Source:Scottish document NMS, H.MCR 39
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| NMS, H.MCR 39 • Red Book of Clanranald | |
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| Red Book of Clanranald, written in Gaelic by the MacVurichs, bards of Clanranald in the 17th and 18th centuries, containing poems and the traditional genealogy and history of the Macdonalds. | |
Transcription
Translation
Alexander had other children, viz., Hugh, by a daughter of Gilpatrick Roy, son of Rory, son of the Green Abbot, son of the Earl of Ross, whose surname was of the Rosses. He had for patrimony the third part of Lewis, and other lands upon the mainland. It is he that was killed in the parts of Garioch when along with Mac Donald, viz., Donald of Isla. For there were four that went out of the army before any part of the main force went with them, viz., Norman Macleod and Torquill his brother, Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil and Gilpatrick mac Rory. Gilpatrick mac Rory and Lochluinn mac Gillemhaoil were killed, but Norman and Torquill escaped safe from the pursuit.[2]
Ronald Black translates this as follows:
Alexander had other children, namely Hugh, [by] the daughter of Gille Pádraig Ruadh, son of Ruairi, son of the Green Abbot, son of the earl of Ross. His pedigree was from the men of Ross, and he had a third of Lewis and other properties on the mainland for his livelihood. And he was slain in the Garioch(?) in the retinue of MacDonald, namely Donald of Islay, for four men got separated from the army leading a detachment or party of the host which accompanied them, namely Norman MacLeod and Torquil his brother, Lachlan MacMillan and Gille Pádraig son of Ruairi. Gille Pádraig son of Ruairi and Lachlan MacMillan were slain, while Norman and Torquil survived the attack unscathed.[3]
Document
| Printed sources | Reliquiae Celticae (vol. 2) |
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| National Museum of Scotland | |
| Identifier | H.MCR 39 (link to catalog entry) |
| Related documents | |
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| Related topics |
Timeline
Below is a list of events that are evidenced by this source. They should appear in the 'Timeline' section of articles about people and places involved in the events.
Discussion
This is a partial transcription of the section of the book most relevant to Ross research. It pertains to Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles. This section was referenced by William Reeves in his paper Saint Maelrubha. Reeves used the genealogy set forth in this passage to draw a loose connection between the Mac an t-Sagairt Earls of Ross and St. Maelrubha's monastery at Aporcrosan. Further analysis of the documents Reeves referenced to draw this conclusion casts doubt on its validity.
As for the manuscript itself, we have from the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1855:
From the evidence collected by the Highland Society in 1805, with reference to the authenticity of Ossian's Poems, Mr Skene shewed that a small MS, termed sometimes the “Red Book,” and sometimes the little book of Clanranald, was given by MacVurich of South Uist, the last of the hereditary Senachies of Clan ranald, to Macpherson, the so called translator of Ossian. MacVurich, in his declaration, says it was called the Red Book, was made of paper, and was given to James Macpherson; that he had others written on parchment, and that both were in the old Gaelic character, and like a Bible.[4]
It was speculated in the late 1970s, though, that this 'little book', that was also being called the 'Red Book', was not actually the 'Red Book'. It was more likely that the Red Book known to Gaelic tradition was actually an earlier version of the Little Book.[5]
This appears to have become the accepted attitude. In an article written in 2006, we see, “As to their names, the 'Red Book' is really a misnomer. Gaelic tradition in South Uist associated a 'Red Book of MacMhuirich' with the famous poetic family, and people have assumed that the surviving MS was the 'Red Book' because some of its contents sound a bit like the reputed contents of the 'Red Book' of tradition. But it is not red, nor is it as grand as the title suggests. Its central text, the Clanranald History, contains evidence for copying from another, perhaps more imposing MS; and this may have been the 'real' Red Book; but the whole idea of a 'Red Book of Clanranald' may be a fiction.”[6]
Nonetheless, the book in possession of the National Museum of Scotland is still referred to as the 'Red Book of Clanranald'.
Source citation
Each of the timeline events displayed above is followed by the reference code for that particular timeline event. This code is not displayed when the timeline event is included in the 'Timeline' section of an article. If an event is discussed within the body of an article, this reference code can be used to cite the source of the timeline event.
Sources
- ↑ Black Nov 2019, pp. 1.
- ↑ Cameron, Macbain & Kennedy 1894, pp. 213.
- ↑ Black Nov 2019, pp. 1-2.
- ↑ Skene 1855, p. 89.
- ↑ Black 1979, p. 43.
- ↑ Gillies 2006.
- Black, Ronald (Nov 2019). "1467 MS: The Green Abbot". West Highland Notes & Queries. 4 (11).
- Black, Ronald I. (1979). "In Search of the Red Book of Clanranald". Clan Donald Magazine. 8 – via The Highland Council of Clan Donald.
- Cameron, Alexander; Macbain, Alexander; Kennedy, John, eds. (1894). "The Book of Clanranald". Reliquiæ Celticæ: Texts, Papers, and Studies in Gaelic Literature and Philosophy. 2. Inverness: Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing and Publishing Co. – via Corpus of Electronic Texts.
- Gillies, William (2006). "The Red Book and Black Book of Clanranald". The University of Edinburgh.
- Skene, W. F. (1855). "The Leahber Dearg, or Red Book of Clanranald". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 1. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.