Mary MacPherson (1821-1898)
Mary MacPherson [known as Màiri Mhór nan Òran] was a Gaelic poet and bard whose work encompasses Highland politics, land struggles, and the lives of Highland communities in Lowland cities.
Portrait of Mary MacPherson, photo by D. Whyte, Inverness. Am Baile / Highland Photographic Archive
Mary was born on 10 March 1821 at Skeabost, Skye, to John Macdonald, crofter, and his wife, Flora MacInnes. In the 1840s, Mary left Skye and moved to Inverness, where she married Isaac MacPherson, a shoemaker, on 11 November 1847. Their marriage entry in the Old Parish Registers tells us that both Mary and Isaac were residing at Friars Lane, Inverness.
Marriage entry for Isaac Macpherson and Mary Macdonald, 11 November 1847. Crown copyright, NRS, Old Parish Registers, 098/ Inverness, page 273
Prior to the introduction of compulsory registration in 1855, the Church of Scotland parish ministers and session clerks kept registers of births and baptisms, proclamations of banns and marriages, and deaths and burials. There are some 3,500 surviving Old Parish Registers that are one of the few resources available for tracing people and family pre-1855. However, there was no standard format employed and record keeping could vary from parish to parish, and from year to year. As a result, the information available may be sparse, unreliable and difficult to read! This particular example is very legible, giving the date, their names, Isaac’s profession and the presiding minister.
Further clues and windows into MacPherson’s life can be traced through the census records. From these, we know that the couple remained in Inverness, where their four children were born. Hopping through the decades we find the family enumerated in the 1851, 1861, and 1871 censuses living at 2 Bank Street, 3 Wrights Lane, and 6 Maggot Row, Inverness, respectively.
1851 census, parish of Inverness. Crown copyright, NRS, Census 098/13/29
1861 census. Crown copyright, NRS, Census 098/9/36
1871 census. Crown copyright, NRS, Census 098/10/53
Showing the expanding family, these entries also record a change of profession for Isaac MacPherson who is enumerated as a chimney sweep in both 1861 and 1871.
Their son John was born on 13 May 1855, the year that statutory registration was introduced. This record shows that Mary was the informant, signing her name with an ‘X’. An interesting detail, that suggests she was illiterate.
On 2 June 1871, Isaac died at 6 Maggot Row. To support herself and her family, Mary entered domestic service.
The following year, Mary was accused of stealing from her employer. Found guilty, she was sentenced to 40 days in prison. Mary’s own account stated that another servant had stolen the items and framed her.
During this time, Mary found her poetic voice expressing her innocence through Gaelic song. Upon her release later that year, she moved to Glasgow and trained as a nurse at the Royal Infirmary, gaining a nursing certificate and diploma in obstetrics. She practised in Greenock and Glasgow until 1882.
A frequent member of Highland Society céilidhs in Glasgow, she became known for her poetry and involvement with leading advocates for land reform and the Land League agitation of the 1880s. At gatherings, she used Gaelic verses to disseminate information to Gaelic speakers.
Mary’s poetry and songs were numerous, and an edition of her work was published in 1891. Taken down by diction in the 1890s, it was 320 pages of poetry that had been composed in the previous two decades. Her work focuses on Highland politics, but more specifically, the land struggles in Skye and the Islands. Mary’s oeuvre also reflects on the lived experience of Highland communities in the Lowland cities.
‘Soraidh le Eilean a' Cheò’, or ‘Farewell to the Misty Isle’ is one such verse and song by MacPherson. It describes her departure from the Isle of Skye for Glasgow. While it is written below, it can be heard – perhaps as intended – sung here: Soraidh le Eilean a' Cheò (Farewell to the Misty Isle) - High Life Highland
Soraidh leis an ait’
Sèist
Soraidh leis an ait' 'san d' fhuair mi m' àrach òg,
Farewell to the place where I was brought up,
Eilean nam beann àrda far an tàmh an ceò:
Island of the high mountains where dwells the mist,
Air am moch a dh' èireas grian nan speur fo ròs,
On which rises early the sun in the rosy heavens,
A' fuadach neul na h-oidhche soillseachadh an Stòir.
Chasing off the clouds of night lighting up the Storr.
Rann 1
Cur m' aghaidh air Glaschu b' airsneulach mo cheum.
Turning my face to Glasgow sorrowful was my step.
Cur mo chùl ri càirdean nochd am bàidh cho treun:
Turning my back on friends who showed their great
kindness:
Ghluais mo bhuadhan nàdur ann an gràdh dha chèil',
The qualities of my nature stirred in love together,
Shruth mo dheòir a bhàn, is dh' fhàilnich guth mo
bhèil.
My tears flowed down and my voice faltered.
Rann 2
Seallaidhean bu bhriagha riamh chan fhaca sùil,
Sights more beautiful the eye has never seen,
Sprèidh a mach 'gam fiarach madainn ghrianach chiùin:
Cattle out in the pasture, morning sunny and calm:
'N uiseag air a sgiath seinn gun fhiamh a ciùil,
The lark on the wing sings its song without care,
'S an ceò mu cheann Beinn Dionabhaig is an an sliabh fo
dhrùchd.
The mist around the head of Ben Dionabhaig and the hillside
dew-covered.
Rann 3
Nuair ràinig mi 'n t-àit' an d' fhuair mi m' àrach òg
When I arrived at the place where I was brought up,
Far an robh ar n-àirigh, Sprèidh le 'n àl mu 'n chrò:
Where our sheiling had been, cattle and their young in the
fold
Choltaich mi ri Gàidhlig torman tlàth nan lòn
Sounding to me like Gaelic gently murmured the stream
'S aoibhneach leinn a Mhàiri d' fhaicinn slàn 's tu beò'.
Happy we are, Mairi, to see you alive and well
Mary MacPherson's death entry, parish of Portree, 1898.Crown copyright, NRS, Statutory register of deaths 114/1 24
We can see from MacPherson’s death entry that she passed away from erysipelas (a form of bacterial infection), which she had for six days. The names of both her parents have been corrected and scored out. The annotation in the left margin notes the clerical errors. We can also see that MacPherson’s daughter Flora is the informant, and that she is married (surname now Anderson) and living at 127 City Road, Glasgow.
Mary died on 7 November 1898 at 11:05 pm at Beaumont Crescent, Portree, Skye.
Robert Garioch Sutherland (1909-1981)
Robert Garioch Sutherland (pseudonym Robert Garioch) was a Scottish poet and translator who wrote almost exclusively in the Scots language. He is best known for poems in the Edinburgh dialect, but he also translated works in Latin by the 16th century humanist George Buchanan, and sonnets in the working-class dialect of Rome by 19th century poet, Giuseppe Belli.
Robert Garioch Sutherland, 1909-1981 (from the series ‘The Seven Poets’). ©Jessie Ann Matthew. National Galleries Scotland
Born in Edinburgh on 9 May 1909, he was the son of Robert Garioch Sutherland, a housepainter, and Catherine Sutherland (née Matthewson), a music teacher. He attended Royal High School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA (Honours) in English Language and Literature in 1931. He won the Sloan Prize for verse in Scots in 1930.
Register of births, district of St Andrew in the burgh of Edinburgh, 1909. Crown copyright, NRS, Statutory Register of Births 685/2 412
For Garioch’s birth entry we can see his name recorded as ‘Robert Gariock Sutherland’. Registered in the district of St Andrew, burgh of Edinburgh, his place of birth is noted as 109 Bellevue Road. The middle name of both the father and son has been corrected and ends with a ‘k’, rather than an ‘h’.
We also learn from this record that his parents were married on 17 July 1908 in Edinburgh and that his mother’s maiden name is ‘Matthewson’. Additional details like this can be used to trace further information on the family. The mother’s maiden name might be used to identify her records pre-marriage, as well as the marriage record for his parents.
Tracing him through the census, he is recorded as 1-year-old in 1911 and, in 1921, 12-years-old. It is perhaps fortunate for us that the family was at home as the taking of the 1921 census was delayed. Scheduled to take place on 24 April, it was postponed until Sunday 19 June due to industrial unrest. A potential frustration for the family historian, this means that many people were away from home as they travelled from their usual residences to holiday destinations across Scotland and the wider UK. If you cannot find someone in the 1921 census, it is often worth checking the English and Welsh Census to track ancestors on holiday!
Register of marriages, district of Haymarket, Edinburgh, 1942. Crown copyright, NRS, Statutory Register of Marriages 685/1 85
On 26 January 1942, he married Margaret Lillie (1914-1978), a schoolteacher, in a civil ceremony in the presence of a Haymarket district registrar.
Conscripted during the Second World War, he served in North Africa with the Royal Signals. He was a prisoner of war (POW) in Italy and Germany from 1942 to 1945 and later published a memoir about his experiences.
Following retirement from teaching in 1964, he was a literary advisor to the journal ‘Scottish International Review’, writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh and a contributor to the Dictionary of Older Scottish Tongue (DOST). Up until his final months he continued to perform his poetry, including ‘In Princes Street Gairdens’, ‘Fitbaw in the Street’ and a ‘Wee Local Scandal’.
Fi’baw in the Street
Shote! here’s the poliss,
the Gayfield poliss,
an thull pi’iz in the nick fir
pleyan fi’baw in the street!
Yin o thum’s a faw’y
like a muckle foazie taw’y
bi’ the ither’s lang an skinnylike,
wi umburrelly feet.
Ach, awaw, says Tammy Curtis,
fir thir baith owre blate ti hurt iz,
thir a glaikit pair o Teuchters
an as Hielant as a peat.
Shote! thayr thir comin
wi the hurdygurdy wummin
tha’ we coupit wi her puggy
pleyan fi’baw in the street.
Sae wir aff by Cockie-Dudgeons an
the Sandies and the Coup,
and wir owre a dizzen, fences tha’
the coppers canny loup,
and wir in an ou’ o backgreens an
wir dreepan muckle dikes,
an we tear ir claes on railins
full o nesty irin spikes.
An aw the time the skinnylinky
copper’s a’ ir heels,
though the faw’y’s deid ir deean,
this yin seems ti rin on wheels:
noo he’s stickit on a railin wi
his helmet on a spike,
noo he’s up an owre an rinnan, did
ye iver see the like?
Bi’ we stour awa ti Puddocky
(tha’s doon by Logie Green)
and wir roon by Beaverhaw whayr
deil a beaver’s iver seen;
noo wir aff wi buitts an stockins
and wir wadin roon a fence
(i’ sticks oot inly the wa’er, bi’
tha’s nithin if ye’ve serue)
syne we cooshy doon thegither
jist like choockies wi a hen
in a bonny wee-bit bunky-hole
tha’ bobbies diriny ken.
Bi’ ma knees is skint an bluddan,
an ma breeks they want the seat,
jings! ye git mair nir ye’re eftir,
pleyan fi’baw in the street.
Garioch died on 26 April 1981. His death entry can be found in the statutory register of deaths for the district of St Andrew in Edinburgh. He was 71 years old.
Display
Currently, a small display of some of the genealogical records we have traced for MacPherson and Garioch , is on show in General Register House’s Adam Dome, Edinburgh. Normally only accessible as digital images via the NRS service Scotland’s People, visitors to the Adam Dome will have the rare opportunity to see physical examples of some of the records most commonly used by the family historian, including: examples of the census records; a register of births; and a register of deaths.
The display will be on show from 23 February – April, Monday-Friday, 09:00-16:00.
Sources
Lodge, Christine. "MacPherson, Mary [known as Màiri Mhór nan Òran, Màiri Nighean Ian Bhain] (1821–1898), poet." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. August 14, 2025. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 Dec. 2025, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-38584
Mackay, P. (2025) ‘How Do You Solve a Problem Like Màiri?: Nineteenth-Century Gaelic Song, Rewilding, and Audience Creation’, 19: interdisciplinary studies in the long nineteenth century, 2025(37), p. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.16995/ntn.11188.
Scottish Poetry Library. Robert Garioch, 1909-1981
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/robert-garioch/
MacPherson, Mary (1891), “Poems and songs by Mary MacPherson”.
Available via the National Library of Scotland
https://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/archive/76045070
Hubbard, Tom. “Sutherland, Robert Garioch [pseud. Robert Garioch] (1909-1981). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 23 September 2004. Date of access 3 February 2026
https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-40315?rskey=3Pk40k&result=3
National Records of Scotland, Census Records
National Records of Scotland, Statutory Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages
National Records of Scotland, Old Parish Registers
National Records of Scotland, Family History
