- Iain Lom
Iain Lom was a
Scottish Gaelic poet. He had more than one nickname however and was known to some as Iain Monntach which translates as stammering John. Iain Lom translates as bare John.Biography
Iain Lom's family were the
MacDonalds of Keppoch .The nickname "Lom" is Scots Gaelic for "bald" or "bare" indicating he was bald. (lom a. luime, bare, bald, shaven, cropped).
His dates of birth and death are unknown, but we know that he was present at (and wrote about) the Battle of Inverlochy (1645) as an adult, and the Treaty of Union (1707); this would presume a birthdate in the early-mid 1620s (if not earlier), and a death in the early 18th century. Most of the details of his life are known from his poetry.
He was apparently somewhat disabled, and was once described by a contemporary as "walking with a hirple" (i.e., a limp. Scots word originally used in 1450 by the Scots poet Robert Henryson, perhaps derived fr. the Old Norse word herpast "suffer from cramps").
However, it didn't stop him from climbing a tree during the battle of Inverlochy. When chastized for his seeming cowardice by his chief afterwards, he is said to have replied that he had climbed the tree the better to see his chief and clanmens' valiant deeds, and had he been killed in the battle, who would then have written of them?
There are many stories told of his quick and vitriolic wit, which apparently was demonstrated from an early age.
Work
A thoroughly political poet, he wrote much on contemporary matters, including the following:
* The Battle of Inverlochy
*Alasdair MacColla
*Keppoch murders
* TheMassacre of Glencoe (in which MacDonald kinsmen were killed)
* The Restoration
* TheHanoverian succession
*Act of Union 1707 which removed Scottish sovereignty.He was a fierce opponent of the Hanoverians, and thus an early Jacobite.
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