Abstract
Sorley MacLean (Somhairle MacGill-Eain, 1911-1996) is generally considered the greatest modern Scottish Gaelic poet. His most famous creation, ""Hallaig"", is probably the most anthologised modern Gaelic poem, widely loved and quoted.
Named after a cleared township in MacLean's native island of Raasay, the poem is an attempt to keep alive the memory of a place destroyed by the Highland Clearances in the second half of the nineteenth century. Apart from its exquisite literary qualities, the poem has acquired a special status and has transformed the perception of the place which inspired it.
In my paper, I am going to comment on the treatment of place and its history in ""Hallaig"", on the unique position of ""Hallaig"" in the canon of modern Gaelic literature, and on the remarkable relationship between Hallaig the poem and Hallaig the place.