St Kilda Provenance
Dòmhnullach, Iain [John Macdonald] MARBHRAINN, A RINNEADH AIR DIADHAIRIBH URRAMACH, NACH
MAIREANN : AGUS DANA SPIORADAIL EILE [Elegies Composed for Late Reverend
Ministers : and Other Spiritual Poems]
Dùn-Èidin [Edinburgh], UIlleam
P. Ceanadaidh [William P. Kennedy], [1848]
1st Edition, Dara
Mille [2nd Thousand], 12mo (14.5cm), 267pp [1], (original?) plain paper covers.
Englsih inscription to half-title: ‘William Stewart, Nethy Bridge, Dec, 1849’
and another in Gaelic to the title page: ‘Ruairidh MacLeòid [Roderick MacLeod],
Hiort [St. Kilda] 13:8:10 Covers are
stained with loss to lower front corner. Some marginal staining to the prelims
and first 10 leaves. Soiling and marks
throughout.
John Macdonald
(1779–1849) was a Scottish minister known in Scotland as the Apostle of the
North. The provenance of this copy is important as the author is remembered for
his visits and descriptions of life on St Kilda. One of the poems is titled: ‘Turus an Ughdair
do Eilean H-IORTA.’ (The Author’s Journey to the Isle of St Kilda). It was composed in 1822 when Macdonald
visited the island for the first of several trips to preach to the
natives. This copy was inscribed in St
Kilda 20 years before the island was evacuated (August 1930).
[ref:1451]£95