Biography
Malcolm MacInnes (Calum Mòr) was born at Drumfearn in Skye in 1871. He was educated at Portree School and then Raining's School in Inverness. He then went on to the University of Edinburgh. In 1901 he went to South Africa and between 1907 and 1926 he was secretary at the School Board in Johannesburg. When he returned to Scotland, he spent some time at Ostaig in Sleat, but later moved to Inverness where he spent the rest of his life.
He was a knowledgeable man and wrote and edited a number of books in English and Gaelic, including plays, operettas, and pipe tunes. He was also central to the collection of proverbs republished by Alexander Nicolson, but this time with a subject index allowing people to find proverbs according to topic. Unfortunately, he died the week the book was ready to go to print. He was apparently a talented piper and was often a judge at competitions.
On a Gaelic programme on the BBC in 1947, Professor Donald James MacLeod spoke about Calum Mòr as the author of the song Caidil ù ò:
"A strong man, he often displayed heroic deeds with a hammer and a stone on the battlefield, and, whether wrestling or in debate, he was not one to mess with. Calum is a big man who would put a fulcrum to the lever or the caber. He was gifted, and he published a number of song books and a hefty book containing 120 pipe tunes. He is as good a bard in English as he is in Gaelic, with a special ability to represent the sweetness of Gaelic poetry in English."
As Professor MacLeod explained, Calum used old tunes but added new words to them:
"The tunes ... were taken by Calum as he heard them at home, at the hearths during ceilidhs, and the poetry came from his imagination – poetry that is an expression of the spirit of the country with the intense passion of the heart."
Calum died in Inverness in 1951 at the age of 88. It was said of him:
"In conversation he is blunt and direct; Calum isn't concerned if the King doesn't care for Calum. He is no more partial to one man than another."
List of compositions
Caidil ù ò