A stone for Duncan Ban Macintyre in Makars' Court

Aim

We wish to mark the 300th birthday of the great Gaelic bard Duncan Ban Macintyre with a commemorative flagstone in Makars' Court, Edinburgh.

Makars' Court in Edinburgh's Old Town commemorates some of the most notable writers from over 600 years of Scottish literature. Their names and words are inscribed on flagstones on the ground and walls of this impressive courtyard.

This year is the 300th anniversary of the birth of one of Gaeldom’s most renowned and best-loved bards, Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir (Duncan Ban Macintyre) (1724-1812). Although he was not literate, he had a kaleidoscopic vocabulary and extraordinary verbal dexterity. His songs describe the natural environment of the Gàidhealtachd, especially the deer and other wildlife, in vivid and minute detail. His works also express dismay at the economic and social changes that came over the Gàidhealtachd in his time.

Born in Glen Orchy in Argyll, Donnchadh Bàn served, somewhat reluctantly, on the Hanoverian side during the 1745 Jacobite rising but left in 1746 for employment as a gamekeeper on the Argyll-Perthshire border. He relocated in 1766 to serve until 1793 in the Edinburgh City Guard, the city’s police force. He is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, where he is commemorated by a fine sandstone obelisk.

Donnchadh Bàn is eminently worthy of a place in the illustrious literary company of Makars' Court. Thanks to the efforts of Ionad Gàidhlig Dhùn Èideann, a charitable organisation which is working to develop a Gaelic centre in Edinburgh, the official permissions and approvals have now been received and we can move forward to have Donnchadh Bàn honoured with a place in Makars' Court.

This crowdfunder has been set up to raise the money required to pay for a flagstone inscribed with Donnchadh Bàn’s name and a quotation from his song ‘Cumha Coire a’ Cheathaich’ (Lament for Misty Corrie), which laments how the corrie has deteriorated from its former beauty and vitality.

The text will read

’S e mùthadh air an t-saoghal

An coire laghach gaolach

A dhol a-nis air faondradh

(A change has come upon the world

That the fine, beloved corrie

Should now be desolate)

A dedicated stone in in Makars' Court would be a fitting way to celebrate Donnchadh Bàn’s abiding place in Gaelic culture in this anniversary year. 

We require £3500 to inscribe and install the stone. We intend to arrange an installation ceremony on 20 March 2024, Donnchadh Bàn’s birthday, as part of a day of celebration, Latha Dhonnchaidh Bhàin, which will also include a reading and an evening concert (see www.ionaddhuneideann.org). Any funds received over the costs of the stone will be applied to the costs of the ceremony and the work of Ionad Gàidhlig Dhùn Èideann in promoting Gaelic in Edinburgh.

Tha sinn an dòchas gum bi sibh deònach taic a thoirt don oidhirp seo le bhith gar cuideachadh leis a’ mhaoineachadh-sluaigh seo. Bhiodh e làn iomchaidh saothar is cliù Dhonnchaidh Bhàin a chomharrachadh le leac ann am Makars’ Court. Cuidichidh gach tabhartas, beag no mòr, sinn ann a bhith a’ ruigsinn a’ chinn-ùidhe. Mòran taing dhuibh uile.

This project successfully funded on 11th March 2024