Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean (; 26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996) was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics". Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney credited MacLean with saving Scottish Gaelic poetry.
Highland Clearances
Many Gaelic poets were heavily influenced by the Clearances. Responses varied from sadness and nostalgia, which dominated the poetry of Niall MacLeòid, to the anger and call to action found in the work of Mary MacPherson. The best-known Scottish Gaelic poem of the 20th century, , was written by Sorley MacLean about a cleared village near where he grew up on Raasay; many other of his poems deal with the effects of the Clearances.