Rob Donn - Collection of His Poems

Collection of His Poems

Although sometimes moralist, Rob Donn's poetry sometimes contained bawdy images, which would be bowdlerised by later collectors; especially as Protestant clergymen were often major figures in controlling written Scottish Gaelic. However, an exception can be found in the Rev. John Thomson, who succeeded Murdo MacDonald in the parish, and allowed his daughter to transcribe Rob Donn's works uncensored.

Later editors and collectors were not always so kind, in other ways. For example, Rob's Strathnaver dialect was sometimes disguised by being rendered into more standard forms of Scottish Gaelic, which destroyed certain of the effects and even rhythms.