LAST week I said I would be writing about the early years of the Union after 1707 and telling the untold story – never mentioned by the Unionists – of how that Union nearly collapsed and was quickly recognised as a disastrous deal for Scotland, even by those who had helped to bring it about. I crave your indulgence and I will definitely return to the subject next week, but when you receive a cry for help from one of Scotland’s greatest modern-day cultural figures, I have to respond, so please consider this an emergency column to right a perceived wrong. For tomorrow is the bicentenary of the birth of Màiri Mhòr nan Òran, Great (or big) Mary of the Songs, a truly influential songstress and a towering presence in Gaelic culture. Màiri Mhòr was so-called because she was literally big being 5’ 9” tall and latterly quite rotund.