Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 14 hours ago
Shetland resident Donald S Murray talks to Gordon Wells about his career as a teacher and then writer, and about his relationship with the Gaelic language. Alongside a recording of a selection of his poems and a short documentary introduction, this film contributes to a small "exile Gaelic" collection which forms one part of an extension series of the Island Voices project, in which its "capture and curation" model is used in new contexts and for more languages in addition to English and Gaelic.
In Part 1 Donald talks about his family background and upbringing, first in East Kilbride and then in Ness, Isle of Lewis. He also talks about community and school influences and how they affected his acquisition of Gaelic. A spell of work and then university studies followed on the mainland, before he returned to the Western Isles to teach, first in Lewis, and then Benbecula. He also refers to challenges he had to overcome in various stages of his life.
The Donald S Murray Collection:
Gael in Shetland documentary in two languages –
Gaelic youtu.be/ilIyP19OFwc
English youtu.be/2-v-6xdGuag
Conversation –
Part 1 youtu.be/ILSilMuUBg4
Part 2 youtu.be/PrvE--gsyj0
Part 3 youtu.be/uQMcE5IY-nU
Omnibus youtu.be/T_CiE1jaexw
Poetry youtu.be/QzdB07Khw20
Further background:
guthan.wordpress.com/2024/05/06/gaelic-in-shetland
About Island Voices/Guthan nan Eilean:
guthan.wordpress.com/about
Shetland resident Donald S Murray talks to Gordon Wells about his career as a teacher and then writer, and about his relationship with the Gaelic language. Alongside a recording of a selection of his poems and a short documentary introduction, this film contributes to a small "exile Gaelic" collection which forms one part of an extension series of the Island Voices project, in which its "capture and curation" model is used in new contexts and for more languages in addition to English and Gaelic.
In Part 1 Donald talks about his family background and upbringing, first in East Kilbride and then in Ness, Isle of Lewis. He also talks about community and school influences and how they affected his acquisition of Gaelic. A spell of work and then university studies followed on the mainland, before he returned to the Western Isles to teach, first in Lewis, and then Benbecula. He also refers to challenges he had to overcome in various stages of his life.
The Donald S Murray Collection:
Gael in Shetland documentary in two languages –
Gaelic youtu.be/ilIyP19OFwc
English youtu.be/2-v-6xdGuag
Conversation –
Part 1 youtu.be/ILSilMuUBg4
Part 2 youtu.be/PrvE--gsyj0
Part 3 youtu.be/uQMcE5IY-nU
Omnibus youtu.be/T_CiE1jaexw
Poetry youtu.be/QzdB07Khw20
Further background:
guthan.wordpress.com/2024/05/06/gaelic-in-shetland
About Island Voices/Guthan nan Eilean:
guthan.wordpress.com/about
