Annotation:Eilean Beag Donn a' Chuain

Back to Eilean Beag Donn a' Chuain

---

EILEAN BEAG DONN A' CHUAIN (Little Brown Island by the Sea). Scottish, Air. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. A well-known Scots Gaelic song composed by Donald MacDonald ("DM") Morrison, an emigrant from Bragar, west Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, which tells of his yearning for his beloved island. He was part of the migration of workers to Canada after World War I. Morrison eventually made his way to Duluth, following the path of other Lewis emigrants, where found work in the commercial shirt industry, eventually owning his own business. He was still quite attached to his roots, however, and was a member of the Clan Morrison Society, and continued to compose Gaelic songs, which he brought back to Lewis on several visits and in his correspondence back to the island. He also composed the song “Bailig an Iasgich” (The Fisher Lads).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Tartan Tapes CDTT1004, Alasdair White - "Heat the Hoose" (1998). Alasdair Fraser & Paul Machlis - "Skyedance."

---