John MacNab | Iain Mac an Aba (before 1865 – after 1923, before 1928) was a schoolteacher in Kilmuir, Trotternish, Skye. He was composing and publishing songs, humorous verse, and short plays. One of his pupils, as T. M. Murchison has noted, was John N. MacLeod | Iain N. MacLeòid.
MacNab published several pieces in Gaelic in Guth na Bliadhna, all dealing with religious subjects, including the sacrament and holy communion.
‘Iain Mac an Aba’ also published Biblical translations in the Oban Times (3 June 1899). I am grateful to Dr Sheila M. Kidd for this reference. A poem ‘Leannan-sìth’ by ‘Iain Mac an Aba’ appeared in Gàilig (An Deò-Gréine), Vol. XVIII, Issue 6 (1923), p. 90.
An article in An Gàidheal (December 1928, p. 34) mentions him as ‘the late Mr John MacNab.’
Publications in Erskine’s Periodicals
- ‘Ùrnaigh agus na Salm’ [essay, GD], Volume I, Issue 4 (Autumn 1904)
- ‘Iobairt na h-Aifrinn’ [essay, GD], Volume II, Issue 1 (Winter 1905)
- ‘Foghlam Naomh anns a’ Ghàidhealtachd’ [essay, GD], Volume II, Issue 2 (Spring 1905)
- ‘I Choluim Chille’ [essay, GD], Volume III, Issue 1 (Winter 1906)
Resources
- T. M. Murchison, ‘Iain N. MacLeòid (“Alasdair Mòr”),’ Gairm 11 (Spring 1955), p. 243.
- Anne Loughran, ‘Non-traditional creative prose: D – M,’ Gaelic Literature of the Isle of Skye: An Annotated Bibliography (Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, 2018)