J. R. Bannerman, who composed the original song, was born in
South Uist but left aged seven for Glasgow, where he later joined the
General Post Office (GPO) as a telegraph boy and rose to become general superintendent. He was brought up in the Glasgow Gaelic community where most social activities were conducted in
Gaelic and he developed a lifelong interest in the songs and literature of that culture. His son, John MacDonald Bannerman, became a well-known Gaelic broadcaster and singer, but was better known as a rugby international (37 caps for Scotland; Oxford Blue) and Liberal politician, ultimately being ennobled as
John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan. and the Mòd has founded a memorial salver competition to honour her name. Her wedding did not in fact take place until some six years later when she married Captain John Campbell of Glendale,
Skye. She continued to sing at Gaelic concerts and
céilidhs for most of her life, and died aged 91 at her native Portnahaven, Islay in 1997. The song "Mairi's Wedding" was first performed for her at the Highlanders' Institute, then in Glasgow's Elmbank Street, and, at that time, a focal point of cultural and social activity for the Highlands and Islands community in the city. It was probably through this performance that
Sir Hugh Roberton came to know the song. Roberton was conductor of the
Glasgow Orpheus Choir, which had by the early 1930s acquired international recognition under his leadership. His knighthood in 1931, promoted by his friend
Ramsay MacDonald, whose radical politics he shared, established him as the leading British choirmaster and a towering figure within the Glasgow musical world. Although the choir had a vast repertoire, Roberton had inherited a particular fondness for folk music from his mother, and in addition to writing choral arrangements of traditional songs, he composed his own. yet this was not acknowledged in Roberton's published scores. In a London court case in 1960 Sir Hugh's executors failed to prove that he had written the tune and costs were awarded to Miss (later Dame)
Vera Lynn who had recorded "Travellin' Home" to the same tune, a recording which made 20th place in the music charts. Roberton wrote the English words for "Mairi's Wedding", which, as can be seen by the lyrics below in both languages, bore little resemblance to Bannerman's original and make no reference to the original inspiration for the song, the winning of a Mòd gold medal. He published this in 1936, giving the song the alternative title of "The Lewis Bridal Song". Roberton presented an original signed copy of his score to Mary C. MacNiven and it became one of her most prized possessions. When the song was published in Roberton's "Songs of the Isles" by J Curwen & Sons Ltd (1951), the Gaelic words did not appear. J.R. Bannerman was acknowledged as the composer of the original lyrics and tune. ==Lyrics==