On the drive from the town of Stornoway to the village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis, the view laid out before you is beautiful: low-lying moorland, swathes of white sand at low tide, the blue waters of Broad Bay, and past the nearby peninsula of Point, the sight of the mountains of the Scottish mainland in the distance.
It would have been a familiar sight for Mary Anne MacLeod, who grew up in a croft house in Tong in the 1920s with her parents and siblings – and whose son, Donald John Trump, is currently hurtling his way towards becoming the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.
Everyone here knows that Domhnall Iain, as Trump would be called in Gaelic, has close island connections; they’re just not particularly interested. They’re certainly not interested in sharing their thoughts with the journalists who routinely perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes about their home.
It’s a connection that’s been brought into the spotlight this week, after a poorly researched and apparently hastily put-together programme was aired during BBC Newsnight. When their culture correspondent Stephen Smith flew more than 600 miles to Lewis from London, he found that few people were willing to speak to him on camera about the Republican frontrunner. (Hardly surprising, given the usual patronising media narrative about the islands.)
The result? A short segment that rehashes old news stories about Trump’s Lewis connections and marries them to a litany of well-worn, negative stereotypes about the Isle of Lewis. Needless to say, a lot of islanders – myself included – were angry. Most of all, I was disappointed: I expected more from the BBC.
The segment started with the Father Ted theme tune and ended with a rainbow and a leprechaun joke. Not only are these lazy stereotypes, but they’re lazy stereotypes about a completely different country. In case Newsnight missed the memo, here it is: the Isle of Lewis is in Scotland, not Ireland.
Then there was the usual nonsense about Lewis being ‘wind-swept and God-fearing’ (I’ve written scathingly about that one before), and a complete mangling of the Gaelic language, which could have been easily avoided by a quick conversation with just about anyone he met.
BBC journalists perfect their pronunciation of cities in the likes of Syria, China, and Nigeria – why not the towns and villages of the Isle of Lewis? It was seemingly too much effort for a culture journalist on a mission to uncover the “deeply enigmatic narrative of [Trump’s] maternal line.”
The panoramas of the island left a lot to be desired too. There was no beautiful view of Broad Bay, mentioned above; no shots of the nearby beaches of Coll, Vatisker, or Gress; no colourful streets of Stornoway. Instead, viewers were treated to the sight of a plastic bag stuck on a fence, and a rural bus shelter. Is that really the best the BBC could come up with on an island considered one of the best in Europe?
Stereotypes aside, what did leave the young Mary MacLeod moving halfway across the world? The Newsnight piece offered zero context, and repeated the story told in the likes of the New York Times and The Telegraph, the one where Mary MacLeod met Frederick Trump while on holiday in New York City in the 1930s.
I’m not sure where the story originated. Maybe it is true, but one only has to look at the economic conditions of Lewis in the post-World War I years to realise that the idea of a holiday – to Glasgow, let alone New York – is so unlikely it’s almost laughable.
Our grandparents’ generation were lucky if they got the chance to visit Stornoway on holiday, so the suggestion that children of crofters and fishermen could go “on vacation” to the other side of the world in the late 1920s is questionable at the very least.
What was happening at that time was mass emigration. In the First World War, “more men enlisted from Lewis, as a proportion of the population“, than anywhere else in the country. The loss of so many men, coupled with the sinking of the Iolaire in 1919, took its toll on an island already dealing with poor social and economic conditions. It’s unsurprising, then, that so many young people left in search of better opportunities.
There were plenty of Leodhasachs in North America in the 1920s and 30s – and more than a few from Mary Anne’s home village of Tong. My good friend’s great-grandmother moved to New York from Tong in 1921, where she met and married a fellow islander. The couple eventually found themselves back in Tong, where they opened the village post office.
Another friend’s great aunt emigrated to New York with a number of young women from Tong, and rumour has it Mary Anne MacLeod was among this group of friends who travelled the Atlantic together. My friend’s great aunt spent most of her life working as a live-in nanny, both in Manhattan and across the Hudson in New Jersey, before returning to Lewis in her late retirement.
Whatever the detail, it seems a much more likely story that Mary Anne MacLeod emigrated to New York like the rest of her friends and fellow islanders, all searching for better opportunities. It was there she met Mr. Trump, who she married in 1936, at the age of 23.
I’d love to know what happened to her when she arrived. What awaited her on arrival in New York Harbour? How did she feel about adjusting to life across the pond? Did she ever experience cianalas, that curse of islanders abroad?
I’d love to know these things not because her surname was Trump, but because I’ve made that same move, albeit almost a century later and in very different circumstances. So have many, many others: Mary Anne was just one in a long list of islanders leaving home for the far reaches of the globe.
Some left by choice, and others were moved by force (see: the Highland Clearances). Some returned, and others never saw these shores again. Delving into that immigrant past, through the lens of Mary Anne Trump’s story, would have made a far more interesting BBC news piece than one featuring poorly thought-out jokes about leprechauns. (The former is a actually a feature I’ve been researching myself.)
While Mary Anne’s famous son may not seem to be all that interested in the beautiful island of her birth, or the lovely village of Tong, she herself returned often before her death in 2000. Her daughter, Maryanne Trump Barry, still visits their family in Tong, and last year she donated £150,000 to a local care home in Stornoway.
None of this is mentioned in the Newsnight piece. The report added nothing to the story of Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, but plenty to the long tradition of lazy journalism about the Isle of Lewis and the Outer Hebrides as a whole.
Sadly, being treated with disdain by the media is simply par for the course if you happen to come from the Outer Hebrides. And with Donald Trump in the (presidential) picture, sensationalist headlines and stories unfortunately seem to matter more than the reality.
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Did you see the Newsnight piece about Donald Trump and the Isle of Lewis? What did you think of it?
As I’m in New Zealand at the moment I haven’t seen this BBC production and I’m very grateful for that. You said “I expected more from the BBC.” and, there was a time when I would have echoed those words. Unfortunately second-rate and ill though out journalism is so often the case now when talking of places north of Watford. In my view your writing (that I’ve read) is considered and rational and the points you’ve made here are certainly compelling and an inditement of those who allowed the programme to air.
I searched in vain for the comment button at the bottom of the BBC’s website article accompanying this awful piece. I wanted to tell them that, had this been an island of black people, instead of a cultural group without strong physical identitification, Race Discrimination laws would have applied. How they can justify the expense or the airtime for this lazy, misrepresentative report is beyond me. I totally support all that you say, and thank goodness there are local voices raised like this.
Well said. This piece of nonsense from Newsnight has certainly raised plenty hackles in the Hebrides. As you say yourself, you’d have expected more from BBC. But that was once upon a time. All we get now is a London-biased party line with little research or balance and a distinct anti-Scottish sentiment.
Well said. I live on the Scottish rural mainland, but I’ve been to Lewis and I thought the same when I saw the report. Sadly, the BBC seems thoroughly to have lost its way in recent years.
Thank you for this! I didn’t see the programme but judging from the comments I’ve read , I would have been furious too! I would have been interested to read the story of all these girls who went to America ( including one of my best friend’s grandmother).
I was brought up in the Highlands and live in Sutherland. Our folks had a high regard for the people of Lewis who were said to be more intelligent than the rest of the population because they ate more fish! Ive been to Lewis many times, sometimes to sing with my Gaelic choir at the Mod but other times to visit friends or on an Island – hopping holiday. It is so interesting and absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed reading James Shaw Grant’s book ” Surprise Island” which I once owned. Shame on the BBC!
Well written article Katie. I must say I resent paying a licence fee for the BBC and with each passing year feel it is a less and less relevant organisation
While I am not native born Hebridean, my roots are in the fishing towns of the east coast, I grew up in Uist and it is the only place I will ever consider ‘home’. It was home as a student in Birmingham, it was home during my decade in Prague, and it is home from here in Virginia. When I last got home in 2014 with my American wife even she commented that it was the only place we had been where I simply had a deep sense of joy from being there and could sense my sorrow at having to leave again.
So, are you surprised with the BBC misrepresentation of an item in their news? You shouldn’t be! It happens rather a lot these days. I tend to agree with Alasdair above. Sad, sad days …
I’ve been to the islands many times and, like you, fail to recognise the island through the eyes of the BBC. This tawdry establishment has for decades failed Scotland and her inhabitants. It stands for a Londoncentric organisation that knows zilch about Scotland, far less her remoter communities.
It exists purely to perpetuate the Empire, the Raj and the Establishment. It only publishes what it’s directors allow.
Feel pleased that you are independent and do not work for the Beeb. Goebbels would be proud of it’s output.
The sooner that Scotland is freed from this organisation by gaining it’s full Independence the better. A large element in Scot’s failure to gain a Yes vote was down to the constant barrage of lies and scaremongering, eagerly promoted by this dreadful organisation
Hello! My name is Mary Jane Woodward. Suname is Armour(Scot-Irish). I live in the U.S. There is something born in me to love Scotland . I too feel that Scotland should be independent.Just as my ancestors did.
I am in complete agreement with Katie Macloed. A very well written article. Following,I am copying my comment that I posted in response to the video documentary which a friend of mine from Lewis but living in USA posted on my page the other day.I too am from the Outer Hebirdes (outh Uist) but foudn myself transplanted to Canada at first, then Texas USA since my 20’s. I still live there and I can tell you the cianalas never goes away! I also agree,and had not thought about it myself that a story on Mary Anne Macloed herself would be of far more interest and substance. Of course that may involve to much time & painstaking research in Lewis & New York for the BBC to bother about.
‘Too bad this beautiful islands , the Outer Hebrides and their rich culture are brought to light as part of a narrative on a person who is the polar opposite of the islanders themselves. The BBC should create more programing on the Islands,it’s people and culture to educate and inform rather than use Trump as an opportunity for a story. The Islanders are obviously not very interested, including even his own cousins who probably cannot relate to him at all…no wonder they didn’t want to be part of it’.
South Uist!
Completely agree, unfortunately the beeb are not the only ones guilty of this tosh. There was an article in The Independent not long ago by two photograpers from London. Called “sound of Harris”.
The utter drivel was accompanied by some of the least creative or skilled photos I have ever seen.
What a relief to find somebody at last raising the deeper questions of Trump’s background, including the cianalas question. I have often wondered how much his all-on-the-outside narcissism might be linked to circumstances of his parents’ loss of their cultural moorings in real people, of a real place, as distinct from so-called “real estate”.
I very good article and very well reasearched. Points made clearly and interesting depth to the story. Still, pour though the newsnight feature was, before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, it’s worth remembering that the BBC provides the only free to air Gaelic tv station, BBC Alba, in the world (as far as I know) and you will not get that on CH4, STV or CH5. It also provides the vital Long wave shipping broadcasts. which fishermen and sailors travelling the hebridean waters rely on to survive. Can’t imagine any commercial opperator doing that.
I’ve seen plenty of lazy journalism over the years including many a “cockney” piece featuring pearly kings and queens down the old kent road. Cor’ blimey it’s not good when ever it happens, but the BBC an imperialist propaganda machine of Nazi proportions? really?!
Robin, it would appear you are surprisingly unaware of the bias shown by this once proud organisation. You only need do some basic research around the time of the Scottish Independence debate to realise the extent of the manipulation of the MSM (BBC foremost)
You will discover many articles and even televised articles on protests about BBC which included thousands protesting outside their Glasgow studios.
Congratulations Robin, at last a comment with a sense of proportion, rather than grievance and an unbecoming eagerness to blame a broadcaster for the Scottish electorate’s majority decision to say no to independence
I am disappointed that people have used this article as a platform to discuss independence. Furthermore, no one has questioned the benefits of the aspects of the BBC mentioned previously but, that does not excuse the way in which the report was put together and broadcast. The post is not about a ‘grievance’, it is about defending the truth.
Well done on a wonderful post Katie and the widespread recognition for this post proves the validity of your words and I hope you do not pay any attention to those looking for fault or aiming to continue the prejudice that your post was aimed to combat.
Och Katie, what a fine woman you are!! Your comments are spot on!! The only reason that journalist for the BBC was saying ANYTHING about the beautiful Island of Lewis, was simply because of Donald Trump’s mother being from there. I have been there myself on several occasions, and I cannot express how beautiful the land is and how welcoming and wonderful the people are.
Thank you for taking up the torch, Katie!! Keep up the good work!!!
Both of my parents came to the USA the middle 20s for a better life and to send money home to their families in Port of Ness who were very poor. My mother came to Montreal, Canada and I think my father came to New York. Three of my mother’s sisters came to New York and I believe one of them, my Auntie Mary, knew Mary Anne MacLeod. They all got jobs through a Domestic Employment Agency in NY and all were maids, cooks or nannies in the homes of the wealthy, Trump’s mother was a maid in his grandfather’s home; she was not on holiday and that’s how she met his father. He is ashamed to say his mother was a maid. She was from a large, poor family in Tong, just like the rest of them. Just want to set the record straight because he never will. My mother, since she came to Canada, went to a cooking school for 2 yrs. and earned a certificate and eventually made her way to Detroit and worked for wealthy families here.
Dear Katie –
You are the first journalist to voice doubt about the ridiculous story that Mary Anne MacLeod met Trump in NY while on vacation in the 1920s. Thank you.
Katie I am delighted to somewhat belatedly read your article which I found fascinating.
Newsnight’s remit is to look in depth at issues of the day. I happened to be in London that day and when I realised an article was on looking at Lewis I thought, “great, my adopted home’. I was aghast at what I saw and listened to.
Thankfully you have restored some authority to journalism with a thoughtful and insightful piece.
You highlighted the issue of people going away to start a new, hopeful life. Compare that to her son whose contribution to world discourse is ‘build a wall’ and agitate thugs to assault people I cannot believe that the good American people will vote for him, even if the GOP lose their senses and nominate him as their candidate.
I cannot bring myself to further comment on what was screened, it was frankly an embarrassment for all the reasons offered above.
Good for you Katie for putting it right. Role on the major commission for you to make the documentary.
Brian Whitington, Ex Londoner, now proud Siarach
Aw always a shame when your home isn’t portrayed accurately or even just seriously. I don’t think much about the BBC to be fair – they are quite the biased media in my mind. But you should pitch them a story – you’d probably do a much better job!x
Excellent combo of news article + comments.
I am a US citizen tho lived in hispanic countries: Mexico and Argentina.
News and comments from real folks about their own experiences including historical are a treasure.
Carry on….