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".
Francis McLean (politician)
Francis Edward McLean (1863 – 4 April 1926) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he received a primary education before becoming a clerk, and eventually an accountant and businessman. In 1894 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Marrickville, a member of the Free Trade Party. He held the seat until 1901, when he transferred to federal Parliament, winning the House of Representatives seat of Lang, again for the Free Trade Party. In 1903, he unsuccessfully attempted to defeat prominent Protectionist and former Premier of New South Wales William Lyne in his seat of Hume. He retired from politics and died in 1926.