Photo by Roddy Simpson
Beannachd leat, Aonghais a charaid
do ghuth a’ glaodhaich
foillsich thu fhéin
a charaid, is mise
an t-amadan naomh
am bàrd
amhairc is èisd rium
‘bratach’ le Aonghas MacNeacail
Cha robh Aonghas Dubh, a chaochail aig aois 80 san Dùbhlachd, ga mheas fhèin mar ‘bhàrd Gàidhlig’, ach mar bhàrd dà-chànanach. San t-seadh seo, bha e cho Gàidhealach ’s a ghabhadh. Fear a bh’ ann a bha cofhurtail ann an còrr is aon chànan, aig an robh freumhan làidir ann an cultar is eachdraidh na Gàidhealtachd, ach aire daonnan air an t-saoghal mhòr. Thuirt e fhèin, ‘Tha cuimhne agam criomag bheag de bhàrdachd a rinn mi nach deach a-riamh dhan leabhar ach bha na faclan, ‘Born with the shell of exile on their backs’... Bha a' mhòr-chuid de na daoine às na h-eileanan, bha iad a’ togail orra a dh’àitichean eile agus thug sin mar gum biodh cuspairean dhomh. Agus thòisich mi a’ sgrìobhadh mu na daoine a b’ aithne dhomh, na daoine air an robh cuimhne agam.’
Nuair a dh’fhàg e Àrd-sgoil Phortrìgh, dh’fhalbh Aonghas fhèin. Thogadh e fhèin is a phiuthar ann an Uig lem màthair às dèidh bàs an athar, Alasdair, le aillse nuair nach robh Aonghas ach ochd. Lean e ann an lorgan athar gu muir an toiseach, agus an uair sin chaidh e a dh’obair ann an oifis rathad iarainn ann am Fìobha. ’S ann am Fiobha a ghabh e ùidh ann an sgrìobhadh an toiseach, is ’s ann sa Bheurla a bha e ag obair. Tro sgeama airson inbhich gun teisteanasan foirmeil, chaidh e a dh’Oilthigh Ghlaschu far an robh e mar phàirt dhen bhuidhinn sgrìobhaidh aig a’ bhàrd Philip Hobsbaum, còmhla ri Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, Liz Lochhead, Tom Leonard is grunnan eile. Nuair a bha e mu chòig bliadhna fichead, thòisich e ri bàrdachd a sgrìobhadh sa Ghàidhlig, ach mar ‘c[h]leas caran prìobhaideach’, na fhaclan fhèin. Cha robh e an uair sin a’ meas na Gàidhlig cho cudromach ris a’ Bheurla, thuirt e às dèidh làimh. Chuir e a’ choire airson sin, gu ìre, air gainnead cothrom air litreachas ùr na Gàidhlig; cha robh ach Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig MhicBhatair aca a-staigh nuair a bha e a’ fàs suas. Ach nuair a chaidh e a Cholaiste Langside agus a thachair e ri Ruairidh MacNèill à Barraigh a bha a’ teagasg Gàidhlig an sin, chuir e eòlas airson na ciad uarach air a’ bhàrdachd aig Somhairle MacGill-Eain, Ruaraidh MacThòmais, Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn, is Dòmhnall MacAmhlaigh. Thug sin brosnachadh dha a bhith a' sgrìobhadh anns a' Ghàidhlig e fhèin, is dh’fhàs a mhisneachd a-rithist mar thoradh air greis mar sgrìobhaiche Shabhal Mòr Ostaig. Anmoch anns na 1970an, ‘dh’atharraich’ e ainm gu h-oifigeil don riochd Ghàidhlig aige – ged is e a bh’ air bho riamh, dh’fhaodadh tu ràdh. Thug e riochdan ùra dhan chànan, mac-talla nam Beats agus na Black Mountain School às na Stàitean.
’S ann nuair a bha e air mhuinntireas aon uair eile ann an Oilthigh Ghlaschu anns na naochadan a thuig Aonghas gur e dhà-rìribh bard dà-chànanach a bh’ ann. Bhiodh e ag eadar-theangachadh na bàrdachd Gàidhlig aige fhèin, ’s e a’ cur luach air ‘the opportunity to reach the non-Gaelic audience, among whom most of my life is spent’. Buinidh a chèile, an cleasaiche, sgrìobhadair is seinneadair Gerda Stevenson, do Shiorrachd nam Pùballan agus ’s ann an sin a rinn iad an dachaigh agus a chaidh am mac Rob agus an nighean Galina a thogail. Anns na grunn bhliadhnaichean a chaidh seachad bha Aonghas ag obair gus a’ bhàrdachd a sgrìobh e sa Bheurla bho thùs a thional ’s a chur air dòigh.
Choisinn Aonghas cliù dha fhèin mar sgrìobhadair eadar-nàiseanta a’ nochdadh aig fèisean is air àrd-ùrlaran air feadh an t-saoghail – bha Iapan, Ameireaga, Fionnlainn is Iosarail am measg nan dùthchannan air an do thadhail e. Bha e gu mòr an sàs ann an co-obrachadh le luchd-ealain eile, gu sònraichte luchd-ciùil. Sgrìobh e an libretto airson ‘An Turus’ le William Sweeney, agus airson ‘Sgàthach’ le Alasdair MacNeacail. Nuair a thachair e ri Dòmhnall Seathach on chòmhlan Capercaillie air bàt-aiseig agus a dh’inns e dha gun robh òran aige a’ feitheamh air fonn, thòisich càirdeas cruthachail a thug dhuinn òrain leithid ‘Breisleach’, a tha mar sheud sa chrùn air òrain Ghàidhlig na linne seo.
Bha Aonghas fhèin air a chrùnadh mar Bhàrd a’ Chomainn Ghàidhealaich, choisinn e Stakis Scottish Writer of the Year agus Duais Fletcher of Saltoun bho Chomann Crann na h-Alba. Bidh ionndrainn air ann an saoghal litreachas na h-Alba agus saoghal Gàidhlig mar bhàrd, agus mar dhuine. Bha e fialaidh le chuid ùine, eòlais agus tàlant. Bha e ag obair gu tric am measg inbhich agus òigridh gam brosnachadh gus peann a thogail, ann an coimhearsnachdan Gàidhealach is Gallda air feadh Alba. Bha e daonnan taiceil do sgrìobhadairean is luchd-ealain eile. Is bha e daonnan le gàire. Dh’inns e fhèin aon uair dhan BhBC, ‘bidh mi a' smaoineachadh uaireannan gum biodh e math nam b' urrainn dhomh a ràdh gu robh beagan dhen nàdar agam dubh cuideachd ach chan eil fhios ’am... tha mi ro mheasail air a bhith a' dèanamh gàire airson sin.’
Duine mòr, cridhe mòr, guth mòr. Is bidh ionndrainn mhòr air.
Aonghas ‘Dubh’ MacNeacail, 1942 - 2022
Mu dheidhinn an ùghdair
Bha Màiri Kidd roimhe na Ceannard Litreachas agus Foillseachadh aig Alba Chruthachail.
Tha i a-nis a’ stiùireadh Moat Brae, Ionad Nàiseanta na h-Alba airson Leabhraichean Cloinne. Tha Màiri cuideachd ùghdar agus neach-foillseachaidh a tha ag obair ann am Beurla agus ann an Gàidhlig, agus airson àm bha i na Ceannard Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig.
Bha an urram aice coinneachadh agus ag obrachadh còmhla ri Aonghas gu tric.
Farewell to a Bard
your voice crying
reveal yourself
friend i am
the holy fool
the bard
observe and listen’
‘bratach’ / ‘banner’ by Aonghas MacNeacail
Aonghas MacNeacail, perhaps best known by his epithet ‘Aonghas Dubh’ (Black Angus), died at the age of 80 in December.
He was often described as a Gaelic poet, but considered himself a bilingual writer. Perhaps there is no contradiction; the Gaelic experience is so often to be comfortable in two languages, with strong roots in the culture and history of the Gàidhealtachd, but always with an eye to the world outside.
He said, I remember a wee scrap of poetry I wrote that never made it into a book, but it had the words, ‘Born with the shell of exile on their backs’... Most people from the islands, they left and went to other places and that gave me as subject, as it were. And I started to write about the people I knew, the people I remembered.’
Aonghas left in his turn, after attending high school in Portree. He and his sister were raised in Uig by their mother, their father Alasdair having died of cancer when Aonghas was only eight years old. He followed first in his father’s footsteps to sea, and then to office work for the railways in Fife. It was there that he first developed an interest in writing, working initially in English. He gained entrance to Glasgow University through a scheme for mature students without formal qualifications, and found his way to a writers’ group established by the poet Philip Hobsbaum, which numbered Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, Liz Lochhead and Tom Leonard among its other members.
At around the age of 25, Aonghas began to write in Gaelic, but as a ‘sort of private game’, in his own words. He didn’t at that point consider Gaelic as important as English, as he would later explain. He blamed that, in part, on a lack of exposure to modern Gaelic writing; the only Gaelic poetry book with which he had been acquainted in his youth was William J. Watson’s collection of work from the C19th an before, Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig.
It was only when he went to Langside College and met Ruairidh MacNeil, a Barra man who taught Gaelic there, that he first discovered the poetry of Sorley MacLean, Derick Thomson, Iain Crichton Smith and Donald MacAulay. He was inspired to begin to write in Gaelic himself, and his confidence grew when he was appointed writer in residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college in Skye.
In the late 70s he changed his name officially to its Gaelic form – a strange ‘change’ in the sense that it always had been his name. He introduced new forms and styles to Gaelic poetry, including echoes of the Beats and the Black Mountain School in the USA.
A second residency, this time at Glasgow University, gifted Aonghas the realisation that he was truly a bilingual poet. He created his own English translations of his original Gaelic work, welcoming ‘the opportunity to reach the non-Gaelic audience, among whom most of my life is spent’. His partner, the actress, singer and writer Gerda Stevenson, is a native of Peebleshire and the couple made their life there, raising their son Rob and daughter Galina.
In recent years, Aonghas had been working to gather together and edit his lifetime’s work in English.
Aonghas earned a significant reputation internationally, appearing at festivals and other venues across the globe – Japan, America, Finland and Israel being just a few of the countries he visited. He was an enthusiastic collaborator with artists in other disciplines, particularly music. He wrote the libretto for ‘An Turus’ (‘The Journey’) by William Sweeney, and for ‘Sgàthach’ by Alasdair Nicolson.
When he met Donald Shaw of Capercaillie on a ferry crossing and told him he had a song in need of a melody, a creative collaboration was established that contributed significantly to Scotland’s songbook, perhaps most notably with ‘Breisleach’ (‘Delirium’), one of the jewels in the crown of modern Gaelic song.
Aonghas was crowned in his own right as National Gaelic Bard by An Comunn Gàidhealach, awarded Stakis Scottish Writer of the Year, and won the Fletcher of Saltoun Prize from the Saltire Society.
He will be missed in both the Scottish literature and Gaelic worlds for his poetry, and for his presence. He was generous with his time, intellect and talent. He frequently delivered writing sessions for adults and children across Highland and Lowland Scotland. He was unstintingly supportive of fellow writers and other artists, and he was at all times, in the words of Publishing Scotland, ‘a genial presence’.
He once told the BBC, ‘I think sometimes I’d like to be able to say part of my nature was ‘black’ too but I don’t know… I’m too fond of a laugh for that.’
Aonghas was a big man with a big heart and a major voice. He will be sorely missed.
Aonghas ‘Dubh’ MacNeacail, 1942 - 2022
About the author
Mairi Kidd was previously Head of Literature and Publishing at Creative Scotland.
She has recently taken over leadership of Moat Brae, Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Books. Mairi is a writer and publisher and has worked in both English and Gaelic, including a period as Chief Executive of Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig.
She had the great privilege of meeting and working with Aonghas on many occasions.