Bibliography of the Gaelic prose of Skye: introduction

This present work is based upon my thesis presented for the degree of M.Litt. at the University of Aberdeen in 1986: The Literature of the Island of Skye: a Bibliography with Extended Annotation. Here the bibliographical citations are presented as they were in the original work, but with the annotations abbreviated in a number of cases. I have also modified the way in which some of the sections are arranged.

The work has been brought up to date with the inclusion of material from the intervening twenty-odd years. However, I should point out that this new material has not been researched as comprehensively as that in the original work. This has led to certain inconsistencies, but I felt it better to update the work to some extent rather than not at all.

Sources

Although the title of this bibliography refers to the literature of Skye, it also encompasses the literature of the islands immediately adjacent to Skye: Raasay, South Rona, Muck, Rum, Eigg, Canna and Soay. In the absence of indications to the contrary, general references to Skye made throughout may be taken to include references to the forenamed islands as well.

The main categories of my source materials were periodicals, anthologies, individual collections and miscellaneous books and articles in the libraries of Aberdeen University, the National Library of Scotland and the Central Public Library in Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Library, The Mitchell Library in Glasgow, the library of Sabhal Mór Ostaig in Skye and a number of other libraries through inter-library loan. While all these printed sources were examined as systematically as possible, constraints of time made it impossible to be as systematic in the case of newspapers. In general, I confined myself to newspaper material to which I found reference in independent sources.

As this is a bibliography of printed works, there are no main entries for manuscript or other non-print material, although references may be made to such material in the annotations, along with listings in the ‘References and Sources’ section.

Criticisms : Translations

Critical material is normally referred to in the annotation, rather than being cited as a main entry. Translations are not normally noted unless they have been published alongside works cited.

Language Use

Where an author’s name is used as a main heading, I normally use the Gaelic form if this occurs in any of that author’s works which are cited. However, there are certain exceptions. For instance, the greater part of the work of Coinneach MacLeòid has been published under the anglicised form of his name, Kenneth MacLeod and this is the form which I use as the main heading. In all cases, appropriate cross-references are made.

Where any item cited is exclusively in Gaelic, Gaelic descriptive terms are usually used within the citation, e.g. fear-deasachaidh, etc.

Individuals: Poets, Songwriters, Traditional Singers, Authors, Collectors etc.

I generally include material by persons who belong to the area through birth or long residence.

Bibliographical Form

Citations are made in the form of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Code, with some modifications to accommodate the nature and form of this work.

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Traditional Prose

Traditional Prose: Single Items

Material listed in this section ranges from transcriptions of full length tales taken from oral recitation, through literary versions of traditional tales, to descriptive and anecdotal material. All the items have been collected from, or written by men and women from the area. Each item is listed under the name of the reciter, collector or author within a single alphabetical sequence.

As far as this section is concerned, my definition of ‘traditional’ has a certain flexibility. Generally, material composed for publication is included if the matter is traditional and the style does not vary too much from the traditional. For instance, the subject matter of Niall MacLeòid’s ‘Gaol Gaidhealach’ in his Clàrsach an Doire is certainly traditional, but his style varies so much from the traditional that ‘Gaol Gaidhealach’ is listed in the section for non-traditional creative prose while the other three stories in Clàrsach an Doire are listed with traditional prose collections.

Traditional Prose: Collections

As well as single items, there are several collections. For example; tales and lore collected by Calum I. MacLean, tales and lore collected from Hugh MacKinnon and collections of the published compositions of individual authors, most notably the Rev. Tormod Domhnallach.

Non-traditional Creative Prose

The short story is well represented in this section in a wide range of styles from writers like Màrtainn Domhnallach, Ailean Caimbeul, Eilidh Watt etc. Included too, is one of the few full length novels ever to be published in Gaelic, Angus Robertson’s An t-Ogha Mór.

There is evidence of the persistent influence of the Rev. Norman MacLeod, ‘Caraid nan Gaidheal’, in the use of the dialogue form first popularised by him in An Teachdaire Gaelach. This may be seen in items by John Lorne Campbell and T. M. MacCalmain.

A number of sketches and short plays are listed, most of them the work of Domhnall Grannd.

Those interested in Gaelic fiction should find Moray Watson’s new book useful (Watson 2011)

Journalism and Miscellaneous Prose

Material in this section is listed on a fairly selective basis. Material written by people belonging to Skye and its adjacent islands is usually only included if it has specific reference to the area. This means that what is listed for writers like T. M. MacCalmain and Màrtainn Domhnallach does not represent anything like their total output. However, in such cases I try to include in the notes some discussion of the nature and scope of their literary activities.

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