Duncan Ban McIntyre

Duncan Ban McIntyre (1724-1812) or "Fair" Duncan, was born in Glen Orchy in 1724. Early on he worked for the Earl of Breadalbane on his deer forests on Ben Dorain and the neighbouring land.

His most memorable poems celebrate the countryside of Argyll and Perthshire and he is also remembered for his praise poems of the Campbell chiefs. Although he was non-literate his songs and poems, especially his celebration of his native hills and forests and their wild life, brought him honour and fame. Unlike the English Romantic poets he does not sentimentalise nature. He was familiar with the poetry of MacMhaighstir Alasdair who published a collection of poems in 1751. The minister of Lismore, Revd Donald MacNicol helped Duncan with the transcription of his poems.

MacIntyre’s best known poem was ‘Moladh Beinn Dobhrain’ (In Praise of Ben Doran) which praises the hill where he lived and worked.

In 1767 MacIntyre moved to Edinburgh where he joined the City Guard, retiring in 1806. he continued to write and entered a poetry competition but it is fair to say that the city did not provide him with the same inspiration as his native hills.

MacIntyre died in 1812 and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. There are two monuments to him: one at Dalmally overlooking Loch Awe and the other marking his grave in Edinburgh.

The Songs of Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Angus MacLeod (editor), Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1978

Ben Dorain, Ian Crichton Smith, Akros, Preston, 1969

Gaelic Poetry in the Eighteenth Century, Derick S. Thomson (editor & translator), Association for Scottish Literary Studies, Aberdeen, 1993