It wis wi mukkil dule at A
read o the daith in Cymru o ma guid fier James S. Adam. Seumas wis a
maist byornar chiel - a leal Scot, skeilie makkar i the thrie Leids o
Scotland an warthie furst jynt Oliver Brown Awaird winner in 1998,
alang wi his lyfe-lang fier Sir Alastair M Dunnett. Wi the passin o
Seumas, 'The Canoe Boys' anerlie nou lieve i the herts o aw wha kent
thaim baith.
A Dundonian, wi a
Aiberdeen, Buchan an Hielan back-grun, James Adam wis at hame wi the
Mither Tung an wi a loe o his cauf-kintra -
'Whan the sun throws its licht
on prood peaks o great hicht
there's a lowe i yer breist,
an ye mind ye were taen
tae staun aa yer lane,
on the tap o the Law'
frae 'The Tap o the Law'
He fun tyme i a thrang
lyfe fir ti leir Gaelic an his kennan o Scotland's furst Leid wis sae
guid, at his skreeds an poems kythit in 'Gairm'. His monie braw poems
in Scots kythit in monie publickations sik as 'Lallans', 'The Scots
Magazine', 'Life and Work', 'Radical Scotland' an 'Scots
Independent'. His buiks sik as 'Gaelic - Scots Wordbook' an 'The
Declaration o Arbroath' pruivit fir ti be best-sellers. Deed ay, his
owresettin o 'The Skreed ti the Pape frae Aberbrothack' intil Scots,
Gaelic an Suddron, alane, wis coft bi owre a 1000 Scottish schuils.
Makkan sikkar at noo kithends o Scots wad ken the inspeerin wirds o
1320.
In 1933 twa yung Scots
gied up their sauf darg in bankin an wittinsblads, fir ti lench an
ouklie magazine fir Scottish louns, wi the teetle 'Claymore'. Wi the
forder o anither thrie fiers, James Adam an Alastair Dunnett no
anerlie skrievit bit leivit the ploys whilk kythit i the blauds o
thair braw buikie.
Whan a want o siller
stoppit publickation, thai set aff oan the ploy whilk wad mak thaim
baith faur-kent - the 1934 canoe traivel frae Bowling oan the Clyde,
up the wast coast heidin fir Stornoway. Happit i thair philabegs, thai
set aff, an war telt aw alang thair road at it wis 'too late in the
year'. Thai paiddled oan, skreivan reports ti the 'Daily Record' oan
thair wey fir ti pey the costs, bit it pruivit fir ti be owre late i
the yeir, an thai cryed a halt whan thai cam ti Skye. A towmond oan,
Seumas, hislane, feenisht thair journey an waitin fir ti tryst wi him
in Stornoway wis his fella 'Canoe Boy' Alastair Dunnett. The
tee-name 'The Canoe Boys' folloed thaim aw thair days. Seumas tuik
mukkil delicht in tellin o a crack he owre- hard i Tobermory in 1996
- "One of the 'Canoe Boys' is on Calve" - Seumas Adam wis at 'Boy'.
James Adam went oan fir ti
wark in wittinsbalds an wis editor o 'The Weekly Scotsman' - he wis
the furst editor fir ti prent ma skreeds ti the 'National Press'. Whan
at braw wittinsblad closit doun, A still hae the hindmaist copie, he becam
General Manager o Scotsman Publications, afore feenishin his warkin
days i fremmit pairts. Efter exile he retourit ti Scotland fir ti
organise the furst-evir International gaitherin o the Clans in Embro
in 1977 -
'Come back to Albainn then
my scattered children all
receive and bring
the hundred thousand welcomes
ceud no ciad mile failte
wherever heard it speaks one heart and
warm.'
frae 'The Gathering of the Clans'
It wis sik a success at
Seumas sinsyne wis inveetit ti, an gied forder ti, the furst-evir
International Gaitherin o the Clans in Nova Scotia.Throu his darg wi
the Scottish International Gathering Trust, James Adam wun fiers aw
owre the warld.
James S Adam wis proud ti
be a Scot, he wis the best o Nationalists an Internationalists. He
loed Scotland an her fowk an i his buik 'The Spirit of Scotland' he
skrievit o his fella Scot an thair weys -
'pride of race; a sense of
adventure; a natural concept of democracy; an instinctive
egalitaranism; and a basic humilty.'
- at weill descrives James
S Adam hislane, fir deed ay, Seumas wis 'The Spirit of Scotland'.
