Bunessan

infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Bunessan
gaelic_name= Bun Easain
scots_name=
population= 200 (approx.)
os_grid_reference= NM5055
latitude= 56.32
longitude= -6.23
unitary_scotland= Argyll and Bute
lieutenancy_scotland= Argyll and Bute
constituency_westminster= Argyll and Bute
constituency_scottish_parliament= Argyll and Bute
post_town= ISLE OF MULL
postcode_district = PA67
postcode_area= PA
dial_code= 01681

Bunessan (Scottish Gaelic: Bun Easain) is a small village on the Ross of Mull in the south of the island of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland. Originally a small community of farmers in the Scottish farming tradition called crofting, the village had a mill, weavers and a small fishing fleet until the 1900s.Bunessan village has one hotel, The Argyll Arms, which also is the only pub in the area, a village hall which is often used for numerous dances throughout the year, two grocery shops, a craft shop, and a further small cafe/restaurant, Reef.

The primary school for the Ross of Mull is found in Bunessan.

The village population is roughly 200, and includes surrounding areas of Millbrae, Fountainhead and Ardtun.

The village has a thriving lobster fishery. Some of the largest lobsters in the west coast of Scotland can be found at the top of Loch Scridain, in an area known as "The Pool".

Hymn tune

Bunessan lends its name to a hymn tune, originally associated with the Christmas carol, "Child in a Manger". [cite web
url=http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/h/childman.htm
title=Child in the Manger
publisher=Cyberhymnal
accessdate=2008-03-01] Mary Macdonald (1789 - 1872), who lived in the nearby crofting community of Ardtun and who spoke only Gaelic, wrote her hymn "Leanabh an Aigh" to a traditional melody. [MacNab, Peter, (1999) "Mull and Iona:Highways and Byways". Edinburgh. Luath Press.] When the words were later translated into English, the melody was named after the village by the translator, Lachlan Macbean. [ Macbean, L. (1888) "The Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands." Edinburgh.] [* [http://www.ambaile.org.uk/index.jsp Highland Council on-line archive.] ] A monument to Mary Macdonald can be seen near the village, on the road towards Craignure, just after the Knockan crossroads. The ruins of the house she lived in are also nearby.

Sometime before 1927 Alexander Fraser heard the melody from a minstrel in the Scottish Highlands and wrote it down so that it came to the attention of Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Martin Shaw. In turn, these editors of the hymnbook Songs of Praise requested Eleanor Farjeon to write a further hymn text to the tune. This was "Morning Has Broken" and since 1931 the tune has become most familiarly identified with this hymn. [McCann, Forrest M. (1997). "Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources." Abilene, TX: ACU Press. ISBN 0-89112-058-0. Pp. 200, 399.]

References