The Library at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig featured recently in an edition of the BBC programme, ‘Who do you think you are?”, with the comedian David Mitchell looking into his Scottish ancestry. Although Mitchell was aware of his connection with Scotland, he was unaware of his literary connection to the  Special Collections held at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig before meeting the College Librarian, Christine Cain.

Mitchell’s great-great-grandfather and his father before him were eminent Gaelic scholars and strong supporters of the Gaelic language and of the local population.  Mitchell was given a chance to examine the extremely rare ‘Weeping in the Isles’ in which his great-great-grandfather the Rev. John Forbes, Minister of Sleat, exposed in 1853, the horrendous working conditions experienced by young Skye girls working in England at that time.

In addition to campaigning to better the living conditions of the people in his parish, Forbes also published an important work on the Gaelic language,  ‘A double grammar of English and Gaelic, in which the principles of both languages are clearly explained’, in 1843. Following in his father’s footsteps, Alexander Forbes wrote another two valuable reference books held at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, ‘Gaelic names of beasts (mammalia), birds, fishes, insects, reptiles, etc : In two parts: I. Gaelic-English.--II. English-Gaelic’ and ‘Place-names of Skye and adjacent islands : with lore, mythical, traditional, and historical’ (1923).  Mitchell appeared to feel little affinity to his Gaelic roots which one can only speculate from the following front note in his great, great grandfather’s book would have been something of a disappointment “Lean gu dlùth ri cliù do shinnsir” - Follow closely your ancestor’s reputation.     
       
A digitized copy of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig’s copy of Weeping in the Isles is available to read here.