Raasay
The poet Sorley MacLean was born in Osgaig, a small crofting community on the west coast of the island; perhaps his most famous poem is about "Hallaig", an abandoned community on the east coast. MacLean's writings often combine an ancient traditional awareness, with a modernist political outlook, in which Raasay, and the areas adjacent to it are frequently referenced. But while MacLean's work dwells on the brutality of war, of the Highland Clearances and modern exploitation, he also writes about nature. Thus, although the Clearances leave an empty landscape populated only by the ghosts of those evicted or forced to emigrate, "Time, the deer, is in the Wood of Hallaig".
Sorley MacLean
MacLean later said that he had abandoned religion for socialism at the age of twelve, as he refused to accept that a majority of human beings were consigned to eternal damnation. Nevertheless, the pessimism of the Calvinist tradition had a strong impact on his world-view, and he also retained "a puritanical contempt for mere worldly riches and power". Later in life, he had a complicated view of the church and religion. Although he criticized the church's suppression of Gaelic song and the oral tradition and the negative effect of church teachings on some social groups, especially women, Professor Donald Meek pointed out that at times MacLean seemed to articulate the ideas of liberation theology. MacLean defended the Free Presbyterian Church against opponents who had little familiarity with it, once describing Free Presbyterian elders as "saintly, just saintly men". Sometimes he even altered his poetry to avoid offending the religious members of his family. He also admired the literary sophistication and creativity of Protestant sermons in Gaelic. The wide vocabulary, high register, and passion of these sermons had a significant impact on his poetic style.