Search - Mairi MacInnes :: Orosay

Pretty like the glitter of the Sun on Gold

Richard Munro | Bakersfield, California | 02/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Girls of Uist are pretty like the glitter of the sun on Gold

though you girls may not understand the Auld Book, you will address all in well-expressed Gaelic..." Uibhist Nam Beann Arda



Mairi says "I believe that we must respect what has gone before, learn from it, bring it into the now and encourage others to do the same."



For those of you who don't know, Mairi MacInnes is a shinning light of BBC Scotland (Gaelic service). She sang LAND OF LIGHT for the Edinburgh Tatoo in 2000 and her most famous song is I AM A GAEL which she has recorded in English, Gaelic and Welsh.

Here on Orosay there are a great variety of songs, some traditional and others new, in English and in Gaelic. [...]



Mairi has a great website and is a guest on many albums including WILLIAM JACKSON'S LAND OF LIGHT and the BURN'S COLLECTION but OROSAY IS another great solo album with much original music and lyrics not heard ANYWHERE else because they are original with Mairi and her talented side-kick teacher and husband Steve Evans (who is also a very gifted photographer by the way).



Let me speak of the English language songs first.

CARRY ME ACROSS THE OCEAN a new song is a very evocative song of emigration and the HIGHLAND CLEARANCES of the 19th century. Mairi has a very strong attachment, it is clear to the history of the land and the fate of those sons and daughters of the Scottish Highland Diaspora. This is a great song with great pipe backing.



Orosay is a very special song because it recalls a very special place the isle of Orosaidh (Orosay) near her childhood home in South Uist. This was her haven,a a place of solitude and deep peace where she could commune with nature and her God and think the thoughts of life itself and what comes after too. There, on Orosay she dreamed that one day she would carry forth the songs of her race to a new audience, not as the bearer of a dead tradition but the creator of a living art form that has unbroken roots going back more than 1000 years. Mairi won the Mod Gold Medal and ever since has been winning hearts and souls not for herself alone but for the cause of the Gaeltacht (The Highlands), its people and their precious heritage of music, and for Scotland, God being her guide. OROSAY is a song of faith and a song of love for all of God's creations. Like her voice, this is pure Highland silk. I am, of course, a believer, but those of you who aren't will wish you were after hearing this tender, moving, lyrical hymn to hope and God's love.



The other songs are Gaelic Ballads and Hymns.

I love of course UIST OF THE HIGH HILLS (Uibhist nam Beann Arda) because it is in a way autobiographical of Mairi herself and probably deals with the beautiful barefoot Highland lassies of the 19th century who were her ancestors, kith and kin. This is a lovely song in praise of the people, land and history of South Uist, one of the pearls of the Hebrides.



Where would the Gaels be without potatoes? Probably long since extinct so ORRA BHONNA BHONNAGAN Lifting up the Potatoes WITH YOUR BARE FEET is a delight, if simple, work song, evoking the sheer joy of working the land and indeed working for your daily bread.

A real favorite of mine is AN AISLING (the dream). The key actor in this song is God himself and the deep peace and mercy of His love. This has got to be one of the great inspirational songs of the 21st century. It is simply a lyrical and spiritual masterpiece!



When my father died September 27, 2003 Mairi told me to listen to this song and I did. I listened to it over and over for hours while I said my prayers and looked and some of my father's personal thinks, books and photos.

THAT'S GOD... He talks to you through the Holy Spirit.



Have you ever been down and out and nobody seems to be around for you to talk to...



THAT'S GOD... He wants you to talk to Him.



Have you ever been thinking about somebody that you haven't seen in a long time and then next thing you know you see them or receive a phone call from them?



THAT'S GOD... there is no such thing as coincidence.







THAT'S GOD... He knows the desires of your heart.!



Have you ever been in a situation and you had no clue how it was going to get better, how the hurting would stop, how the pain would ease, but now you look back on it...



THAT'S GOD... He passes us through tribulation to see a brighter day... AN AISLING (THE DREAM IS JUST GREAT!!!)



THE GAEL AND HIS SWEETHEART (AN Gaidheal 's a leannan) is another lively song of emigration. The Gael must go away in search of riches but he is glad because his sweetheart will come with him.

The is another lovely HYMN, the Hymn of the Fisherman which is like a stairway to heaven. Lovely and then the chorus sets in to join Mairi.



Mairi is a master of MOUTH MUSIC and she has a series of charming lively PUIRT A BEUL that only a native speaker of Gaelic could get right.



Other Great songs are FAGAIL BHORNAIS (Leaving BORNISH) and ORAN NA CLOICHE (The Stone of Destiny) which evokes MARY MOTHER and makes us yearn for the simple faith of a simpler, purer age.

There is another song about UIST called SONG ABOUT UIST which is most unusual and melodic.



Mairi has simply outdone herself again here. If you love traditional Irish and Scottish music as well as songs which express AGAPE LOVE and DEEP FAITH this an album for you. Mairi has great taste and great diction and her nightingale voice blessed by God will ever call to your heart and it does to mine!"

Mairi MacInnes, to hear her is to love her.

Richard Munro | 01/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, she could calm a lion with her beautiful voice. I love hearing her sing in gaelic. Honestly, I don't have a clue what she is saying, but it sounds so wonderful! After hearing her sing, I found all her albums and bought every one of them. I'm usually not the kind of person to do that. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard her music before. She is a well kept treasure of Scotland. Trust me, if you have any longing for Scotland, or love hearing beautiful soulful singing, you'll treasure this album as I do. Oh, if only I could meet her, but I'm sure she's happily married.....yes, I'm quite taken with her. -ep"