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".
Cy McLean
Cy McLean was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and relocated to Toronto, Ontario. He formed his first band as of 1937. He was a pianist, who supported himself as a musician through working as a messenger at the Toronto head office of Bell Canada. He became known as the leader of Toronto's first black dance band and, as of the 1940s, led Canada's only full-scale black orchestra. McLean is credited with training many Canadian jazz musicians of his time. He and his band developed their music career through playing at non-union establishments, due to being unable to join the local musicians union. The band became quite popular, and during World War II was sponsored by Lifebouy Soap to tour southwestern Ontario. McLean and his band played in areas of Ontario where a black person had not been seen before. He and his band were sometimes barred from restaurants, in addition to being initially denied union membership. Despite these events, McLean chose to perform exclusively in Canada, stating that "people (in Canada) aren't like they are in the United States. I've never wanted to go down there, for that reason."