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Sorley MacLean
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==Biography== ===Early life=== {{location map |Scotland Isle of Skye |relief=yes |float=left |caption=Location of [[Raasay]] between [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] and [[Applecross]] |coordinates={{coord|57|24|N|6|02|W|region:GB_type:isle}}}} Sorley MacLean was born in Òsgaig, [[Raasay]] on 26 October 1911; [[Scottish Gaelic]] was his first language. Before he went to school at the age of six, he spoke very little English.{{r|interview|p=23}}{{r|Birt|p=194}} He was the second of five sons born to Malcolm (1880–1951) and Christina MacLean (1886–1974).{{r|Calum}} The family owned a small croft and ran a tailoring business,{{r|open|p=16}} but they later gave up the croft to move to a better house, which proved detrimental to their finances when the [[Great Depression]] took a high toll on the tailoring business.{{r|Hendry|p=10}} His brothers were John (1910–1970), a schoolteacher and later rector of [[Oban High School]], who was also a [[ceol mor|piper]];{{r|Calum}}{{r|interview|p=27}} [[Calum Maclean (folklorist)|Calum]] (1915–1960), a noted folklorist and ethnographer; and Alasdair (1918–1999) and Norman (c.1917–c.1980), who became [[general practitioners]]. Sorley's two younger sisters, Isobel and Mary, were also schoolteachers.{{r|childhood|Calum|rse}} His [[Scottish Gaelic name#Identifying names|patronymic]] was Somhairle mac Chaluim 'ic Chaluim 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid; he could not trace his genealogy with certainty to the eighth generation.{{r|family|p=211}} At home, he was steeped in [[Gaelic culture]] and [[beul-aithris]] (the oral tradition), especially old songs. His mother, a [[Clan MacNeacail|Nicolson]], had been raised near [[Portree]], although her family was of [[Lochalsh]] origin;<ref name=library/><ref name="larach"/><ref name=alumnus/> her family had been involved in [[Highland Land League]] activism for [[tenant rights]].{{r|landscape|p=231}} His father had been raised on Raasay, but his family was originally from [[North Uist]] and, before that, probably [[Isle of Mull|Mull]].{{r|rse}}{{r|Hendry|p=9}} Both sides of the family had been evicted during the [[Highland Clearances]], of which many people in the community still had a clear recollection.{{r|landscape|pp=231–2}} Both his mother's and father's families contained individuals who were considered accomplished by their communities, whether through formal education or extensive knowledge of the oral tradition.<ref name="childhood" />{{r|Hendry|p=9}} What MacLean learned of the history of the [[Gaels]], especially of the Clearances, had a significant impact on his worldview and politics.{{r|landscape|p=231}} On his mother's side were three noteworthy singers, two pipers, and a [[village bard]].{{r|Hendry|p=10}}. He said that 'The most intellectual of my relations was a sceptic and Socialist (my uncle in Jordanhill, Alex Nicolson)'.<ref>'Autobiographical Sketch' in Maclean, S., 'Dain do Eimhir', Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2007, p. 268.</ref> Nicolson had been involved in the ILP and imprisoned as a conscientious objector in WWI and was also a noted historian and Gaelic scholar.<ref>Nicolson, A., 'History of Skye', ed. C. Maclean, 3rd edition, The Islands Book Trust, Kershader, Isle of Lewis, 2012, p. 332</ref> Of especial note was MacLean's paternal grandmother, Mary Matheson, whose family had been evicted from Lochalsh in the 18th century. Until her death in 1923, she lived with the family and taught MacLean many traditional songs from [[Kintail]] and Lochalsh, as well as Skye.<ref name="childhood" />{{r|Hendry|pp=9–10}} As a child, MacLean enjoyed fishing trips with his aunt Peigi, who taught him other songs.{{r|rse}} Unlike other members of his family, MacLean could not sing, a fact that he connected with his impetus to write poetry.{{r|open|p=17|obit}} ===Calvinism=== {{further|Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland}} [[File:Recreation ground on the Isle of Raasay - geograph.org.uk - 1476596.jpg|thumb|A sign requests that the playground not be used on Sunday.]] MacLean was raised in the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland]], which he described as "the strictest of [[Reformed fundamentalism|Calvinist fundamentalism]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacLean |first1=Sorley |title=Hallaig |journal=[[PN Review]] |date=1 November 1994 |volume=21 |issue=2 |page=10 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/be7e3ba14ab11e3e57c8ff9443ef793c/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817849 }}</ref> Calvinism taught that [[Predestination in Calvinism|God would save a small portion of humanity]], the [[Unconditional election|elect]], while the vast majority were doomed by the [[total depravity|sinfulness inherent in human nature]]. Only 5% of the congregation took [[Lord's Supper in Reformed theology|communion]]; the remainder were considered mere "adherents" who were probably destined for [[damnation|eternal torment]] in [[Christian views on Hell#Protestantism|hell]]. Free Presbyterians believed that the [[Free Church of Scotland (since 1900)|Free Church]] was too lenient, let alone the [[Church of Scotland]]. They prohibited any form of amusement on the [[Sabbath in Christianity|Sabbath]], but had a rich tradition of [[Gaelic psalm singing|unaccompanied psalm singing]].{{r|open|p=17}}{{r|displacement|p=8}} MacLean later said that he had abandoned religion for socialism at the age of twelve,{{r|open|p=17}} as he refused to accept that a majority of human beings were consigned to eternal damnation.{{r|landscape|p=232}} In 1941, he wrote that "perhaps my obsession with the cause of the unhappy, the unsuccessful, the oppressed comes from this."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Roderick |author-link1=Roderick Watson |editor1-last=Kendall |editor1-first=Tim |editor1-link=Tim Kendall |title=The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-174351-1 |page=330 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199559602.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199559602 |chapter='Death's Proletariat': Scottish Poets of the Second World War}}</ref> The pessimism of the Calvinist tradition had a strong impact on his world-view, and he also retained "a puritanical contempt for mere worldly riches and power".<ref name="larach"/>{{r|open|pp=32, 38}}{{efn-lr|As MacLean put it in a letter to [[Hugh MacDiarmid]], "A renegade [[Disruption of 1843|Seceder]] makes quite a good [[Marxist]]".{{r|thesis2|p=218|hobit}}}} Later in life, he had a complicated view of the church and religion. Although he criticized the Presbyterian church's suppression of Gaelic song, [[Scottish traditional music]], and the oral tradition, as well as the negative effect of church teachings on some social groups, especially women, Professor Donald Meek <small>([[:gd:An t-Ollamh Dòmhnall Meek|gd]])</small> wrote that at times MacLean seemed to articulate the ideas of [[liberation theology]].<ref name="larach"/> [[John MacInnes (Gaelic scholar)|John MacInnes]] has argued that his [[evangelical]] Presbyterian background was an important influence on his choice of Gaelic as the medium for his poetry and the manner of its expression.<ref>MacInnes, John (1981), ''A Radically Traditional Voice: Sorley MacLean and the Evangelical Background'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), ''[[Cencrastus]]'' No. 7, Winter 1981 - 82, pp. 14 - 17 {{issn|0264-0856}}.</ref> MacLean defended the Free Presbyterian Church against opponents who had little familiarity with it,{{r|open|p=17|hobit}} once describing Free Presbyterian Church elders as "saintly, just saintly men".{{r|family|p=218}} Sometimes he altered his poetry to avoid offending the religious members of his family.{{r|Easter|p=452}} He also admired the linguistic and literary sophistication and creativity of Protestant sermons in Gaelic.{{r|family|pp=216–217}} The wide vocabulary, high [[register (sociolinguistics)|register]], and passion of these sermons had a significant impact on his poetic style.{{r|open|p=17}}{{r|landscape|p=239}} ===1930s=== He was educated at Raasay Primary School and [[Portree High School|Portree Secondary School]].<ref name=childhood/><ref name=larach/> In 1929, he left home to attend the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref name="larach"/> For economic reasons, he chose to study [[English literature]] instead of [[Celtic studies]], a decision he later regretted "because I was interested only in poetry and only in some poetry at that."<ref name=university/>{{r|open|p=16|rse}} He intensely disliked the head of the English department, [[H. J. C. Grierson|Herbert Grierson]], who favoured different poets than MacLean; MacLean also felt that Grierson imposed his aesthetic preferences on the department. MacLean's academic work has been described as merely "dutiful".{{r|contexts|p=2}} While at Edinburgh, MacLean also took classes in the Celtic Department, then under [[William J. Watson]].{{r|rse}} He was involved in literary circles, played for the [[University Shinty|university shinty team]], and, like many other British intellectuals of the same era, was Pro-Soviet and, while never an official member, he was involved as a "[[fellow traveller]]" with the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]].<ref name=alumnus/><ref name=university/> MacLean later described an occasion in which he joined a demonstration against Sir [[Oswald Mosley]], the leader of the [[British Union of Fascists]].{{r|hobit}} According to [[Celtic studies|Celtic scholar]] Emma Dymock, MacLean's education at Edinburgh broadened his horizons and the city itself was significant in his life.<ref name=alumnus/> While in Edinburgh, he also observed urban poverty, [[slums]], and overcrowding, which was especially severe due to the continuing [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|Great Depression]].{{r|displacement|p=9}} After his graduation in 1933 with a [[first-class degree]],{{r|open|p=16|rse}} he remained in Edinburgh and studied at Moray House Teachers' Training College, where he met [[Hugh MacDiarmid]].<ref name="university" /> [[File:Ardmore - geograph.org.uk - 108466.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of a stone house on [[Isle of Mull|Mull]]]] In 1934, he returned to Skye to teach English at Portree High School.<ref name="larach"/><ref name=alumnus/> After the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in 1936, he considered volunteering to fight in the [[International Brigades]]; according to his daughter, he would have gone if not for the poverty of his family and his own responsibilities as their provider.<ref name="larach"/> At the time, his mother was seriously ill and his father's business was failing.<ref name="world" /> In January 1938, MacLean accepted a teaching position at [[Tobermory High School]] on the [[Isle of Mull]], where he stayed until December.<ref name="world" />{{r|day|p=145}} The year he spent on Mull had a profound effect on him, because Mull was still devastated from nineteenth-century [[Highland Clearances]], during which MacLean's own ancestors had been evicted.{{r|Czech|pp=125–6}}{{r|day|p=145}} MacLean later said, "I believe Mull had much to do with my poetry: its physical beauty, so different from Skye's, with the terrible imprint of the clearances on it, made it almost intolerable for a Gael." He believed that [[fascism]] was likely to emerge victorious in Europe, and was further dismayed by the [[language shift|continuing decline]] of the Gaelic language.<ref name="world" />{{r|interview|p=29}}{{r|landscape|p=242}} Between 1939 and 1941, he taught at [[Boroughmuir High School]] in Edinburgh, and in [[Hawick]].<ref name="larach"/><ref name=alumnus/> During this period, he wrote most of the poetry that would become ''Dàin do Eimhir'', including the epic ''An Cuilthionn''. MacLean cultivated friendships with [[Scottish Renaissance]] poets, including MacDiarmid, [[Robert Garioch]], [[Norman MacCaig]], [[Douglas Young (classicist)|Douglas Young]], and [[George Campbell Hay]].{{r|contexts|p=4|rse}} MacLean, also a noted historian, published two influential papers on nineteenth-century Gaelic poetry in ''Transactions of the {{ill|Gaelic Society of Inverness|gd|Comunn Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis}}'' in 1938 and 1939, which challenged the [[Celtic Twilight]] view of [[Scottish Gaelic literature]]. MacLean accused the "Celtic Twilightists" of "attributing to Gaelic poetry the very opposite of every quality which it actually has", and stated that their claims only succeeded because the Twilightists catered solely to an English-speaking audience. He pointed out that the apparent sentimentality and sense of impotence within surviving poetry about the [[Highland Clearances]] may well have been due to the fact that [[Anglo-Scottish]] landlords would not have tolerated poetry that was openly critical of them.{{r|historian|p=124-6}} His use of Gaelic poetry as a potential source material for historical studies was also radically innovative at the time.{{r|historian|pp=122–3}} ===World War II=== [[File:A mine explodes close to a British truck as it carries infantry through enemy minefields and wire to the new front lines.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A [[land mine|mine]] explodes during the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]]]] Upon the outbreak of war in 1939, MacLean wanted to volunteer for the [[Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders|Cameron Highlanders]] but was prevented due to the shortage of teachers.<ref name="larach" /> He was drafted into the [[Royal Corps of Signals]] in September 1940 and was sent overseas to North Africa in December 1941.<ref name=world/>{{r|day|p=146}} In the [[North African Campaign]], he served in the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] and was wounded on three occasions, but on the first two not severely enough to be classified as a [[military casualty|casualty]].<ref name=alumnus/>{{r|displacement|p=5}} His military career ended in November 1942 during the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]]. A land mine exploded near the command post where MacLean was working, throwing him {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=off|0|sigfig=1|spell=on}} through the air. He was wounded in the leg and broke several bones in his feet.<ref name="open" />{{r|displacement|p=5}}{{efn-lr|In one of his poems, ''Latha Fogair'' ("An Autumn Day"), MacLean satirizes the [[Calvinist]] [[religious doctrine|doctrine]] of [[unconditional election]] by describing an explosion of a [[land mine|mine]] which killed six of his comrades but, for no particular reason, spared MacLean.{{r|open|p=35}}}} MacLean wrote a few poems about the war in which he challenged the traditional Gaelic exaltation of heroism, exemplified by [[Sìleas na Ceapaich|the lament for Alasdair of Glengarry]]; he viewed physical courage as morally neutral, since it was also valued by Nazis and used for evil ends.{{r|open|p=29}} MacLean returned to Britain for convalescence in March 1943. He was discharged from [[Raigmore Hospital]] in [[Inverness]] in August 1943 and released from the army in September.{{r|world|rse}} In the fall of 1943, he resumed teaching at Boroughmuir, where he met Renee Cameron in 1944.{{efn-lr|Cameron's mother was not of Gaelic ancestry, but her father, an Inverness joiner, was raised in [[Kilmuir, Black Isle|Kilmuir]] on the [[Black Isle]] when it was still Gaelic-speaking.<ref name="Renee" />}} They married on 24 July 1946 in Inverness and had three daughters and six grandchildren. According to friends, their marriage was happy and peaceful, as they complemented each other well, and MacLean "mellowed" with age and family life.<ref name=Renee/><ref name="Edinburgh"/>{{r|contexts|p=5}} He had never been a card carrying member of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]],{{r|open|p=17}} and the [[History of Poland (1945–1989)|Soviet occupation of Poland]] after the war caused MacLean to break with his former admiration for the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Stalinism]]. As a member of the [[Anti-Stalinist left]], however, MacLean always remained a strong believer in [[social justice]].{{r|open|p=32}}{{r|contexts|p=4}} During this period, he frequently reviewed poetry and continued to make friends in literary circles, including the younger poets [[Iain Crichton Smith]] and [[George Mackay Brown]].{{r|contexts|p=4}} He became particularly close to [[Sydney Goodsir Smith]], who shared a flat with MacLean and his family for more than a year. In 1947 he was promoted to Principal Teacher of English at Boroughmuir, but MacLean wanted to return to the western Highlands.<ref name="Edinburgh" /> ===Later life=== [[File:Plockton - geograph.org.uk - 8277.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of [[Plockton]] in 1971]] In 1956, MacLean was offered the position of [[head teacher]] of [[Plockton High School]] in [[Wester Ross]], not far from where his paternal grandmother's family had lived. It was a difficult assignment as the remote location was not attractive to teacher candidates, and MacLean frequently had to teach due to vacancies.<ref name="Plockton" /> While at Plockton, he promoted the use of [[Scottish Gaelic medium education]] and campaigned for a [[Scottish Highers|Highers]] exam for learners of Gaelic.{{r|Czech|p=127}} Before 1968, there was no separate exam for Gaelic learners, who had to compete with native speakers if they took Gaelic Highers. MacLean felt that this unfair policy discouraged many students from studying Gaelic, although he encouraged his students to take the exam even if they were not native speakers.{{r|interview|p=34}}{{efn-lr|According to MacLean, the number of students studying Gaelic "doubled, trebled, quadrupled, and more" as a result of the learners' exam becoming available.{{r|interview|p=34}}}} In 1966, he presented a paper to the Gaelic Society of Inverness outlining the practical issues in Gaelic education. MacLean pointed out that in continental Europe, it was not uncommon to study three or four languages in school. According to MacLean, Scottish children would benefit from studying three languages in school alongside English, and "surely it is not expecting too much of Gaelic patriotism to demand that Gaelic should be one of the three?"<ref name="Plockton" />{{efn-lr|Fully [[Gaelic medium education]], with all subjects taught in Gaelic, was inaugurated in 1985.{{r|gme|p=119}}}} MacLean set high academic expectations for his students{{r|hobit}} and also promoted shinty; in 1965, the Plockton team won the cup for [[Ross and Cromarty]].<ref name="Plockton" /> MacLean's many friends and visitors commented on his prodigious knowledge and deep interest in [[genealogy]] and local history.{{r|two|hobit}} He continued to participate in politics, eventually joining the [[Scottish Labour Party]].{{r|hobit}} During his later years, he published few poems due to his "concern with quality and authenticity over quantity";{{r|two|Plockton}} his family responsibilities and career left him little spare time to write.{{r|contexts|p=5}} MacLean said that he had burned his poetry instead of publishing it because of his "long years of grinding school-teaching and [his] addiction to an impossible lyric ideal".{{r|university|library}} <!-- [[File:Sleat Sabhal Mor.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Part of the Sabhal Mòr campus with [[Knoydart]] visible across the [[Sound of Sleat]]]] --> After his retirement in 1972, MacLean moved to his great-grandmother's house at Peinnachorrain in Braes on Skye, with views over the [[Sound of Raasay]], where he entertained frequently.{{r|harvest|hobit}} Following the English publication of his poetry, he began to be in demand internationally for poetry readings, for which he traveled to such places as [[Rotterdam]], [[Baddeck]] [[Cape Breton Island|Cape Breton]], and [[Berlin]].{{r|contexts|p=5|irish|harvest}} MacLean was [[Artist-in-residence|writer in residence]] at the University of Edinburgh from 1973 to 1975,<ref name=library/><ref name="alumnus"/> where he reportedly kept an open door and warm welcome for aspiring Gaelic poets.{{r|MC|p=1}} Later, he was the second ''[[filidh]]'' at the recently founded [[Sabhal Mòr Ostaig]], a Gaelic-medium university on Skye, from 1975 to 1976.<ref name=library/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/arts-and-culture/sir-iain-noble-memorial-lecture-recalls-life-poet-sorley-maclean-2119579 |title=Sir Iain Noble Memorial Lecture recalls life of poet Sorley MacLean |work=[[Stornoway Gazette]] |date=26 November 2016 |access-date=22 January 2023}}</ref> He was involved in founding the institution and also served on its board.<ref name=lecture/> In 1993, his daughter Catrìona died at the age of 41; MacLean and his wife helped to raise her three children. The poet died of natural causes on 24 November 1996, aged 85, at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.<ref name=obit/>
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