A Visit With Mickey MacNeil
Migi with baby Una; Migi and Colin singing; Colin fishing.
A’ Tadhail air Taigh Mhigi
April 16, 2021
Hosts: Hector MacNeil & Frances MacEachen
Guests: Mickey MacNeil & Colin Watson
Our imaginations were sparked with tales of mermaids, fairies, and tricksters when we gathered online for the fifth Air Chéilidh,A’ Tadhal air Taigh Mhigi | A Visit with Mickey MacNeil.
Frances MacEachen invited co-host Hector MacNeil to share a tale to begin, in accordance with the Gaelic proverb, A’ chiad sgeul air fear an taigh, sgeul gu latha air an aoigh (The first tale from the host, tales until dawn from the guest.)
What we heard
Hector MacNeil told the Gaelic story Uilleam Dean Suidhe, about how a man won a bet that he would be invited into the home of an inhospitable woman by tricking her into saying his name, Uilleam Dean Suidhe (William Sit Down). The story was told to him by Michael MacNeil, Migi Bean Nilleig, a Gaelic storyteller from Iona.
Hector was struck by how the story communicates the value Gaels placed on hospitality and how the visitor addressed the lack of hospitality with his words and wit.
Gaels in Central Cape Breton were descendants of settlers from Barra, Scotland, and proudly kept up the dialect, songs and stories of their ancestors.
“Gaels were custodians of one of the richest storytelling traditions in Western Europe,” said Hector. The storytelling corpus included very long hero tales, such as those from the Fenian cycle, international tales, historical tales, such as clan legends, also magical tales of the fairies, second site, magic and humorous local stories.
As someone who learned Gaelic in the 1980s, Hector had a chance to meet many prominent storytellers from Cape Breton.
“Joe Neil (MacNeil) . . .there was no one like him. His memory was just amazing.” (Joe Neil’s stories were recorded by Dr. John Shaw and published in Sgeul gu Latha |Tales Until Dawn).
Some storytellers had a laid-back style, like Murdoch MacNeil from the rear of Christmas Island, who drew Hector in with his words.
“As he was talking you felt yourself physically drawing closer.”
Hector took us on a memorable visit with Migi Bean Nilleig one winter’s night, when Migi told him the story Dòmhnall Dona Mac na Bantraich (Evil Donald the Widow’s Son).
“What a luxury to have someone tell you a story,” Hector recalls. When Hector got up to leave after a long visit, Migi insisted he have biscuits with butter, jam and tea. “He said the road will be much shorter if you start out with food in your stomach.”
Hector then introduced us to another Michael MacNeil, (Mickey John H.) 92 of Jamesville. On a recent visit there, Mickey shared with Hector the story of a farmer/fisher who sought advice from a mermaid for a problem he was having with fairies stealing his cows. The recorded story was translated by Colin Watson, a friend and neighbour of Mickey’s.
Colin, 38, recalled that he first met Mickey at his store in Iona. Mickey would bribe young Colin with a chocolate bar if he spoke Gaelic to him. Now several decades later, Mickey is Colin’s mentor. Colin said he is learning how to track time from Mickey, through discussing events, stories and memories. Colin, who is a wonderful Gaelic singer, said his singing style has changed since spending time with Mickey.
Colin finished off the evening with a favourite song of Mickey’s, ‘S toil leam cruinneag dhonn nam bò’ (I love the brown-haired girl of the cattle.)
What is gained when we keep stories alive?
Themes and quotes from our small group conversations. Read more.
Humour in the old stories is something we can hold onto in these trying times.
Intergenerational connections
A connection to place
Just the sheer enjoyment of the experience
Stories give us a sense of connection to one another, to the ancestors, and to a bigger net
The stories we tell may help us to see what is valuable to us.
Ceangal ri saoghal a th’air falbh agus eòlas a chuidicheas sinn gus saoghal a latha a-màireach a neartachadh. (A link to a world that has gone and knowledge to help us strengthen tomorrow’s world.)
We experience spontaneous interaction, face to face connection and a better knowing of where we came from.
Telling a story is a way of animating people and loving them in a different light.
It makes me feel warm and cozy to recall my grandfather telling stories. I love how the stories have been held, shared and valued.
What we gain is the ability to travel back in time and get to know people who died long ago. There are many people I feel I know now; I often tell my kids about them, and they’ll remember those stories too.
The stories link us to our ancestors and give a depth to our current community relations.
Stories also help tell us what is valued in our community, and how to deal with the problems we face
Insights from this visit
You can be 90 something and still talking about the older people!
I think one of things we have lost in English-speaking society is the tradition of storytelling within the community. And it's something we really miss. We leave it to the professionals, the authors and moviemakers, instead of telling our own stories and carrying forward our traditions. We tell stories to children, but not to adults. And I have found that adults miss that and want it back!
Migi paints a world for you to fit right into—the places, people, histories, sloinnidhean (patronymics).
Almost three generations so at ease with each other—so much affection and respect
Tonight's session made me long for the stories of my ancestors.
Loved hearing Eachann's sharing about storytellers, how he was drawn in, how he was welcomed and cared for. A lot to learn from simple practices.
Hearing a story first hand from a good storyteller is like winning a lottery.
Inspired actions
Cha mhisde sgeul math innse dà uair. (A story is not made worse if told twice) I've witnessed this over and over and over. But I don't often retell stories. Gonna give that a hook.
I’m inspired to record all my father's wonderful stories that he picked up in Glace Bay before they are forgotten. I am also inspired to slow down and take the time to connect with the people in my life, to share openly.
I interviewed my mother recently about her life, and am reminded to do so again, to ask her about family history.
Encouragement to learn more Gaelic
Gratitude
So much joy in the listening and sharing!!
Tapadh leibh uile! Obair mhór a rinn sibh | Tremendous work!
Sin thu-fhein, a Chailein!
So beautiful to hear about the personal connections that are forged and strengthened through storytelling.
Abair deugh òrain (Wow, great song!)
Excellent session to organizers and participants!
Suas e!
Tapadh leibh uile! Oidhche eireachdail eile!! (Thanks for another incredible evening.)
Thank you to everyone for another great session! Thank you for the stories, songs, and conversations!