This song is sung by Alex Goldie. Born in Newfoundland, he was reared in Middle Cape, Cape Breton. He was Chief of Police in the City of Sydney. The song was composed by Seumas Caimbeul (James Campbell) of North Sydney. The James Vooght mentioned in the song was a owner of Vooght’s Department Store in North Sydney.

Òran Nam Fasan. Alex Goldie. T-343. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

The singer is Malcolm R. MacLeod of Sydney. This song has become the Gaelic anthem of Cape Breton; it was composed by Dan Alex MacDonald from Framboise. A longer twelve-verse version of the song is published in Gaelic Songs of Nova Scotia, by Helen Creighton and Calum MacLeod (1964).

Òran Do Cheap Breatainn. Malcolm R. MacLeod. T-630. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

Sung by Kenny Morrison of Loch Lomond and Sydney. The song was composed in the Isle of Harris. It’s an example of the transfer of songs between Cape Breton and Scotland in more recent times.

Òran An Dèididh. Kenny Morrison. T-3024. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

This selection was sung by Lauchie Gillis of Grand Mira. The song was composed by a young woman from the isle of Tiree, Scotland, after an unrequited love affair with a gamekeeper who was considered to be above her station. It is published in An t-Oranaiche (p.45).

Òganaich An Òr-Fhuilt Bhuidhe, 1972. Lauchie Gillis. T-348. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

The singer is Lauchie Gillis of Grand Mira, Cape Breton. Non-Jacobite governments recruited into the army many who had Jacobite sympathies, both as punishment and to persuade them to be loyal to the Hanoverians. The composer of this song was one of those disillusioned Jacobite soldiers.

Och Ho Rò, ‘Ille Dhuinn, 1972. Lauchie Gillis. T-348. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

Nighean Donn a’ Chùil Rèidh was Mary MacDonald from West Lake Ainslie. One of her ancestors, Angus MacDonald, known in Gaelic as Aonghas Mòr an Tulaich, commanded the victorious forces of the MacDonalds of Keppoch in a battle against the MacIntoshes in 1688. This was the last battle between Highland clans.

An eleven-verse version also appears in Smeòrach nan Cnoc ‘s nan Gleann, a collection of Margaree songs published in 1939 in Scotland which includes twenty-nine songs by Malcolm H Gillis.

Nighean Donn A’ Chùil Reidh, 1974. Jimmy Gillis. T-990. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

The singer of this Scottish love song is Dr. Kay MacDonald. In recognition of her work on the Gaelic language, including teaching and working in the Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2009.

Mo Rìbhinn Choibhneil, 1973. Dr. Kay MacDonald. T-743. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.