Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna (Red Donald of Coruna; 9 July 1887 – 13 August 1967),òmhnallRuadhChorù legally Donald MacDonald or Dòmhnall MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish Gaelic Bard, North Uist stonemason, and veteran of the First World War. Literary historian Ronald Black has called Dòmhnall Ruadh, "The Voice of the Trenches."
He wrote An Eala Bhàn ("The White Swan"), which he composed after being wounded in action on a mission in no man's land during the Battle of the Somme. An Eala Bhàn is a love song addressed to Magaidh NicLeòid of Lochmaddy, the woman whom the Bard hoped to marry. In recent years, it has been recorded by artists as diverse as Calum Kennedy, Donnie Munro, Capercaillie, and Julie Fowlis.
Family background
When the poet was young, he was often told stories about the experiences of his maternal great-grandparents during the Napoleonic Wars.
According to the family's oral tradition, the bard's great-grandmother, Mór Chaimbeul ("Marion Campbell") of Skye, had given a last drink of water to Sir John Moore moments before he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Corunna in 1809. At the moment when Moore was wounded, Marion Campbell was holding the stirrup of his horse, was thrown up into the air, and landed on her back. According to Dòmhnall Ruadh, his great-grandmother never recovered from the ensuing injury and it caused her to die young.
Marion lost her first husband a member of Clan MacLeod of Dunvegan, at the Battle of Corunna as well. She then began living with another soldier who had fought in the Battle named Domhnall mac Mhurchaidh 'ic Iain 'ic Mhurchaidh ("Donald Ferguson") (1780–1845), moved with him to North Uist, and married him there.
In later years, a Gaelic rhyme about Marion became popular in North Uist:
"Blàr mòr Chorùna, 1809 –
Chaidh Mòr mhòr Chorùna
A-null dhan an Fhraing"
"The big Battle of Corunna, 1809 –
Big Marion of Corunna
Went over to France."
According to Bill Lawson, the Fergusons of North Uist claim descent from Robert the Bruce, who led the Scottish people during their First War of Independence against Edward I of England and who eventually became King of Scotland. While Lawson says that this is a claim that would normally be treated with skepticism, there is a gap in the Bruce's life around 1306, when he was on the run from the English and may have visited the Outer Hebrides, where the MacRuaris were among his main supporters. The name Robert also appears regularly among the Fergusons of North Uist, so the claim is by no means impossible.
After they arrived in North Uist, the local tacksman of the island's landlord, the Chief of Clan MacDonald of Sleat, granted Donald and Marion Ferguson a croft in the township of Claddach Baleshare. Unfortunately, Donald and Marion Ferguson had only girls, fell into arrears, and were evicted from their croft. The tacksman then moved the Fergusons into another croft in the same district, where Donald built a house that still stands. Due to the Fergusons' many stories about their experiences in the wars, their home became one of the most popular ceilidh houses on the island.
Dòmhnall Ruadh later said of Donald Ferguson, "He was the only soldier on the island except for one other over Sollas way by the name of Aonghas Moireasdan, and he got this place where I am today. So many visitors came to call in the evenings to get the tales of Corunna and India from him and the lads would say to each other, 'Let's go over tonight to Corùna to hear the stories.' And the name Corùna stuck to this day and will continue as long as the sun sails westwards."
In commenting on the Bard's family history, Ronald Black has written, "As Fred Macauley points out, the poet's background thus contained a certain glorification of war which was to expire forever in the mud of France."
Early life
Dòmhnall Ruadh Corùna was born in the house built by his maternal great-grandfather on 9 July 1887. There were three other children in his family, two boys and a girl.
His mother, Flòraidh Fhionnghuala Dhòmhnaill 'ic Mhurchaidh 'ic Iain 'ic Mhurchaidh, worked as a domestic servant. Her father, Dòmhnall mac Ailein 'ic Chaluim, is known to have been both a merchant seaman and a Gaelic poet. Dòmhnall Mac Ailein's sister, Maighread nighean Ailein, was the composer of the Gaelic love song, Ille dhuinn, is toil leam thu ("Brown-Haired Lad, I'm Fond of You"). For this reason, Ronald Black has written, "Poetry was in Dòmhnall Ruadh's blood."
The poet's father, Dòmhnall MacDhòmhnaill, worked as a merchant seaman.