Rising above you to the west is the Quiraing; centre-stage in a theatre of geology and backdrop to the rhythms of crofting life through the generations. Connect with a magical world of pinnacles, precipices and pillars. Roam through the archaeology of our talking landscape. Walk in the footsteps of Flora MacDonald, one of the great heroines of the Gael.
Soraidh leis an àit’
An d’fhuair mi m’ àrach òg,
Eilean nam beann àrda
Far an tàmh an ceò;
Air am moch a dh’èireas
Grian nan speur fo ròs,
A’ fuadach neul na h-oidhche,
Soillseachadh an Stòrr.
Flòdaigearraidh sgiamhach,
Càit eil d’fhiach de ghrunnd?
‘S ainmeil an crodh-dàra
A dh’àraicheadh air d’fhonn;
Is nuair thig an oiteag
Bho Lochlann oirnn a-nall,
Sèideadh air Sròin Bhaornaill,
‘S cùbhraidh gaoth do bheann.
Eileanan a’ chuain
Mun cuairt dut air gach àird,
Seallaidh iad le uamhann
Air do stuaghan àrd;
Nuair a dh’èireas buaireas
Eadar cuan is tràigh,
Nì Mol Stamhain nuallan
‘S uair dhaibh bhith nan tàmh.
Opposite is a song about the ‘Misty Isle’ from Màiri Mhòr nan Òran, ‘Great Mary of the Songs’ or Mary MacPherson (1821 – 1898). She was a noted Gaelic poet whose songs are still widely acclaimed and sung. She was a champion of the crofters in their struggle to achieve security of land tenure in the 1880s. In 2002 The Highland Council and funding partners established the Màiri Mhòr Gaelic Song Fellowship.
