An unusual thing for 19th C Gaelic poetry – a 28-line poem not in song form. It was written by Islay-born Glaswegian William Livingstone, a fervent nationalist and autodidact with a rich knowledge of history and classics. He also had a very patient wife.

I jumped on this and turned it into a song because of a name. An Argyll man who set up as a photographer in the Caledonian Potrait Rooms in Jamaica Street, Peter was a Kennedy, a MacUalraig like me, rather than a Ceanadach – a rarity. I was able, with the help of several folk, to find where his studios were, to look at his work, and learn about the evolving technology he was using at the time. We even know where he lived in the city, but the search for his origins continues.

The poem is on one level a ‘roll-up’ advert for the studio, aimed at Gaels about to embark on a new life overseas. On another however, it’s also a commentary on the causes behind emigration and the poverty some of the families found themselves in. I turned it into a song-form with additional chorus, while The Wiyos make the connection between new world and old.

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