200
'A Collection of Riddles from Shetland', Scottish Studies, vol. 4 (1960), 150-86 [with Stewart F. Sanderson]
'Fairy Stories from Lochaber', Scottish Studies, vol. 4 (1960), 84-95
'The Study of (the) Folklore', An Gaidheal, vol. 55 (1960), 80-82; 104-06; 117-18
'Is daor a cheannaich mi 'n t-iasgach', Scottish Gaelic Studies, vol. IX, pt. 1 (1961), 1-8
'Folktale Studies in Scotland', Internationaler Kongreß der Volkserzählungsforscher in Kiel und Kophenhagen (19.8.—29.8.1959) (Berlin, 1961), 169-71
'The Last Sheaf', Scottish Studies, vol. 8 (1964), 193-207