Rob Donn

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Rob Donn (Brown haired Rob) was a Scottish Gaelic poet from Sutherland. It is generally assumed that his surname was MacKay (MacAoidh), but this has been disputed, so he is sometimes referred to as "Rob Donn MacAoidh".

[edit] Biography

Born in Strathmore, Sutherland, he never learnt to speak English, nor to read and write, but his poetical abilities were picked up early on by Iain MacEachainn, a tacksman who would patronise the former cowherd. In return, Rob Donn praised and delineated MacEachainn and his family in his poetry, in a way normally reserved for nobility in Scottish Gaelic poetry.

Two other major figures in his life were the Rev. Murdo MacDonald, the local minister, and Donald MacKay, the fourth Lord Reay. Both were great influences on him, and celebrated in his poetry.

Rob Donn's life coincided with the two major Jacobite campaigns, in 1715 (when he was only one) and in 1745.

[edit] Collection of his poems

Although sometimes moralist, Rob Donn's poetry sometimes contained bawdy images, which would be bowdlerised by later collectors; especially as Protestant clergymen were often major figures in controlling written Scottish Gaelic. However, an exception can be found in the Rev. John Thomson, who succeeded Murdo MacDonald in the parish, and allowed his daughter to transcribe Rob Donn's works uncensored.

Later editors and collectors were not always so kind, in other ways. For example, Rob's Strathnaver dialect was sometimes disguised by being rendered into more standard forms of Scottish Gaelic, which destroyed certain of the effects and even rhythms.