Am Miseanaraidh

Am Miseanaraidh by Iain Crichton Smith Translated as: 'The Missionary'

About the book

The Missionary concerns a Highland minister, Donald, who goes to Africa as a missionary. His beliefs and practices and, ultimately, his faith are seriously challenged by people, place and circumstance. The ‘whiteness’ or purity of his doctrine is confronted by the ‘darkness’ and ancient pagan practices of Africa and, after a series of events, Donald is tempted by alternatives, both of the flesh and of the spirit. Like Conrad, Crichton Smith uses the traditional metaphor of the jungle and the way in which it swallows the sun as the motif that threatens to swallow Donald’s belief system and western (Highland) ways.

As with much of Crichton Smith’s writing, the story is full of allusions and symbolic meaning, but written in a clear, sharp and detached way. The story develops rapidly and the end is surprising in its sense of hope and possible joy and potential for redemption. Apparent polarities such as love and hate are much closer than the linguistic compass-points would suggest, and this may have been Crichton Smith’s true position – he was aware that our common humanity, in the end, outdistances our geographic, linguistic or theological positioning.

This cross-cultural reaching out at the end of The Missionary is what makes the story so relevant and contemporary. Am Miseanaraidh (The Missionary) has been described as one of his finest Gaelic stories.

Extract from Am Miseanaraidh (Gaelic)

' A' chiad oidhche a laigh e air a leabaidh anns an eaglais, bha beagan cianalais air, ach cha do sheas sin fada. Ann an ceann dhà no trì lathaichean bha Alba mar fhaileas air cùl inntinn fad' airfalbh, gun shusbaint, mar bheanntan air latha fliuch. Agus bha an teas a' bualadh air mar òrd de theine.'

English Translation

'The first night he slept in the church he felt a little homesickness but this did not last long and after a few days Scotland was to him as distant and hazy as its bluish mountains seem on a misty day, insubstantial, vague, almost incoherent. But the heat of Africa beat on him like a hammer.'

Reviews

'Crichton Smith was an almighty powerhouse of a writer; his penetrating, clear-eyed and compassionate style explores great depths of human intellect, experience and emotion without sacrificing an innate lucidity and an edifying humanity. This fresh publication of an insightful and poetic narrative will be warmly welcomed by Crichton Smith's many dedicated readers.' -
Kevin MacNeil, Writer

'In The Missionary, published by the vital Ùr-Sgeul for the first time in the original Gaelic, Crichton Smith is exploring the way in which religious doctrine and practice is challenged once it is placed in a totally different context'. -
Angus Peter Campbell, Writer and broadcaster

Further details

Paperback
80pp
136mm x 203mm portrait
Publication: 2 March 2006
ISBN: 1 900901 20 X
£6.00

CD Talking Book – 2 CD SET
Publication: 2 March 2006
Read by: Donald William Stewart, University of Edinburgh
£8.00

Ur-Sgeul, co-ordinated by the Gaelic Books Council, is supported by the Scottish Arts Council and Bord na Gaidhlig.

Buy the book online or from The Gaelic Books Council, 22 Mansfield Street Glasgow G11 5QP 
Tel. 0141 337 6211 or Fax. 0141 341 0515
Email: fios@ur-sgeul.com

Courtesy of The Gaelic Books Council