Fonds MG 6.3 - Currie, Michael D. fonds

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Title proper

Currie, Michael D. fonds

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  • Textual record

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Fonds

Reference code

CA BI MG 6.3

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Date(s)

  • 1928 (Creation)
    Creator
    Currie, Michael D.
    Place
    Grand Mira (NS)

Physical description area

Physical description

3 p. of textual records

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Name of creator

(1854-1936)

Biographical history

Michael D. Currie was a school-teacher, tradition-bearer and bard. He was married to Mary Ann MacDonald of Grand Mira and had eight children, one of whom, Lauchlin, was also a bard, producing many songs in both Gaelic and English. We can glean from his letter to the Casket (MG 6.3) that it was very important to Michael D. that pioneer Gaels be portrayed as sober, industrious individuals who overcame hardship to build a better life for themselves that that which they had left in Scotland. It may have been Michael D.'s need to "set the record straight" which incited him to produce a regular column in Teachdaire nan Gaidheal detailing immigrant Gaels trials and tribulations. He also wrote articles on Scottish history and prose in both Gaelic and English, which appeared in Teachdaire nan Gaidheal and Am Mosgladh.
Michael D. was the son of "Red Donald" and Christie Ann Currie (née Currie). His paternal grandfather had emigrated from Loch Carnan in South Uist. His maternal great-grandfather, Michael, was the son of Niall who with his family, immigrated to the Boisdale are in the 1820s. Niall's father, Lachlann, along with his brother Iain, were well-known and respected bards. Before emigrating, Lachlann read a testimony before the Gaelic Scoiety of London in which he listed his patronymic back eighteen generations through his father, Niall (the last hereditary bard to be patronized in Scotland) to Muireadhach Albannach, who came from Ireland in the 13th century to serve as bard to the Lords of the Isles. The Curries are also sometimes referred to as MacMhuirich or MacVurich. Lachlann and Iain both later removed to Blackett's Lake.

Custodial history

Gift of Lauchlin Currie, Michael D.'s son, Grand Mira.

Scope and content

Fonds consists of reproductions of a letter and reply to The Casket regarding an article, "Early Days in Cape Breton" with special reference to the Gaels, criticizing the way in which they were portrayed in the article.

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  • English

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    Associated materials

    A West Wind to East Bay (CS 88 E27 M3 2001)

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