Bunessan
Coordinates: 56°19′N 6°14′W / 56.32°N 6.23°W
| Bunessan | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Bun Easain | |
 Bunessan
Bunessan shown within Argyll and Bute |
|
| Population | 300 (approx.) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | NM5055 |
| Council area | Argyll and Bute |
| Lieutenancy area | Argyll and Bute |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ISLE OF MULL |
| Postcode district | PA67 |
| Dialling code | 01681 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Argyll and Bute |
| Scottish Parliament | Argyll and Bute |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
Bunessan (Scottish Gaelic: Bun Easain) is a small village on the Ross of Mull in the south of the island of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland. Originally a small community of farmers in the Scottish farming tradition called crofting, the village had a mill, weavers and a small fishing fleet until the 1900s.
Bunessan village has one hotel, The Argyll Arms, which also is the only pub in the area, a village hall which is often used for numerous dances throughout the year, two grocery shops, a craft shop, and a further small cafe/restaurant, Reef.
The primary school for the Ross of Mull is found in Bunessan.
The village population is roughly 300, and includes surrounding areas of Millbrae, Fountainhead and Ardtun.
The village has a thriving lobster fishery. Some of the largest lobsters in the west coast of Scotland can be found at the top of Loch Scridain, in an area known as "The Pool".
[edit] Hymn tune
Bunessan lends its name to a hymn tune, originally associated with the Christmas carol, "Child in the Manger".[1] Mary M. Macdonald (1789–1872), who lived in the nearby crofting community of Ardtun and who spoke only Gaelic, wrote her hymn "Leanabh an Aigh" to a traditional melody.[2] When the words were later translated into English, the melody was named after the village by the translator, Lachlan Macbean.[3][4] A monument to Mary Macdonald can be seen near the village, on the road towards Craignure, just after the Knockan crossroads. The ruins of the house she lived in are also nearby.
Sometime before 1927 Alexander Fraser heard the melody from a minstrel in the Scottish Highlands and wrote it down so that it came to the attention of Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Martin Shaw. In turn, these editors of the hymnbook Songs of Praise requested Eleanor Farjeon to write a further hymn text to the tune. This was "Morning Has Broken" and since 1931 the tune has become most familiarly identified with this hymn.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Child in the Manger". Cyber Hymnal. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/h/i/childman.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
- ^ MacNab, Peter, (1999) Mull and Iona:Highways and Byways. Edinburgh. Luath Press.
- ^ Macbean, L. (1888) The Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh.
- ^ *Highland Council on-line archive.
- ^ McCann, Forrest M. (1997). Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources. Abilene, TX: ACU Press. ISBN 0-89112-058-0. Pp. 200, 399.
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