Editing Sorley MacLean (section)

===Early life===
{{location map
|Scotland Isle of Skye
|relief=yes
|float=left
|caption=Location of [[Raasay]] between [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] and [[Applecross]]
|coordinates={{coord|57|24|N|6|02|W|region:GB_type:isle}}}}
Sorley MacLean was born in Òsgaig, [[Raasay]] on 26 October 1911; [[Scottish Gaelic]] was his first language. Before he went to school at the age of six, he spoke very little English.{{r|interview|p=23}}{{r|Birt|p=194}} He was the second of five sons born to Malcolm (1880–1951) and Christina MacLean (1886–1974).{{r|Calum}} The family owned a small croft and ran a tailoring business,{{r|open|p=16}} but they later gave up the croft to move to a better house, which proved detrimental to their finances when the [[Great Depression]] took a high toll on the tailoring business.{{r|Hendry|p=10}} His brothers were John (1910–1970), a schoolteacher and later rector of [[Oban High School]], who was also a [[ceol mor|piper]];{{r|Calum}}{{r|interview|p=27}} [[Calum Maclean (folklorist)|Calum]] (1915–1960), a noted folklorist and ethnographer; and Alasdair (1918–1999) and Norman (c.1917–c.1980), who became [[general practitioners]]. Sorley's two younger sisters, Isobel and Mary, were also schoolteachers.{{r|childhood|Calum|rse}} His [[Scottish Gaelic name#Identifying names|patronymic]] was Somhairle mac Chaluim 'ic Chaluim 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid; he could not trace his genealogy with certainty to the eighth generation.{{r|family|p=211}}

At home, he was steeped in [[Gaelic culture]] and [[beul-aithris]] (the oral tradition), especially old songs. His mother, a [[Clan MacNeacail|Nicolson]], had been raised near [[Portree]], although her family was of [[Lochalsh]] origin;<ref name=library/><ref name="larach"/><ref name=alumnus/> her family had been involved in [[Highland Land League]] activism for [[tenant rights]].{{r|landscape|p=231}} His father had been raised on Raasay, but his family was originally from [[North Uist]] and, before that, probably [[Isle of Mull|Mull]].{{r|rse}}{{r|Hendry|p=9}} Both sides of the family had been evicted during the [[Highland Clearances]], of which many people in the community still had a clear recollection.{{r|landscape|pp=231–2}} Both his mother's and father's families contained individuals who were considered accomplished by their communities, whether through formal education or extensive knowledge of the oral tradition.<ref name="childhood" />{{r|Hendry|p=9}}

What MacLean learned of the history of the [[Gaels]], especially of the Clearances, had a significant impact on his worldview and politics.{{r|landscape|p=231}} On his mother's side were three noteworthy singers, two pipers, and a [[village bard]].{{r|Hendry|p=10}}. He said that 'The most intellectual of my relations was a sceptic and Socialist (my uncle in Jordanhill, Alex Nicolson)'.<ref>'Autobiographical Sketch' in Maclean, S., 'Dain do Eimhir', Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2007, p. 268.</ref> Nicolson had been involved in the ILP and imprisoned as a conscientious objector in WWI and was also a noted historian and Gaelic scholar.<ref>Nicolson, A., 'History of Skye', ed. C. Maclean, 3rd edition, The Islands Book Trust, Kershader, Isle of Lewis, 2012, p. 332</ref> Of especial note was MacLean's paternal grandmother, Mary Matheson, whose family had been evicted from Lochalsh in the 18th century. Until her death in 1923, she lived with the family and taught MacLean many traditional songs from [[Kintail]] and Lochalsh, as well as Skye.<ref name="childhood" />{{r|Hendry|pp=9–10}} As a child, MacLean enjoyed fishing trips with his aunt Peigi, who taught him other songs.{{r|rse}} Unlike other members of his family, MacLean could not sing, a fact that he connected with his impetus to write poetry.{{r|open|p=17|obit}}