Out of Doors: The works of Sorley MacLean
is widely regarded as the greatest Gaelic poet of all time. He was born on the island of Raasay into a large family who lived in a tiny house in the village of Oskaig.
Hallaig looking out to sea.
It was a family known to be tradition bearers, absorbed in Gaelic song, storytelling and pibroch. Sorley spent his childhood hearing the stories of his ancestors, fishing in the clarach - the stretch of water which lies between Raasay and Skye - and exploring woods, lochs and hills of his native island.
This is reflected in his poetry, which is populated almost entirely by references to the landscape of his childhood; the woods of Raasay, the sea around him, and, most significantly, the Cuillins of Skye which form the backdrop to everything he writes of. MacLean uses the Cuillin symbolically in his work - they are never simply what they are but represent something else. For example, the Cuillin represent left wing politics fighting against fascism during the Second World War in one poem. In 'The Woods of Raasay' the woods represent an innocence while Sgurr nan Gillean (in the Cuillins) is a 'fire dragon' representing the loss of innocence.
is remarkable in terms of how it represents the political and moral turbulance of the 20th Century. But it is also simply quite beautiful in the way in which it describes the landscape which we can still see today. Hallaig is perhaps his most famous poems; it describes the cleared village of the same name on Raasay and imagines it ringing with life. It is still possible to walk there on the east coast of Raasay and feel the sentiment that MacLean so vividly evokes in the poem.
Tune into a special edition of Out of Doors - Sorley MacLean on Raasay and Skye with Mark Stephen. Saturday from 7.06 and Sunday from 11.05.
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