Allan MacDonald (poet) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Allan MacDonald
Church	Latin Church
Diocese	Argyll and the Isles
Orders
Ordination	9 July 1882
Personal details
Born	25 October 1859 Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland
Died	8 October 1905 (aged 45) Eriskay, Scotland

Allan MacDonald (known in Scottish Gaelic as Maighstir Ailein or An t-Athair Ailean Dòmhnallach) was a Scottish Roman Catholic priest who lived from 1859 to 1905. He was born in Fort William, Scotland, and passed away in Eriskay. Father Allan lived during the Victorian era, a time when many people in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were struggling.

He was a strong voice for change during the Highland Clearances. This was a difficult period when powerful landlords could easily raise rents or force their tenants to leave their homes. Father Allan fought for the rights of these tenants. He was also a very talented poet who wrote in Scottish Gaelic, and his work is still important in Scottish Gaelic literature. Besides that, he was a respected folklorist, meaning he collected old stories, songs, and traditions from the people he met.

Allan MacDonald grew up in Fort William, a town in Lochaber. His family was from a respected Scottish lineage, connected to figures like Somerled and King Robert the Bruce. Even with this background, his parents wanted him to speak only English, which was seen as a way to get ahead. However, when he was studying to become a priest, he decided to learn Scottish Gaelic, his family's traditional language. He became very good at speaking and writing it.

After becoming a priest, Father Allan was sent to the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles. This was during a time of great unrest called the Crofters' War. Like many other priests in the Highlands, Father Allan became a leading activist. He worked hard to get better rights for tenants, fair rents, and the right for people to stay on their land. He also fought against unfair political control and religious discrimination that kept his church members in the Outer Hebrides very poor.

In 1889, Father Allan published a book of Catholic hymns in Scottish Gaelic. These hymns included old songs he had collected and some he had translated himself. This hymn book is still used today. Even though he became a well-known figure and a respected scholar, Father Allan worked tirelessly in the islands of South Uist and Eriskay. He died at the young age of 45 from illnesses like pneumonia and influenza.

Years after his death, many of Father Allan's unpublished poems were found and published in 1965. A scholar named John Lorne Campbell worked hard to find and share these writings. Campbell also showed how some of Father Allan's folklore notes were unfairly used and changed by another researcher, Ada Goodrich Freer, without giving him proper credit.

In 1958, John Lorne Campbell praised Father Allan's careful and respectful way of collecting stories from the Gaelic oral tradition. He said Father Allan was a disciplined and intelligent man who disliked anything fake or overly emotional. In 2002, another scholar, Ronald Black, called Father Allan MacDonald "a huge literary talent." He said Father Allan was one of the first to write modern and symbolic poetry in Scottish Gaelic. Black especially admired Father Allan's poem Ceum nam Mìltean ("The March of Thousands"). This poem describes a dream about thousands of young men marching off to a war they won't return from. Ronald Black felt this poem was so powerful it should be in any collection of war poetry from the First World War. He believed that if Father Allan had lived longer, Scottish Gaelic literature would have been very different.

Early Life and Childhood Stories

Ben Nevis Inn where Fr. Allan MacDonald is believed to have been born

Allan MacDonald was the third child in his family. He was born on October 25, 1859, in an upper room of his father's inn. He was named after his grandfather, Allan MacDonald.

Father MacDonald later remembered how his hometown of Fort William changed during his childhood. More and more people started speaking English instead of Gaelic. He described Fort William as "half Lowland and half Highland." He felt sad that he didn't grow up learning the old stories and poems that were shared in Gaelic homes. He wished he had been born "fifteen miles to the westward," where Gaelic traditions were stronger.

However, census records from that time show that about 70% of people in Fort William could speak both English and Gaelic. But English was important for business and getting ahead, so Father Allan's parents, who ran an inn, chose to teach their children only English.

Even so, Father Allan became fascinated with Scottish folklore from the Highlands and Islands when he was a child. His father also shared this interest. He told a story about how he believed in the each-uisge, or "water horse," from nearby Loch Linnhe. This magical horse could make its back bigger to fit all the children who wanted to ride it. But then, it would gallop into the lake to drown and eat them. Father Allan remembered, "Many's the horse I wouldn't get on as a child for fear it would be the each-uisge."

Becoming a Priest

Studies at Blair's College

On August 15, 1871, when he was 12 years old, Allan MacDonald went to Blair's College in Aberdeen. This was a school for boys who wanted to become priests. At the time, he only spoke English.

Life at Blair's College in the 1870s was very strict and simple. Father MacDonald often said later that the difficulties of being a priest in the Outer Hebrides felt luxurious compared to his time at Blair's.

He didn't get along well with the head of the college, Father Peter Joseph Grant. In a Gaelic poem, Father MacDonald called him "that ghastly man called Grant." He complained about how Father Grant made them study hard before giving them their simple porridge.

His teachers also included Father James A. Smith, who later became an Archbishop. The main language they studied was Ecclesiastical Latin. Students who wanted to learn Gaelic could use a Gaelic dictionary and a Gaelic translation of a religious book. Many students successfully learned Gaelic this way. Allan MacDonald was also helped by other students who were native Gaelic speakers.

While he was studying at Blair's College, both of Allan MacDonald's parents passed away. His father died in 1873 at age 58, and his mother died in 1875 at age 45. His siblings then left home and went their separate ways.

Studies in Spain

In September 1876, Allan MacDonald was advised to continue his training at the Royal Scots College in Valladolid, Spain. This college had been founded in 1627 for Scottish Catholic priests. Allan MacDonald began his journey to Spain just before his seventeenth birthday.

The Royal Scots College was located in an 18th-century building in Valladolid. Allan MacDonald arrived there after traveling by train through Paris and Bordeaux.

The head of the college at the time was Father John Cowie. He was known for being very strict and sticking to old rules. One professor even said, "Lord, save us from scrupulous Rectors," meaning overly cautious leaders. Allan MacDonald understood why he needed to learn Latin, but he didn't like studying Greek or philosophy.

However, the Vice-Rector, Father David MacDonald, who was from Fort William and spoke Gaelic, had a big influence on Allan MacDonald. Father David MacDonald was known for being kind and learned. He disagreed with the strictness of the other rectors. He also started a special program for students to learn Gaelic. He knew that many of his students would serve parishes where people only spoke Scottish Gaelic.

This program gave Allan MacDonald a clear reason to become fluent in Gaelic. He wanted to serve his people in the Highlands and Islands. He knew that without Gaelic, he might be sent to a city parish instead.

Students at Valladolid, including Allan MacDonald, even created their own Gaelic magazine by hand. Father Allan contributed to it using different pen names.

In March 1882, a 22-year-old Allan MacDonald returned to Scotland after five years in Spain. He always remembered his time in Spain fondly, calling it "a place of no small happiness."

Becoming a Priest

After his return, Allan MacDonald's teachers were very happy with his knowledge and good judgment. He was ordained as a priest at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow on July 9, 1882.

Serving in Oban

After becoming a priest, Father Allan MacDonald was offered a teaching job at Blair's College, but he turned it down.

Instead, he was assigned to St Columba's Cathedral in Oban. There, he became close friends with Bishop Angus MacDonald.

At that time, most people in Oban spoke Gaelic, but Catholics were a small group. There was strong anti-Catholicism, so much so that the Bishop sometimes needed a bodyguard. Oban was important because it was seen as the "capital of the West Highlands."

While in Oban, Father Allan's Gaelic skills greatly improved. He was also known for being very tall, standing at 6 feet 3 inches. He was sometimes called the "high priest."

It was in Oban that Father Allan began his important work of collecting old stories and traditions. He met a fisherman named Donald MacLeod, who taught him traditional Catholic hymns in Gaelic. This was the start of his lifelong interest in collecting Gaelic oral traditions, including prayers, songs, stories, and local history.

By 1884, Father MacDonald's Gaelic was considered good enough. He again turned down a teaching job at Blair's College and was assigned to a parish in the Outer Hebrides.

Life in South Uist

Starting Out

Father Allan was assigned to St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Daliburgh, on the Isle of South Uist. This was the most populated and poorest island in the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles, which was itself the poorest diocese in Britain.

Life was very hard for the people of Daliburgh. Most of the good land had been taken for large sheep farms, and many people had been forced to live in poor areas near the coast. They tried to make a living from kelp (seaweed) or fishing, but often didn't have enough money to succeed.

When he arrived, Father Allan was guided by an older priest, Father Alexander Campbell, who taught him about the local Gaelic dialect and customs. Father Campbell advised him, "There are two kinds of priests that don't get on well with the Islemen. Those who make themselves too friendly, and those who don't make themselves friendly enough."

Father Allan later recalled that after a few quiet Sundays, he gave a powerful sermon. When people went home, they said, "There's something in the long-fair man!"

Working as a priest in these islands was very challenging. Father Allan's parish covered about forty square miles and was exposed to strong Atlantic storms. His church members were spread out, and some villages could only be reached by rough paths. He had many duties: Sunday services, confessions, visiting the sick, repairing the church, and teaching children, which he cared about deeply.

Fighting for Rights

The island's landlord, Lady Emily Gordon Cathcart, rarely visited South Uist. She didn't spend money on improvements because she wanted her tenants to leave the island. In her absence, South Uist was controlled by a small group of powerful people, including her agent (called a "factor") and local ministers. Lady Cathcart also controlled local politics. Even though over 80% of the people were Catholic, they were kept out of local government and the school board, which refused to hire Catholic teachers.

Bishop Angus MacDonald strongly believed in helping his people. He encouraged his priests to lead local groups like the Highland Land League and to resist the landlords, similar to the Land War in Ireland.

Father Allan was very active in demanding more rights for the poor farmers, known as Crofters. He encouraged his church members to vote against the candidates supported by Lady Cathcart and her factor. This required great skill, and it's a testament to his character that even Protestants on South Uist spoke highly of him.

In June 1886, a new law called the Crofters Act of 1886 was passed. This law was a huge victory for the people of the Highlands and Islands. It meant fairer rents, payment for improvements to land, and most importantly, the right for Crofters to stay on their land. The days of mass evictions were over. People could now vote without fear of punishment.

Even with this new law, Lady Emily Gordon Cathcart continued to try to find ways to evict her tenants. However, the lives of Father Allan's church members began to improve. They could finally build more secure homes and grow better crops without worrying about huge rent increases.

School Board Member

In early 1888, the first truly free school board election took place in South Uist. Father MacDonald wrote to Bishop MacDonald that almost everyone in his parish voted, despite the cold weather. Four Catholics and three Protestants were elected to the school board. Father MacDonald was very pleased, noting that the people spoke "manfully and defiantly."

Being on the school board meant Father Allan often had to walk for hours in bad weather to preach, visit the sick, or check on the nine schools he oversaw as chairman.

Soon after, a new headmaster was needed for the Garrynomonie school. Frederick G. Rea, a Catholic teacher from Manchester, was chosen. Father MacDonald wrote to his Bishop that Rea was an "excellent Christian and an able teacher." When Rea arrived, Father MacDonald, "a tall figure clad in clerical black," greeted him warmly.

Moving to Eriskay

From his first assignment in Daliburgh, about 300 of Father Allan's 2300 church members lived on the Island of Eriskay. This island was separated from South Uist by a half-mile of sea with strong currents.

The population of Eriskay had grown a lot during the Highland Clearances. Landlords considered Eriskay "agriculturally worthless," so they used it as a place to send tenants who had been forced off other islands.

To visit someone sick on Eriskay, Father Allan had to walk six or seven miles, often in the rain, to the shore. There, he would light a fire so that boatmen from Eriskay would know to come and get him. Once, he was almost drowned during one of these crossings.

Father Allan's health suffered during an epidemic when he worked tirelessly to help the dying. To help him recover, he was assigned to Eriskay. He loved the island so much that he wrote a poem about it called Eilein na h-Òige (Isle of Youth). He quickly won the hearts of his church members and oversaw the building of a new church and a house for the priest. The church was built on a hill with beautiful views.

When schoolmaster Frederick Rea visited Eriskay, he saw that the people were building the church and rectory themselves. They shaped the stones and made mortar from burnt shells and sand. They even used wood from wrecked ships. When Rea worried about the church's exposed location, Father MacDonald exclaimed, "What could be grander? Exposed to the four winds of heaven!"

The fishermen of Eriskay always donated the money from every other Friday's catch to the church building fund. And, according to a local merchant, their catch on those days was always very large! Father Allan also sold his Gaelic manuscripts, which were the result of over 20 years of collecting, and gave the money to the building fund.

The church was officially opened on May 7, 1903, and dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of the Outer Hebrides. In May 1905, Father MacDonald wrote to a friend that he was "as happy as a king" and preferred to stay in Eriskay rather than move to Fort William.

Death

Father Allan MacDonald died from pneumonia, pleurisy, and influenza in his rectory bed at 1 AM on October 8, 1905. He was 45 years old. His younger brother, Ronald, was with him. His younger sister, Elizabeth, also survived him. Elizabeth's daughter, Margaret "Meg" MacInnes, became a well-known Gaelic singer and was seen as Father Allan's successor.

A special church service was held for him at St. Michael's Church. Twenty-one priests, many of Father Allan's friends, and all the people of the island attended. Father Allan had already chosen his burial spot near the church, facing the Sound of Barra. He had cleared it and fenced it with driftwood, saying, "Let me be buried amongst my dead and near to my living people, that I may be near them, and that they and I may rise together on Judgment Day."

After the service, Father Allan's coffin was carried to the cemetery. The priests followed, and then the weeping people of the island. It was said to be the last funeral in the Hebrides where the tradition of Keening, or Coronach, was used. After the coffin was lowered, the people of Eriskay pushed aside the gravediggers and personally refilled the grave with handfuls of soil.

A Celtic High cross was placed at Father Allan MacDonald's grave in 1909.

Collector of Stories and Traditions

Father MacDonald started collecting folklore when he was in Oban. He gathered many Catholic hymns in Scottish Gaelic from a fisherman named Donald MacLeod. He added his own songs and translations and published a Gaelic hymn book in 1893 without his name on it.

When he moved to South Uist, his mentor, Father Alexander Campbell, encouraged him to keep collecting local stories and traditions. Father Campbell, who had helped a famous folklorist, often told Father Allan, "My boy, when you've ploughed what I've harrowed, you'll believe more things."

Father MacDonald loved the history of the Jacobite rising of 1745. His writings, though not published, are still a valuable source of Scottish mythology and history.

His collections of folklore are huge, probably the largest ever made by one person about a specific area. He was friends with many famous scholars in Scotland and Ireland who often asked him questions that only someone living in the area could answer. He also created a vocabulary of South Uist Gaelic and wrote a short diary in Gaelic.

Father MacDonald was so respected that other scholars often asked for his advice. He also provided most of the material for Ada Goodrich Freer, who was investigating stories about second sight in the Hebrides. However, Goodrich Freer changed his reports to fit her own ideas and published them under her name, giving him almost no credit.

After Father Allan's diaries and notebooks were found, John Lorne Campbell realized that Goodrich Freer had used almost all of Father Allan's research without proper acknowledgment. Campbell found many instances of her copying his work and even changing his findings. For example, she presented his old folk memories as if they had happened recently.

When Campbell shared his findings, some people were upset, thinking he was attacking a dead woman's reputation. But Campbell argued that he needed to clear Father Allan's name, whose work had been so heavily copied that it prevented his own writings from being published.

Poet

Life for a 19th-century priest in the Western Islands could be lonely, especially for young men who had traveled and studied a lot. There were no libraries, few newspapers, and mail was rare. So, priests often found hobbies. Some hunted or fished, others played sports or games. Father MacDonald collected local traditions and wrote poetry. He believed that having a "bye-study" (a hobby) was a "lifelong joy and recreation" and much needed when one was isolated.

Religious Poetry

As expected from a priest, much of Father MacDonald's poetry was religious. He wrote Scottish Gaelic Christmas carols, hymns, and poems honoring the Blessed Virgin, the Christ Child, and the Blessed Sacrament. In some Christmas poems, he noted that the Christ child was met with hatred, not joy.

Ronald Black praised Father Allan's religious poem Adhram Thu, Adhbhar Mo Bhith ("I Worship You, O Cause of My Being") as a powerful hymn.

Father MacDonald also translated Latin hymns and religious poems into Gaelic verse, including famous ones like Dies irae and Stabat Mater.

John Lorne Campbell said that Father Allan quickly saw the great value of the vast Gaelic oral tradition. He worked to save what he could and to include traditional religious material in modern religious writings.

He also tried to fill gaps in the oral traditions of the Outer Hebrides. For example, he heard that children in South Uist used to memorize a catechism (religious teachings) in Gaelic poetry before 1829. Since no one could remember it anymore, Father MacDonald decided to recreate it. He wrote a series of "didactic hymns" that translated and put into verse a well-known catechism.

In his song-poem An Eaglais ("The Church"), Father MacDonald used the old idea of the Catholic Church as a ship. He imagined Jesus Christ as a Hebridean shipbuilder. He wrote this poem in the style of a Waulking song, a traditional Gaelic song sung while processing cloth.

Father MacDonald also wrote Gaelic songs to be sung during Mass, as an alternative to the unaccompanied Gaelic psalm singing common in other churches. These songs explained Catholic beliefs about what happens during Mass. They were sung in churches on Benbecula, Barra, South Uist, and Eriskay until the 1960s. Each parish had its own way of singing them.

The words and tunes of these songs were written down based on recordings made in the 1970s. They were published with musical notes in a 2002 book of Father Allan MacDonald's poetry and songs.

Other Poetry

Father MacDonald also wrote several non-religious poems and songs.

For example, in his famous song poem Eilein na h-Òige ("Island of the Young"), he praised the beauty of Eriskay, its wildlife, and how its people loved telling stories from the Fenian Cycle of Celtic mythology in their homes. He also mentioned visits to Eriskay by Saint Columba and Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Father MacDonald also spoke out against the Highland Clearances on the island, but expressed joy that the farmers had gained more rights against the landlords.

In his funny play in verse, Parlamaid nan Cailleach ("The Parliament of Hags"), Father MacDonald made fun of the gossiping of his female church members and local dating customs. Ronald Black compared it to other funny poems from Irish literature.

Father Allan MacDonald's poem Banais nan Cambeulach ("The Campbell Wedding") was written about the marriage of his housekeeper, Kate Campbell, to a farmer and fisherman named Donald Campbell in 1899. In the poem, Father MacDonald jokingly criticized the Clan Campbell for their past actions, like the Massacre of Glencoe and siding against the House of Stuart. He compared Donald Campbell's marriage to his housekeeper to the Clan Campbell's old tradition of cattle raiding.

He wrote:

"Nam bu duine mi gu amhreit

Gheibheadh an Caimbeulach an dòrn uam,

Nach do sheas e lagh na gadach

Nach dianadh slad air mnathan còire

Dh'fhàgainn sgeòdan air a bhusan

'S bheirinn dusan sgailc mun t-sròinn dha

'S bhiodh e dùbhailte 'na fhine --

Cama-Bhialach 's Cama-Shrònach!"

"If I happened to be a man of action

Campbell would feel the force of my fist,

For he didn't thole the law anent theft

That one should not steal respectable women:

I'd leave some defects on his chops

And land a dozen or so upon his nose

Until he'd have two affiliations--

Campbell (Bent-Mouthed) and Cameron (Bent-Nosed)!"

While the priest joked about the couple having children and increasing the number of Campbells, he ended the poem by giving them his warmest blessings.

Despite their long friendship, Father Allan also playfully teased Eriskay postmaster and storyteller Dugald MacMillan in at least two poems. These poems made fun of common ideas in epic poetry.

Even though he never lived to see it, Father MacDonald's Ceum nam Mìltean ("The March of Thousands") has been called a strangely prophetic work of war poetry. It describes waking from a nightmare with a feeling of dread about thousands of men marching off to a conflict they won't return from. John Lorne Campbell believed this poem showed that Father Allan had the gift of Second Sight. Ronald Black, however, thinks the poem might have been inspired by stories Father Allan heard as a child from veterans of the Napoleonic Wars in his father's pub in Fort William. Black also believes that the events of the Boer War, which Father Allan followed closely, might have brought these stories to mind.

Ronald Black wrote that Ceum nam Mìltean deserves to be "first in any anthology of the poetry of the First World War." He said it would have fit perfectly in Sorley MacLean's important 1943 poetry collection Dàin do Eimhir.

In the poem Am Bàs ("Death"), Father Allan MacDonald thought about how short life is, how everyone dies, and how death often comes unexpectedly. This poem is still very popular.

Ronald Black believes that Father MacDonald's funny poems were never meant to be published. He thinks Father Allan wrote them because he had "an extraordinary poetic demon struggling to get out." These poems show the "bubbling and steaming of a huge literary talent." Black concluded that if Father Allan had lived longer, "then the map of Gaelic literature in the twentieth century might have looked very different."

Legacy

Canna House, where John Lorne Campbell's private archive of Scottish Gaelic literature, history, and folklore is preserved.

Even though he was forgotten for decades after his death, interest in Father Allan MacDonald continued. An American musicologist named Margaret Fay Shaw said that her passion for collecting Gaelic songs began when she heard songs collected with Father Allan's help. She later visited Eriskay to pay her respects at his grave.

However, the main credit for bringing Father Allan MacDonald back into the spotlight goes to Margaret Fay Shaw's husband, John Lorne Campbell. Campbell, a scholar and Scottish nationalist, began researching Father MacDonald in 1936. He heard great praise for Father Allan from people in South Uist, Eriskay, and Barra who had known him.

Campbell learned that Father MacDonald's folklore studies, poetry, and other writings filled ten notebooks. He decided to search for them. In 1937, he found one notebook in a friend's library. His search was paused by the start of the Second World War.

After Campbell became Catholic in 1946, his interest in Father Allan MacDonald grew into an obsession. He spent over 20 years and a lot of money tracking down Father Allan's work. He published much of it for the first time, corrected wrongs done to the priest, and wrote a short biography. The more he learned, the more he felt connected to Father Allan.

With help from friends and universities, Campbell found Father Allan MacDonald's missing poetry manuscripts, diaries, and detailed folklore collections. Others shared letters to and from Father Allan. All this research was gathered and kept at Canna.

Campbell wondered why none of Father Allan's work had been published under his own name during his lifetime.

The first collection of Father MacDonald's Gaelic poems was published by John Lorne Campbell himself in 1965. In 1966, scholar Ronald Black brought copies of this book to Eriskay. He recalled that the poetry book and Campbell's "little blue biography of Father Allan" "sold like hotcakes" because many people on Eriskay still spoke Gaelic and had known Father MacDonald personally.

In 2002, an expanded book of Father Allan's Gaelic poems, both religious and non-religious, was published. Ronald Black, who edited it, said that so much of Father Allan's poetry is still unpublished that the book could easily have been twice as long. For example, Father MacDonald's translation of a Latin church service into Scottish Gaelic is still unpublished.

Quotes

• Diary entry February 13, 1898: "Rough, gloomy weather, as is usual in early February; white spindrift off the sandbanks driven everywhere; spray like ashes driven across the Sound; sod and slate loosened by the quick blows of the wind. Fierce squalls from the north shaking every gable, hard hailstones which would cut the top of one's ears, men so chilled with cold that they cannot look outside huddled indoors at the edge of the ashes. The head of yonder hill above is sheathed in a shroud, since the cold has killed her natural virtues. She has lost her appearance entirely, the sleep of death has come on her, and there is no likelihood of her moving until the warmth of spring unbinds her."
• Diary entry February 22, 1898: "Read Rob Donn for vocabulary purposes. His vocabulary is more valuable than his poetry. His subjects are often enough coarse and treated coarsely. His reputation is greater than his merits. I should never dream of comparing him with W. Ross or Alasdair. Even Alein Dall is superior to him in rhyme, rhythm, and humour... Took up W. Ross and read pieces. His vocabulary has not so many strange words as Rob Donn's Reay Country Gaelic... He makes you feel with him and for him. Pity for the language that he died so young."
• Diary entry March 25, 1898: "Our Lady's Day of St Patrick's, The noblest day that has been or will come. Twenty-five years since my father died, and I offered up the sacrifice of the Mass for his soul. The north-east wind blows on."

Published Works

• Published anonymously (1889), Laoidhean Caitliceach airson Chloine, Oban, republished 1936.
• Published anonymously (1893), Comh-Chruinneachadh de Laoidhean Spioradail, Oban. Contains Gaelic hymns, like Tàladh Chrìosda, which were collected from the oral tradition, as well as original hymns and literary translations by Fr. MacDonald.
• Collected by Fr. Allan MacDonald (1958), Gaelic Words from South Uist – Edited, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Second edition with supplement, published by the Oxford University Press, N.D 1972. [CH2/1/1/13]
• Edited and transcribed by John Lorne Campbell (1965), Bàrdachd Mhgr Ailein: The Gaelic Poems of Fr Allan McDonald of Eriskay (1859–1905), Privately printed. [CH2/1/1/13]
• Eilein na h-Òige; The Poems of Fr. Allan MacDonald, Edited by Ronald Black, Mungo Books, Glasgow, 2002.

Images for kids

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  Father Allan MacDonald

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  Ben Nevis Inn where Fr. Allan MacDonald is believed to have been born

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  Canna House, where John Lorne Campbell's private archive of Scottish Gaelic literature, history, and folklore is preserved.

See Also

• List of Scottish Gaelic poets
• List of Scottish Roman Catholic priests