Biography

Roderick Campbell, Ruaraidh mac Iain mac Dhòmhnaill 'ic Iain Bhàin, nicknamed Ròidseag and An Case, was born on Christmas Eve 1900, in Loch Carnan, South Uist. The family moved to South Loch Boisdale when he was still a young boy. Roderick was a Campbell on both sides of his family. His father was a stonemason, and his mother, Mary, Màiri nighean Iain Ruaidh, a Pupil-teacher in Loch Carnan at one time. His mother also had a passion for singing and many of her songs were collected by Margaret Fay Shaw. As for poetry, it was not a skill he had to learn - it was a talent that ran strong in the family, as John MacInnes (Iain Pheadair) explained on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal on 31st December 1997:

“There was Iain mac Dhòmhnaill 'ic Iain Bhàin, the oldest of Dòmhnall 'ic Iain Bhàin's children, and Seonaidh mac Dhòmhnaill 'ic Iain Bhàin. Seonaidh was married but had no children. But Iain, he had sons who were good at singing. His eldest, John, and Angus John were good singers, but Roderick ‘An Case’ was especially good. And James, he was just as good. The Campbells all had musical talent, not just in singing but in composing songs, and they knew a lot of folklore from the area.”

Roderick was good at school. He attended Garymonie school but was sent to Daliburgh School where he would get a better level of education. However, he did not stay long in school. Like many young Gaels of that time, Roderick went to work at sea, where he spent most of his life. Sailors had a hard life then, they worked long hours, were badly fed and had a lack of drinking water on their voyages which would last a year or more. As he himself described:

Gura mise tha cianail
Gur fada cian mi thar sàile
Is mi sa bhàt' air MacLay
B' e siud a' bhèist tha mi 'g ràdha;
Gun mi faotainn den bhiadh innt'
Ach an sìonnsalach grànda
'S mur a till i do Ghrianaig
'S e siud a' bhliadhna bheir bàs dhomh
'S nach fhaigh mi aist.

'S gura mis' tha gu tùrsach
'S i air a cùrs' chon na Stàitean
Mi gun fhios a'm dè 'n ùine
Mum bi dùil rithe dhachaidh;
Mar tha cùisean cho cruaidh oirnn
An t-uisge fuar a bhith glaist' oirnn
'S gun mi faotainn san uair ud
Na chuireas cuairt air mo charcas
Gam chumail glan.

Captain John MacKay of Glendale explained how Roderick would compose his songs:

“When he wanted to make a song, he would walk out on the deck and would pace for hours on end. When he came back, he would have a song.”

There are few who are unfamiliar with the song A Pheigi a Ghràidh, which Roderick made for Peggy MacDonald, Peigi Sheonaidh 'ic Dhòmhnaill 'ic Lachlainn, from Rhughasinish, born in 1911. He also wrote a love song for Katie Ann Nicolson from Skye, who taught in South Lochboisdale for a while and lived in Taigh Mairi Anndra:

Gur tric ort mi smaointinn gach uair 's mi leam fhìn
'S cho fad 's tha thu bhuam a dh'fhàg gruaim na mo chridh';
Gum bi deòir air mo ghruaidhean is tuaineal nam cheann
Man ghaol thug mi òg dhut fo cheòthar nam beann.

Roderick was know for his wit, and there were many stories told about him. Katie Alexander from Glendale told of a night he was in the Lochboisdale Hotel:

"Back then it was hogshead barrels in which they would get beer. And it must have been busy, and shorthanded for rolling the barrels in and out, no to wherever they were going to put them. And who was at the bar but Ròidseag. They went up to him and asked him to help them roll the beer barrel. He replied ‘Of course, manys a time she rolled me over!”

Another story is told about a journey he made on a MacBrayne ferry while returning home to Lochboisdale:

The boat was coming in to Calvay, and several people - Roderick among them - were standing on deck. A man came up to him and asked, “Are you getting off here, Roderick?” “Oh no,” said Roderick, “I’m staying on until she gets right in to the pier!”

His humour is evident in the songs he wrote, such as Òran na h-Airship:

Cha bhi mi idir ga cheiltinn, bha mi fo eagal 's fo chùram,
'S bha mi 'g ràdh nach b' e Freasdal chuir air an trip-sa co-dhiù mi;
Ach ged tha iomadach bliadhna nach robh mi shìos air mo ghlùinean
Bhon a ghluais i bhon talamh cha d' rinn mi car ach ag ùrnaigh
Gu faighinn aist'.

Nuair a ràinig i cala bha gach dad ann an òrdan,
Cha robh feum air a ceangal, 's rinn i laighe gu stòlda.
Chaidh mi staigh airson glainne, 's thug mi dalladh air òrain
'S bha mi dannsa rim fhaileas bhon fhuair mi tarsainn na neòil
'S mi gun aona scratch.

In 1941, Roderick was at his home in south Loch Boisdale when the Politician went on the rocks, about half a mile southeast of Calvay, with over twenty thousand cases of whisky on board. He went to help clear the wreck during the day, but it seems he also went during the night too. He and his friends were taken to court in Lochmaddy, and while a few of them were made to serve time in prison, Roderick got off with it as he explained he had only gone back in the night to get his coat. In his song Òran a' Pholitician, he writes:

'S a Loch na Madadh chaidh mi sìos,
'S gam chuir an iarainn cinnteach:
Cha b' e seachdain, 's cha b' e mìos,
'S ann gheibhinn bliadhna prìosain.
Bha gèidsear, poileasman neo dhà
An-àird' airson mo dhìteadh,
Ach a dh'aindeoin an cuid beòil
'S ann gheibh an Ròidseag clìdhear.

During the war, his ship was torpedoed, and although Roderick got out safely, he was injured and had to return home. He learned how to drive and worked for Donald Ferguson the merchant for a while. After the business was sold, he returned to sea.

His nickname An Case was given to him by Lewismen on the ship he worked on. As John MacKay explained:

“He was a real case, because he was always laughing no matter what situation he was in — and that’s how he got the name. He was very well liked. Wherever Roderick happened to be, if people heard that he was in the Masons or another pub in London, they would gather round him. And they would stay with him for as long as they were in port.”

Angus Graham (Am Misean) [3081] from Lewis was often in Roderick’s company in many ports:

"Roderick was wonderful company. You never wanted to leave his side. He was a good singer, and I heard him sing many times in the bars I used to hang out in. It didn't matter who he met, they wouldn't say anything bad about Roderick. He was so approachable, so charming, that’s the kind of person he was."

John MacKay had a similar testimony:

"Everyone always loved to meet Roderick because he would make them laugh no matter what. I heard a lot of people who were with him at sea on very difficult voyages but when Roderick would come around, he cheered everyone up."

Roderick died suddenly in London in 1947. His remains were brought home, and he is buried in Uist. Kirsty Campbell, who was married to his brother James, described him:

"He wasn't very tall, but he was a stout man with a round, happy face. Everyone will remember Ròidseag. They would hear him singing up and down the road. If he wasn't sining he would be whistling, and he was always so happy. No one ever saw him sad."

List of compositions

A Pheigi a Ghràidh
Fàgail Ghlaschu
Òran na h-Airship