It's the disgrace I suffered that gave rise to my poetry 2
'S e na dh'fhuiling mi de thàmailt, a thug mo bhàrdachd beò 2
Mary MacDonald was born in 1821 and she was brought up in Skeabost in the Isle of Skye.
Her father was a crofter, Iain Bàn mac Aonghais Òig (Fair John son of Young Angus).
in 1845 Màiri moved to Inverness.
Three years after that, she married Isaac MacPherson, a shoemaker from Inverness, and they made their home in the town.
But Isaac died in 1871, leaving her with six children.
The youngest ones were 12 and 15 years of age.
After the death of Isaac, she got work as a nurse with Mrs Harriet Turner.
After Mrs Turner's death, Mary was accused of stealing some of her clothes.
She was convicted in (the) court and imprisoned for 40 days.
Some are of the opinion that it was another servant who put Mrs Turner's clothes in Mary's trunk, and Mary herself was adamant that she was innocent—that was obvious in many of the songs she made/composed.
As she said herself:
It's the disgrace I suffered that gave rise to my poetry
After being released from prison, Mary went to Glasgow to look for work as a nurse.
She also got training as a midwife in the city's Royal Infirmary.
It appears that Mary learned to read and write at this time, because there is no evidence that she could do this before 1872.
In 1876, she moved to Greenock where she was a nurse, but she would often return to Glasgow to the big Skye ceilidhs.
She returned home to the Isle of Skye in 1882, and she lived between Skeabost and Portree.
Through the 1880s she was very much involved in the Land League Agitation [Land Struggle].
She was often present at the crofters' meetings, and working on poetry which would invigorate her compatriots.
Her songs were very important in broadcasting information to the people of the Highlands about the campaign because many were unable to read at that time.
She died in 1898 in Portree after a short illness and she was buried beside Isaac in the Chapel Yard Graveyard in Inverness.
A collection of her songs was published in 1891.
Seo dhut na freagairtean!
Cuin a rugadh Màiri?
Càit an deach a togail?
Dè an obair a bh' aig a h–athair?
Dè t–ainm a bh' air a h–athair?
Cia mheud pàiste a bh' aig Màiri agus Ìosag?