Bunessan

Bunessan
Scottish Gaelic: Bun Easain

Bunessan village viewed from the road to Fionnphort
Bunessan
 Bunessan shown within Argyll and Bute
Population 300 (approx.)
OS grid referenceNM381217
Civil parishKilfinichen and Kilvickeon
Council areaArgyll and Bute
Lieutenancy areaArgyll and Bute
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ISLE OF MULL
Postcode district PA67
Dialling code 01681
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentArgyll and Bute
Scottish ParliamentArgyll and Bute
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 56°18′58″N 6°14′06″W / 56.316°N 6.235°W

Bunessan (Scottish Gaelic: Bun Easain) is a small village on the Ross of Mull in the south of the island of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. The settlement is within the parish of Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon,[1] and is situated on the A849.[2]

Community

The village population is approximately 300, and includes surrounding areas of Millbrae, Fountainhead and Ardtun. A village hall is used for dances throughout the year. The primary school for the Ross of Mull is found in Bunessan.

Economy

Business has included crofting, a mill, weaving and a small fishing fleet, up to the end of the twentieth century. Bunessan village has one hotel, The Argyll Arms, (the only pub in the area), one grocer shop, a craft shop, and a further small cafe/restaurant.

The village still has a thriving lobster fishery. Some of the largest lobsters in the west coast of Scotland can be found at the top of Loch Scridain, in an area known as "The Pool".

Hymn tune

Bunessan lends its name to a hymn tune, originally associated with the Christmas carol "Child in the Manger".[3] Mary M. Macdonald (1789–1872), who lived in the nearby crofting community of Ardtun and who spoke only Gaelic, wrote her hymn "Leanabh an Aigh" to a traditional melody.[4] When the words were later translated into English, the melody was named after the village by the translator, Lachlan Macbean.[5][6] A monument to Mary Macdonald can be seen near the village, on the road towards Craignure, just after the Knockan crossroads. The ruins of the house she lived in are also nearby.

Sometime before 1927 Alexander Fraser heard the melody in the Scottish Highlands and wrote it down so that it came to the attention of Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Martin Shaw. In turn, these editors of the hymnbook Songs of Praise requested Eleanor Farjeon to write a further hymn text to the tune. This was "Morning Has Broken" and since 1931 the tune has become most familiarly identified with this hymn.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Details of Bunessan". Scottish Places. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "A849". Sabre. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Child in the Manger". Cyber Hymnal. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  4. ↑ MacNab, Peter (1999). Mull and Iona:Highways and Byways. Edinburgh: Luath Press.
  5. ↑ Macbean, L. (1888). The Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh.
  6. ↑ "Highland Council on-line archive".
  7. ↑ McCann, Forrest M. (1997). Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources. Abilene, TX: ACU Press. pp. 200, 399. ISBN 0-89112-058-0.

External links

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