Mo rùn geal òg
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"Mo rùn geal òg" (My fair young love), alternately known as "Cumha do dh'Uilleam Siseal" (Lament for William Chisholm) is a Scottish Gaelic lament written by Christina Fergusson for her husband, William Chisholm of Strathglass, who was killed at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Fergusson was possibly born in Contin, Ross-shire.[1][2] She was married to William Chisholm, who was a smith, armourer and standard bearer for the Chief of Clan Chisholm.
Beginning on 27 May 1700, underground Catholic Bishop Thomas Nicolson had visited Strathglass. In his later Report, the Bishop had described the region, unlike the Hebrides, as so abundant with trees that the local population lived in wattle and daub houses instead of dry stone and thatch crofts. The Bishop explained, "They are called Criel Houses, because the larger timbers are interlaced with wickerwork in the same way baskets are made. They are covered outside with sods, or divots. All of the houses on the mainland, wherever we went, are built in this fashion, except those of the lairds and principal gentry. Strathglass is partly inhabited by Frasers, whose chief is Lord Lovat, and partly by Chisholms under the Laird of Strathglass. These latter are all Catholics."[3]
According to Odo Blundell, "When writing of Strathglass on a previous occasion, I mentioned that, 'from the Reformation to the beginning of the [19th-]century, the Catholics in the Aird and in Strathglass received no more support from the two chief families of the neighbourhood, namely, the Frasers and the Chisholms, than was to be expected from the heads of clans who looked upon all their clansmen, whatever might be their religion, as members of their own family."[4]
Between 1735 and 1746, the Catholics of Strathglass were looked after by three outlawed Roman Catholic priests of the Society of Jesus; Frs. Charles (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Teàrlach, an t-Athair Teàrlach Mac Fhearchair) and John Farquharson (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Iain,[5] an-tAthair Iain Mac Fhearchair) and future Catholic martyr Fr. Alexander Cameron (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Sandaidh, an t-Athair Alasdair Camshròn).[6]
When Clan Chisholm rose during the Jacobite rising of 1745, William Chisholm joined the Jacobite Army. A roadside memorial, near Struy in Strathglass, now marks the site of William and Christina Chisholm's cottage and their last farewell.[7] William Chisholm was killed in action at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. One of the 14 Jacobite battle flags taken at Culloden, which were later burnt in Edinburgh, was the white linen banner borne by William Chisholm.[8]
In his memory, a bereft Ferguson wrote Mo Rùn Geal Òg (My Fair Young Love).[9][10][11][12] In the poem, Christina, while insisting that she is still a loyal Jacobite, rebukes Prince Charles Edward Stuart, saying that the loss of her husband in the fight for a second Stuart Restoration has left her desolate.
The song has been performed by several notable singers, including Flora MacNeil, Mary Ann Kennedy, Anne Lorne Gillies,[13] Julie Fowlis.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ Mackenzie, John (1909). Sar-obair nam bard Gaelach : the beauties of Gaelic poetry and lives of the Highland bards. Edinburgh: John Grant. pp. 373–4.
- ^ Ewan, Elizabeth; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian, eds. (2006). The biographical dictionary of Scottish women : from the earliest times to 2004 (Reprinted. ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. p. 69. ISBN 0748617132.
- ^ Odo Blundell (1917), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland, Volume II, pp. 124-125.
- ^ Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland, Volume I, London, p. 191.
- ^ Christianity in Strathglass, From the Website for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Beauly.
- ^ MacWilliam, A. S. (1973). A Highland mission: Strathglass, 1671-1777. Innes Review xxiv. pp. 75–102.
- ^ "Chisholm Stone, Mauld". Highland Council HER. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
- ^ Reid, Stuart (2000). Like Hungry Wolves - Culloden Moor 1746. With colour plates by Gerry Embleton. Windrow & Greene Ltd. ISBN 1859150802
- ^ John Stuart Blackie (1889). Scottish Song... W. Blackwood & sons. pp. 234–238. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ Malcolm Maclean, ed. (2002). Great Book of Gaelic. Canongate U.S. p. 276. ISBN 9781841952505. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ David Masson (1885). Macmillan's Magazine Volume 52. Macmillan and Company. pp. 309–310. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ John T. Koch, ed. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 1033. ISBN 9781851094400. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ "Mo Rùn Geal Òg". Bliadhna nan Òran (in Scottish Gaelic). BBC. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ "Duncan Chisholm, Liz Doherty & Julie Fowlis - Mo Rùn Geal Òg". BBC Alba. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2023.