Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna
Donald MacDonald known as Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna (The red Donald of Coruna) (born July 9, 1887 in Claddach Baleshare , North Uist , Scotland ; † August 13, 1967 in Lochmaddy , Scotland), was a stonemason from North Uist, a veteran World War I and a legendary war poet who composed in Scottish Gaelic.
His most famous song, An Eala Bhàn ("The White Swan"), which was composed during the Battle of the Somme , was dedicated to Magaidh NicLeòid, his lover at the time during the war. In recent years the song has been sung and recorded by various artists, including Calum Kennedy , Donnie Munro , Capercaillie and Julie Fowlis .
Childhood and education
Dòmhnall (Donald) was born on North Uist , an outer Hebridean island, in 1887. His mother Flòraidh Fhionnghuala Dòmhnall worked as a house servant . His father Dòmhnall worked as a shipping company. When he was young, his maternal grandparents told many stories about the Napoleonic Wars. According to oral accounts of his great-grandmother, Mór Campbell of Skye , she gave the last drink of water to Sir John Moore , a British officer, before he fell at the Battle of Crounna in 1809.
He attended Carinish Elementary School briefly , but due to UK Acts of Education, schools were only taught in English. Therefore the poet never learned to read or write in his Gaelic mother tongue. He started writing poetry at the age of 13. His mother was very impressed with his abilities and promised him never to abuse his poems in personal arguments. He valued her promise very much. This circumstance and his experiences in the First World War distinguish him from other Scottish Gaelic poets.
The First World War
Fred MacAulay says about him:
"Dòmhnall Ruadh was already in the army before the war, so he didn't have to wait long before he was sent to France. There awaited him a gruesome, merciless, pitiless world that he himself says ... but I believe that At least up to this point, there was a bit of the old philosophy that glorified war and glorified it in a special way. But I am sure that for generations these feelings on the Western Front have been undone forever. " All of this is found in Dòmhnall Ruadh's poetry. There is vanity and pride, mercy and love, simplicity and youthful innocence, honor and grandeur of a bygone era, and they are all pervaded by lament and grief over the dead and injured. You cannot avoid being clear about it and being somehow touched by it, by the feelings from situations that we can hardly understand today in our fast-moving world. He is painfully depressed, his heart wounded by the brutality in his position, angry and sometimes with little hope; then again his poetry is resolute and expressive, then it switches from regret to sadness, questioning the function and purpose of man. Every now and then he turns to God and faith for consolation when there is no other solution ... He fought in the 7th Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders and was badly injured in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He came as an invalid returned to England and went to France with the West Riding Field Regiment, as he could no longer be active in the infantry. But whatever the regulations said, he wore the Cameron Medal on his cap ... "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, 1995. Pages 18-19.
- ↑ Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna , coumarin Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, 1995. Page xxxiv.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chorùna, Dòmhnall Ruadh |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | MacDonald; Donald; red Donald of Coruna, The |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish war poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 9, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Claddach Baleshare , North Uist , Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 13, 1967 |
| Place of death | Lochmaddy , Scotland |