Mary Anne Trump

 President Donald Trump's mother, Máire Áine Nic Leoid (Mary Anne McLeod), was a native Gaelic speaker from the island of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Current music from Lewis ("Face the West")

The island has two names from prehistoric times, because the first Gaels (Gaelic speakers) who arrived there almost 3,000 years ago found that it was an island of two parts, the southern part covered by forest ("Foraois," now anglicised to "Harris") and the northern part covered by moorland ("Leoghais," now anglicised to "Lewis").

The Scottish islands were not conquered by warlike Gaels, as is often supposed, but settled by boatmen at a time when it was easier to travel on water than on land. The forest supplied some sustenance (timber for fire, berries, nuts, haws, several types of edible leaves, roots and mushrooms, birds and small mammals), but, in time, the moorland offered potential for permanent sustenance as farmland. Of course, the sea, with its abundant fish, was always present.

The communities that developed followed the Gaelic way of life. Each community selected a leader, called "Rí," meaning "king," from within itself. A king would always have a scholar, called "File," (pronounced "Filla" and now anglicised to "Fellow" in many universities and professional bodies), to keep an account of the history of the community, and laws, wisdom, and medical knowledge. 

In pagan times, the "Fellows" were druids, but this changed when Christianity arrived. The Druids fell into disfavour and were replaced by Christian priests. Druidic magic was no longer used to select the best successor to a king, but kings were considered to be appointed by God, and selection limited to the king's nearest kin. Kings, in a sense, became landlords, and this was strengthened when English dominion of the Highlands and Islands was established.

Originally, the islands were sparsely inhabited, but the arrival of the potato, in the 16th century, brought about a population explosion, and the islands became what the English administration considered to be "Congested" (i.e., overpopulated). Potato and Milk was a complete and healthy diet capable of sustaining a much higher population than grains.

The islands were self-sustaining and un-polluted. Life was good, and the islanders enjoyed music, singing, story-telling, poetry recitation, and dancing. Entertainment was in the houses; gatherings and house-dances (Céilithe) were frequent. It was an island of song and much of its music travelled south through the west of Ireland.

Sad Gaelic Song from Lewis (recounting the depopulation of the  countryside).

Psalm-singing in Lewis' churches is a unique musical experience to be savoured at least once in your life.

Calum Kennedy, famous son of Lewis, sings a Gaelic song.

Lewis was hit by the potato famine, just like the west of Ireland, but not as severely because the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland provided extensive relief, (until their funds were exhausted by 1850), and, of course, fish was readily available as an alternative food. The Government relief schemes, as in Ireland, were pathetic.

After the famine, the Government agreed with the landlords that the best solution for the islands was not the restoration of the potato economy, but to encourage the natives to emigrate to America and to replace people on the land by sheep.

Mary Anne's grandfather was evicted from his holding and forced to make a living from a very small cottage holding and in-shore fishing. Her father, in addition, had a job as School Attendance Officer.

During the First World War, the young men of Lewis were pressed into the British Army, and few of them came home again. A boat-load of 200 men arriving home actually sank close to home and all were lost. As you might expect, many of the 20th century songs of Lewis are anti-war. New songs are also anti-pollution, since the landing of north-sea oil through Lewis has messed up the previously pristine environment.

When she was 16, Mary Anne went on a short visit to her older sisters, who had already emigrated to the United States, and, when she reached 18, (1930) she emigrated permanently to America. She arrived during the Great Recession, but got employment as a domestic, where her wages were small an she was meanly and cruelly treated.

Her son's anti-establishment attitude may be referable to his mother's memory of how she and her forebears were mistreated by the administration.