THE international property consultants currently trying to sell the Cuillins for #10m, have had to issue a public and unreserved apology to the family of the late poet Sorley Maclean for using his words to promote the sale.
There was outrage in many quarters when it was announced in March that the chief of the Clan MacLeod, John MacLeod of MacLeod, was putting the world famous mountains and other properties on Skye up for sale to raise money to repair Dunvegan Castle.
In August, the selling agents declared that there were 10 serious bidders. Yesterday, it was two, but no closing date has been set. All would have paid FPD Savills of Park Lane, London, or its Edinburgh office, #20 for the brochure promoting the sale of the MacLeod Estate assets.
It informs the prospective purchaser: ''Sorley Maclean, the inspired Gaelic poet, wrote some haunting and moving words in his work referring to the Cuillins.''
This is followed by an extract from Maclean's poem An Cuilithionn, in which the mountains were used as a symbol of difficulty, hardship and heroic qualities: ''Long, but come it will, the golden run will come to us; the Cuillin will rise, genial in his white glory; though the night is bitter to us that cast a black shadow on the beauty, the morning will break on splendid battlements.''
It was a poem in which Sorley Maclean explicitly expressed his left-wing commitment, drawing on the tradition of the nineteenth century land struggle waged by the people of Skye and elsewhere: ''And heavy on the slumber of the moorland the hardship and poverty of thousands of crofters and the lowly of the lands, my kin and my own people ... their lot was the lot of all poor people, hardship, want and injury, ever since the humble of every land were deceived by ruling class, State and Civil Law, and by every prostitute who sold their souls for that price that the bitches of the world have earned since the great people have triumphed.''
Sorley Maclean died almost four years ago, but his family did not feel it appropriate that his poetry be employed to promote the private sale of the Cuillins.
In response to concerns expressed by the Maclean family solicitor, Mr Fred Kelly, FPD Savills issued a statement: ''In the preparation of the brochure for the sale of the Cuillins, Isle of Skye by the MacLeod Estate at Dunvegan Castle earlier this year, we quoted from The Cuillin, one of the poems by the late Sorley Maclean. We would wish to make clear that we did so without authority. We now accept that the poet may not have wished his work to have been used for this purpose. We have apologised unreservedly to the family of Sorley Maclean for using the poem in this way and for any embarrassment or distress caused.''
Mr Kelly, of Inverness firm Anderson Shaw & Gilbert, explained yesterday: ''It may seem rather late in the day to raise this issue now, given that the brochure has been in circulation for some months, but we had been unaware of its contents or would have raised the matter sooner.
''When it did come to light the family of the late Dr Maclean felt uncomfortable that his work was being used in such a way. He knew the Cuillin so well. It meant so much to him and of course was such an important source of symbolism to him. It was clear that Savills certainly did not intend any discourtesy and I would like to thank them publicly for helping resolve the issue.''
Sorley Maclean's widow, Mrs Renee Maclean, said: ''This has been an unfortunate episode but I would like to thank Savills for their co-operation and setting the record straight.''
