Domhnall Mac a' Phì (c. 1784-1867), facal air an fhacal: Sàr-sgeulaiche agus a chuid sgeulachdan

The article details the life and recorded repertoire of the famous nineteenth-century Gaelic storyteller Donald MacPhee, from Càrnan in South Uist. Using hitherto unpublished manuscript material, particularly contextual information and drafts of recorded stories, it describes in depth his relations with the collectors Hector Maclean, John Francis Campbell, and Alexander Carmichael. The article uses the example of MacPhee and his stories in order to assess the influence of manuscript classical Gaelic romances, printed stories in chapbooks and magazines (particularly those of the Arabian Nights), and, perhaps, contemporary stage performances on supposedly pristine, archaic Highland oral tradition. It also considers issues concerning the written recording of oral tradition, as well as storytellers' reputation in their community, agency in performance, and the tensions arising from encounters between reciters and collectors. The article not only sheds new light on Campbell's classic four-volume collection 'Popular Tales of the West Highlands' (1860-62), but upon nineteenth-century folklore collecting in Europe in general.