[Dòmhnall] Uill tillidh sinn gu cridhe na bàrdachd agad, Meg, ach tha mi airson beagan fhaighinn a-mach mu do dheidhinn fhèin an toiseach. ’S ann à Baile Mòr nan Gall, à Dùn Èideann, a tha thu.
[Meg] ’S ann.
[Dòmhnall] Dè nis an seòrsa beatha a bh’ agad nad èirigh suas?
[Meg] Beatha uabhasach toilichte. Teaghlach mòr. ’S ann à Sasainn a tha mo phàrantan agus thachair iad ri chèile nuair a bha iad fhèin a’ dèanamh PhDs ann an gintinneachd, mas e sin “genetics”, ’s bha iad fo phroifeasair a bha gu math, math inntinneach.Professor Waddington. Tha e ainmeil rè na School of Man Made Future. Agus bha m’ athair an sàs ann an àiteachas. An toiseach bha e ag obair air luchagan ’s an uair sin bha e ag obair air caoraich. Agus an toiseach bha sinn a’ fuireach taobh a-muigh Dhùn Èideann, faisg air Rosslyn, ’s bha mo mhàthair a’ cluich an organ an sin, agus bha Mouse House, laboratory làn luchagan aig m’ athair, ann an Rosslyn.
[Dòmhnall] Tha mi a’ faicinn gu bheil luchagan air a bhith gu math cudromach na do bheatha.
[Meg] Tha, agus radain. Tha beathaichean. A h-uile seòrsa. Fireannaich. Daoine nam measg.
[Dòmhnall] Ach chan e beatha le Gàidhlig a bha seo idir, idir, idir.
[Meg] Cha b’ e idir, idir, idir. Cha b’ e.
[Dòmhnall] Ciamar a-rèiste a thàinig thu gu Gàidhlig nach robh agad nad èirigh suas? Ciamar a thàinig thu gu ùidh a ghabhail innte?
[Meg] Airson adhbharan rudeigin romansachail. Ann an Dùn Èideann chan urrainn dhut a bhith a’ seachnadh cho sreathach ’s a tha co-chomann a rèir clas agus chaidh mi gu Mary Erskine, sgoil a bha leth-phrìobhaideach. Tha mi a’ dèanamh tòrr dheth a bhith ag ràdh nach b’ e sgoil uile gu lèir prìobhaideach a bh’ ann. Agus tha mi taingeil airson nam buannachdan a fhuair mi a thaobh foghlaim ach chan eil mi a’ dol le foghlam prìobhaideach. Chan eil mi a’ dol le lèirse phrìobhaideach no foghlam prìobhaideach a chionn ’s gu bheil mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e rudan cho bunaiteach ’s a th’ ann agus ma tha sinn ag iarraidh co-chomann idir co-ionnan ’s cothromach a thogail chan urrainn rìgh no bànrigh no foghlam prìobhaideach a bhith againn.
[Dòmhnall] Mar sin thàinig thu à saoghal meadhan-chlasach, chanadh cuid “leòmach Dhùn Èideann”. Ach ghreimich thu air an rud Ghàidhealach a tha seo. Ciamar?
[Meg] Uill sin a bha mi a’ dol a ràdh, gun robh mi a’ taobhadh ri rudan ... Bha mi a’ faicinn co-chomann na Gàidhlig mar cho-chomann a bha nas cothromaiche agus cuideachd bha - agus tha seo gu math romansachail ’s chan eil mi buileach a’ seasamh ris ...
[Dòmhnall] Chan eil càil ceàrr le bhith romansach.
[Meg] Tha sin fìor! Ach bha mi air mo tharraing ris an talamh agus obair a bha nas, na bu bhunasaiche na an seòrsa obair a tha mi a’ dèanamh a-nis, ged a tha croit agam, ’s mar sin bha mi air mo tharraing gu co-chomann na Gàidhlig ’s mi an dùil ri co-chomann a bhiodh na bu chothromaiche agus na b’ fhaisge air an talamh.
[Dòmhnall] Seadh.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Thuige Seo, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 2011.
[Donald] Well we will return to the heart of your poetry, Meg, but I want to find out a little about yourself firstly. You are from the big city of the lowlanders, from Edinburgh.
[Meg] I am.
[Donald] Now what sort of life did you have growing up?
[Meg] A very happy life. A big family. My parents are from England and they met when they themselves were doing PhDs in genetics, and they were led by a very, very interesting professor. Professor Waddington. He is renowned throughout the School of Man Made Future. And my father was involved in agriculture. Initially he worked on mice but then he worked on sheep. And at first we lived outside Edinburgh, near Rosslyn, and my mother played the organ there, and Mouse House, my father’s laboratory full of mice, was in Rosslyn.
[Donald] I see that mice have been very important in your life.
[Meg] They have, and rats. Animals have been. Of all types. Men. People in their midst.
[Donald] But this wasn’t a life with Gaelic at all, at all, at all.
[Meg] It wasn’t at all, at all, at all. It wasn’t.
[Donald] How, therefore, did you come to Gaelic which you didn’t have whilst growing up? How did you come to take an interest in it?
[Meg] For quite romantic reasons. In Edinburgh you cannot avoid how society is aligned according to class and I went to Mary Erskine, a school that was semi-private. I emphasis that it wasn’t a completely private school. And I am thankful for the educational privileges that I received but I don’t agree with private education. I don’t agree with a private outlook or private education because I think that they are such fundamental things and if we want to build an equal and fair society at all we cannot have a king or a queen or private education.
[Donald] So you came from a middle class world, some would say “of fancy Edinburgh”. But you caught this Highland thing. How?
[Meg] Well that is what I was going to say, that I was attracted to things ... I saw the Gaelic society as a society that was fairer and also was - and this is very romantic and I don’t fully stand by it ...
[Donald] There is nothing wrong with being romantic.
[Meg] That is true! But I was drawn to the land and work that was more basic than the sort of work that I do now, although I have a croft, and so I was drawn to the Gaelic society in the hope of a society that would be fairer and closer to the land.
[Donald] Yes.
This programme, Thuige Seo, was first broadcast in 2011.
[Dòmhnall] Uill tillidh sinn gu cridhe na bàrdachd agad, Meg, ach tha mi airson beagan fhaighinn a-mach mu do dheidhinn fhèin an toiseach. ’S ann à Baile Mòr nan Gall, à Dùn Èideann, a tha thu.
[Meg] ’S ann.
[Dòmhnall] Dè nis an seòrsa beatha a bh’ agad nad èirigh suas?
[Meg] Beatha uabhasach toilichte. Teaghlach mòr. ’S ann à Sasainn a tha mo phàrantan agus thachair iad ri chèile nuair a bha iad fhèin a’ dèanamh PhDs ann an gintinneachd, mas e sin “genetics”, ’s bha iad fo phroifeasair a bha gu math, math inntinneach.Professor Waddington. Tha e ainmeil rè na School of Man Made Future. Agus bha m’ athair an sàs ann an àiteachas. An toiseach bha e ag obair air luchagan ’s an uair sin bha e ag obair air caoraich. Agus an toiseach bha sinn a’ fuireach taobh a-muigh Dhùn Èideann, faisg air Rosslyn, ’s bha mo mhàthair a’ cluich an organ an sin, agus bha Mouse House, laboratory làn luchagan aig m’ athair, ann an Rosslyn.
[Dòmhnall] Tha mi a’ faicinn gu bheil luchagan air a bhith gu math cudromach na do bheatha.
[Meg] Tha, agus radain. Tha beathaichean. A h-uile seòrsa. Fireannaich. Daoine nam measg.
[Dòmhnall] Ach chan e beatha le Gàidhlig a bha seo idir, idir, idir.
[Meg] Cha b’ e idir, idir, idir. Cha b’ e.
[Dòmhnall] Ciamar a-rèiste a thàinig thu gu Gàidhlig nach robh agad nad èirigh suas? Ciamar a thàinig thu gu ùidh a ghabhail innte?
[Meg] Airson adhbharan rudeigin romansachail. Ann an Dùn Èideann chan urrainn dhut a bhith a’ seachnadh cho sreathach ’s a tha co-chomann a rèir clas agus chaidh mi gu Mary Erskine, sgoil a bha leth-phrìobhaideach. Tha mi a’ dèanamh tòrr dheth a bhith ag ràdh nach b’ e sgoil uile gu lèir prìobhaideach a bh’ ann. Agus tha mi taingeil airson nam buannachdan a fhuair mi a thaobh foghlaim ach chan eil mi a’ dol le foghlam prìobhaideach. Chan eil mi a’ dol le lèirse phrìobhaideach no foghlam prìobhaideach a chionn ’s gu bheil mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e rudan cho bunaiteach ’s a th’ ann agus ma tha sinn ag iarraidh co-chomann idir co-ionnan ’s cothromach a thogail chan urrainn rìgh no bànrigh no foghlam prìobhaideach a bhith againn.
[Dòmhnall] Mar sin thàinig thu à saoghal meadhan-chlasach, chanadh cuid “leòmach Dhùn Èideann”. Ach ghreimich thu air an rud Ghàidhealach a tha seo. Ciamar?
[Meg] Uill sin a bha mi a’ dol a ràdh, gun robh mi a’ taobhadh ri rudan ... Bha mi a’ faicinn co-chomann na Gàidhlig mar cho-chomann a bha nas cothromaiche agus cuideachd bha - agus tha seo gu math romansachail ’s chan eil mi buileach a’ seasamh ris ...
[Dòmhnall] Chan eil càil ceàrr le bhith romansach.
[Meg] Tha sin fìor! Ach bha mi air mo tharraing ris an talamh agus obair a bha nas, na bu bhunasaiche na an seòrsa obair a tha mi a’ dèanamh a-nis, ged a tha croit agam, ’s mar sin bha mi air mo tharraing gu co-chomann na Gàidhlig ’s mi an dùil ri co-chomann a bhiodh na bu chothromaiche agus na b’ fhaisge air an talamh.
[Dòmhnall] Seadh.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Thuige Seo, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 2011.
[Donald] Well we will return to the heart of your poetry, Meg, but I want to find out a little about yourself firstly. You are from the big city of the lowlanders, from Edinburgh.
[Meg] I am.
[Donald] Now what sort of life did you have growing up?
[Meg] A very happy life. A big family. My parents are from England and they met when they themselves were doing PhDs in genetics, and they were led by a very, very interesting professor. Professor Waddington. He is renowned throughout the School of Man Made Future. And my father was involved in agriculture. Initially he worked on mice but then he worked on sheep. And at first we lived outside Edinburgh, near Rosslyn, and my mother played the organ there, and Mouse House, my father’s laboratory full of mice, was in Rosslyn.
[Donald] I see that mice have been very important in your life.
[Meg] They have, and rats. Animals have been. Of all types. Men. People in their midst.
[Donald] But this wasn’t a life with Gaelic at all, at all, at all.
[Meg] It wasn’t at all, at all, at all. It wasn’t.
[Donald] How, therefore, did you come to Gaelic which you didn’t have whilst growing up? How did you come to take an interest in it?
[Meg] For quite romantic reasons. In Edinburgh you cannot avoid how society is aligned according to class and I went to Mary Erskine, a school that was semi-private. I emphasis that it wasn’t a completely private school. And I am thankful for the educational privileges that I received but I don’t agree with private education. I don’t agree with a private outlook or private education because I think that they are such fundamental things and if we want to build an equal and fair society at all we cannot have a king or a queen or private education.
[Donald] So you came from a middle class world, some would say “of fancy Edinburgh”. But you caught this Highland thing. How?
[Meg] Well that is what I was going to say, that I was attracted to things ... I saw the Gaelic society as a society that was fairer and also was - and this is very romantic and I don’t fully stand by it ...
[Donald] There is nothing wrong with being romantic.
[Meg] That is true! But I was drawn to the land and work that was more basic than the sort of work that I do now, although I have a croft, and so I was drawn to the Gaelic society in the hope of a society that would be fairer and closer to the land.
[Donald] Yes.
This programme, Thuige Seo, was first broadcast in 2011.