Dùn Aluinn

Dùn-Àluinn (1912) by Iain MacCormaic (1860–1947) was the first full-length novel in Scottish Gaelic literature.^[1]^[2] It was first published as a weekly serial in The People's Journal from May to September 1910. The name is sometimes anglicised as Dunaline.

It was closely followed by Angus Robertson's An t-Ogha Mòr, which had actually been serialised prior to Dun Aluinn's publication, and so vies for the position of first novel.

MacCormaic, a native of Mull,^[3]^: 171 published in magazines sponsored by Ruaraidh Erskine.^[3]^: 174 Prior to the novel, he had published collections of short stories and a novella, Gu’n Tug i Spéis do’n Armunn, in 1908.^[3]^: 172

Plot summary

The novel is about the horror of the Highland Clearances, and the heir of a despotic landlord, Cailean Og, who is disinherited. The most interesting character is the Church of Scotland minister who gives a sermon about social rights. For a novel of its period, it is fairly cosmopolitan, and the action ranges to locations as exotic as gold mines in New Zealand.

Reception

After publication the novel was reviewed in The Oban Times and by An Comunn Gàidhealach. There were suggestions that the vocabulary used in the novel was local to Mull.^[3]^: 181

References

^ Renton, Ronald (May 2011). ""The Edinburgh Companion to the Gaelic Language" edited by Moray Watson and Michelle MacLeod". The Bottle Imp (9). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
^ Fiasson, Arnaud (2018). "The Role of the Scottish Renaissance in the (Re)construction of a Multilingual Identity Reverberating Internationally". Études écossaises. 20 (20). doi:10.4000/etudesecossaises.1396.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kidd, Sheila (2006). "The forgotten first: John MacCormick's 'Dùn-Àluinn'" (PDF). Scottish Gaelic Studies (22). Retrieved 30 November 2023.