A memorial stone to Gaelic poet Mairi Mor nan Oran (aka Mary Macpherson) was unveiled on 10 October in Edinburgh’s Makars’ Court, partly funded by the Royal Celtic Society. Situated at the top of the Royal Mile, close by Edinburgh Castle, this impressive courtyard contains memorial stones to some of the greatest of Scotland’s men and women of letters.
Màiri Mhòr nan Òran (Big Mary of the Songs) was a remarkable 19th century Highland woman, a native of Skye and, says Professor Wilson McLeod, who masterminded the campaign for her memorial, “a powerful female voice for her language, her people and her culture, and an eloquent makar of Gaelic song-poetry..” She is, argues Professor McLeod, “eminently worthy of a place in the illustrious literary company of Makars’ Court.”
So far, among the many giants of Scottish letters commemorated here, only three Gaelic writers have been included, and none of them women. The text of her memorial, drawn from one of her own songs, reads “Cuimhnichibh gur sluagh sibh / Is cumaibh suas ur còir (Remember that you are a people / And stand up for your rights).
Appropriately, the stone was unveiled by two of today’s leading Gaelic women of letters and music, in historian Dr Priscilla Scott and singer Mary Anne Kennedy. As part of the ceremony, Mary Anne sang several of Màiri Mhòr’s songs. The ceremony was attended by Royal Celtic Council members Lord Minginish and our chairman, Alan Hay.