Biography

Mary MacPherson was born in the Laggan area and came from a family steeped in Gaelic culture and language.

Mary's father, Ewan MacPherson (1727-1801), had been a teacher for the SSPCK (Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge) in several areas in the Highlands from 1751 onwards, starting with Lochcarron (1751-1756). During his posting in Glenelg (1756-1765), he was persuaded to accompany James MacPherson to Uist to act as a fluent interpreter for the collecting of Ossianic tales from oral tradition. He later attested to these trips in an official inquiry in 1800 into whether James MacPherson had invented large parts of his extremely popular 'Ossian'.

Ewan was considered a gifted scholar and teacher, and had excellent Gaelic. He had taught Sir John MacPherson (1745-1821), one-time Governor-General of India, and had been encouraged by his former student to retire to Skye. However, Ewan chose to settle in Laggan, where he would spend the rest of his life. He appears to have had a particularly strong religious devotion, as his former student and friend Anne MacVicar Grant remarked; Anne affectionately nicknamed him The Prophet due to his wisdom and the ascetic lifestyle he adopted in later life. Anne also tells us that Ewan died on 16th December 1801, and was much mourned.

Growing up in Laggan, Mary was fond of music, song, and dance, which Badenoch was full of at that time, and she also appears to have inherited her father's religious piety. The Reverend Alexander MacRae, who compiled and published a collection of Mary's hymns, suggests that they were composed sometime between 1765 and 1785, as one of her hymns was published in Edinburgh in 1785:

Thig led dhoille, ciont is daorsa
Fàg na aonar airsan 'n leatrom,
Dh'iarraidh teagaisg, riaghlaidh 's saoraidh
Tha iad annsan rin toirt seachad.
Seall le muinghinn an-àirde
Chum nam beann da bheil do thaitneachd;
Nuair is trioblaidich a dhual dhut
Amhairc suas ri Triath nam feartan.

Càraich d' eallach air a ghuaillibh
Oir 's ann uaithe thig do neart-sa;
'S ged nach beachdaich thusa ghluasad
Creid gu luath gu bheil e 'm faisg ort
Feith gu foighidneach ri thìm-san
'S imich dìreach rèir a reachda
Ruith do rèis le fair' is dìcheall
'S ann le strì a nì thu streapadh

Her life changed dramatically when she broke her leg. It never healed properly and she had to use a stick and a crutch for the rest of her days. She married young, to a man called Clark, who had some land in Torra Dhamh in Glen Truim. Their home was opposite Creag Dhubh, with a beautiful view of the glen. Little is known of her husband, but the Reverend MacRae notes that Mary began composing hymns in English, and how her husband encouraged her to compose in Gaelic. None of the hymns she composed in English can be found today, and only seven of her Gaelic hymns are known to exist.

It seems that she was widowed at a young age, and although she had children, she did not receive much support from them. Although her neighbours were good to her, her life was quite hard:

'S mi mar dhèirceachan falamh,
Gun nì, gun fheudail, gun earras, gun stòr,
'S mi 'n dùil gun èist thu ri m' ghearan
'S do ghnùis le coibhneas gun deàlraich thu orm.
Na leig dhomh tionndadh bho d' leanail
Ach dèan mo stiùireadh 's mi aineolach dorch,
Le d' ghràs ath-nuadhaich-sa m' anam
'S dèan gràdh is fìrinn a bhuileachadh orm.

'S tric a las thu mo choinnleir
'S mi gun solas, gun soillse nam chòir,
Le do Spiorad tha saidhbhir
Chum mo sheachran fhoillseachadh dhòmhs'.
Sgrùdam d' fhocal gach oidhche
Stiùireas m' astar mar ghuide anns an ròd,
'S tionndaidheam dhachaigh bho m' fhaontraidh
Dh'ionnsaidh m' athair saidhbhir an glòir.

There is a story which tells of a time when a catechist passed by Mary's house and heard sounds from inside. When he opened the door, he could hardly believe his eyes when he saw Mary dancing in the middle of the floor. She explained to him that the reason she was dancing was that she felt so happy to have found her Saviour. Mary was once asked how many people she could accommodate at one time during communion. She replied: "I have a barn to hold twenty and a heart to hold a hundred."

Not much is known about the latter part of Mary's life. She is said to have moved to Perth after she was widowed to live with one of her married daughters. She died around the year 1815, before she was able to publish her own volume of songs and poetry.

List of compositions

Togarrach A Bhith Maille Ri Crìosd