| Identifier Number | NS034031 |
| Title | Marbhrann do dh' Alastair MacGilleain, Tighearna Cholla |
| Alternative Title | |
| Air | |
| First Line Chorus | |
| First Line Verse | Thàinig sgeul thar nan cuantan |
| Classifications | Elegy , Lament |
| Subjects | Alexander MacDonald , Lord of Glengarry |
| Structure | Eight line verse |
| Place Of Origin | Nova Scotia |
| Composer First Name | John |
| Composer Last Name | MacLean |
| Composer Patronymic | Bàrd Thighearna Cholla , Am Bàrd MacGilleain , Iain Mac Ailein mhic Iain mhic Theàrlaich mhic Lachainn mhic Dhòmhnuill òig mhic Iain mhic Eobhain mhic Lachainn Fhinn |
| Composer Dates | 1787 - 1848 |
| Composer Gender | Male |
| Community | Tiree , Scotland , Barney's River |
| County | Pictou |
| Era Of Poetry | |
| Original Format | Publication |
| Singer | |
| Singer Location | |
| Date Recorded | |
| Collector | Alexander MacLean Sinclair |
| Collection Title | |
| Collection Location | |
| Collection Number | |
| Publication Title | Clàrsach na Coille |
| Editor | Alexander MacLean Sinclair |
| Publisher | Archibald Sinclair |
| Publication Date | 1881 |
| Page Number | 125 |
| Online Access | https://dasg.ac.uk/corpus/textmeta.php?text=222&uT=y |
| Notes 1 | "Until the night of January 1st, 1880, I did not know that there was one line of this poem in existence. On that night, Archibald M‘Lean , one of the Poet’s sons told me that his father sent the poem by him, over forty years ago, to Hugh M‘Lean, Eobhan Og, in Cape Breton. He also gave me a verse of it which he remembered, the sixth verse. I wrote to Mr Stephen M‘Lean, Eobhan Og’s son, about the poem. He replied that the manuscript was lost but that his aunt, Mary M‘Lean , and his niece, Catherine M‘Lean, knew the poem by heart. Mr M‘Lean took the poem down and sent it to me. To him, and especially to the ladies who preserved it from oblivion, I am greatly obliged." |
| Notes 2 | "John MacLean was the last of the family bards. This poem may therefore be looked upon as the last of its kind; the last lamentation over a chieftain by his bard. There is thus a peculiar feeling of sadness connected with it. The poet was deeply attached to the old laird. He felt it his duty to sing his “marbhrann.” He was thoroughly in earnest. He speaks of the deceased as he knew him. He ascribes no quality to him except what he believed him to possess. He lauds his ancestors and exhorts his successor as he considered his bard should do. That Alexander Maclean of Coll deserved the poet’s praise we have no reason to doubt. He really possessed many qualities of the greatest excellence." |
| Notes 3 | |
| Notes 4 |