Alice MacDonell

Her full name and title was Alice Claire MacDonell of Keppoch, or in Scottish Gaelic Ailis Sorcha Ni' Mhic 'ic Raonuill na Ceapaich.

Born in 1854 at Kilmonivaig in the Scottish Highlands, Alice MacDonell was the youngest child and eighth daughter of Angus McDonnell (titled Angus XXII of Keppoch) and his wife Christina (née MacNab).

She gave early signs of the gift of poetry, stringing together couplets on incidents she had heard, her favourites being tales of battle and chivalry.

She was steeped in the Jacobite sentiment of her ancestors, composing about the heroics of the Rising, though she also included more contemporary examples such as The Highland Brigade at the Battle of the Alma, The Rush on Coomassie, and the Gordon Highlanders at Dargai Heights.

Her poetry was composed in English, with occasional use of nominal Gaelic titles.