Sangs Tae Eimhir

by Derrick J. McClure

This is an unusual book. Derrick McClure, with his usual robust and accomplished style provides Scots versions of Sorley MacLean's Din do Eimhir. The book will be a source of delight to readers and speakers of the Scots and Gaelic languages worldwide, wherein they can exclusively view Scots and Gaelic, the two languages of the country, side by side in a single volume. It is a must for all public and private bookshelves.

Paperback

First published June 14, 2013

Reviews

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sheer delight! I'm enormously impressed with the poetic and translating talent of Mr. McClure -- I picked up this book at the Aros Center at Portree last summer, and am only sad that I didn't tackle it sooner. Translating poetry is challenging at the best of times, but attempting to translate while preserving meaning into a reliable meter with rhyme and internal structure is an extra challenge. I ended up reading portions of the poems in both languages side by side, and I can see why the translator made the choices he did. Having the same text on facing pages really does help, and for English speakers who want to cheat, there's a little Scots-to-English glossary at the end that'll give you common definitions. I had the best time with it when I read the text out loud, though -- even if there was a word I didn't know, context cues gave me most of it, and the uninterrupted rolling meter of the work in Scots was a pure pleasure to roll around in your mind. (You can always go back later and look up the words, and then reread that part.) I hope to be back on Skye next spring, and I'll be looking to see if they have anything similar then!