Hallaig

Hallaig is a deserted township on the south-eastern corner of Raasay, a Hebridean island off Scotland’s north-west coast. The poet Sorley MacLean, who was born on Raasay, wrote the poem Hallaig in the 20th century. It first appeared in the Gaelic magazine Gairm and later became his most famous work. The poem remembers the crofting community that lived here before the Highland Clearances. Between 1852 and 1854 the landowner George Rainy forced families to leave. MacLean’s own relatives were among those who had to go. The poem mixes past and present to show how time changes a place and its people. MacLean uses the first person to let readers feel his loss and longing. He compares his love to birch and hazel trees, linking people with the land. The empty village appears alive in his words, though only ghosts remain. The BBC notes how the birch tree stands for life rooted in history. MacLean also contrasts natural woods with pine plantations he sees as artificial. Visitors walk through the quiet landscape where Hallaig once stood. The remains of stone walls trace where homes once were. The birch and rowan trees that MacLean loved still grow here. The sea and hills around Raasay frame the view. The poem’s lines echo in the wind, recalling those who once lived here. The name Hallaig lives on in a modern ferry serving Raasay, keeping the memory alive.