The Scottish Gaelic noblewoman and erotic poet who wrote about her local 'hot priest' more than 500 years ago

A little-known erotic poet from Scotland is set to be propelled into the limelight – more than 500 years after writing about her passion for her local priest.

The National Library of Scotland is to raise awareness of Iseabail Ní Mheic Cailéin, a 16th-century Gaelic noblewoman, after unearthing one of her graphic poems.

Experts have drawn a comparison between her work and the "hot priest" characters featured in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's award-winning comedy-drama Fleabag and Lisa McGee's hit sitcom Derry Girls.

Chris Cassells is head of manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland.

Visitors to the library can read her poem paying tribute to the size of her priest's manhood in one of Scotland's earliest Gaelic manuscripts, which is part of a 3,000-strong collection of printed works about the Gaels, and their language, literature, culture and history.

The Gaelic poet was a daughter of Colin Campbell, the 1st Earl of Argyll and chief of the Clan Campbell, and would go on to marry William Drummond, chief of the Clan Drummond. Three of her poems are featured in a collection compiled by James MacGregor, a dean of the-then Cathedral Church of Saint Moluag on the island of Lismore, in Argyll.

Chris Cassells, head of manuscripts at the National Library, said: “In 16th-century Scotland, when staying with a friend it was common courtesy to regale your host with your best songs, stories and poems. We estimate that around the year 1500, Iseabail Ní Mheic Cailéin visited James MacGregor in Perthshire.

“When Iseabail recited her poetry to MacGregor, she may or may not have been aware that he was in the habit of copying down his favourites. Subsequently, Iseabail has become known in niche circles as a writer of erotic poetry during the Middle Ages – not exactly a time we associate with sexual liberation. The poem about the priest is remarkably lewd for its day.

The Book of the Dean of Lismore is held in the collection of the National Library of Scotland.

“From 'Derry Girls' and ‘Fleabag’ to the burgeoning subgenre of priest romance novels, the 'hot priest' archetype continues to resonate 500 years later. Iseabail’s poem shows this is not a modern invention."

The National Library holds the original handwritten manuscript of the collection, which contains some of the earliest known examples of Gaelic poetry and the only known published works by Iseabail Ní Mheic Cailéin.

The manuscript was previously in the archives of the Faculty of Advocates, which gifted most of its collection to the National Library of Scotland when the latter was established in 1925.

However, the existence of her poem about the priest has been relatively unknown until recently as it was deliberately excluded from many subsequent publications and translations.

The Book of the Dean of Lismore is held in the collection of the National Library of Scotland.

Translated lines of the poem include: "Listen, everyone in the house, to the tales that have been written, of the energetic cocks, with which my heart is smitten. Forget the fine-lipped cocks, so plentiful in the past, this man of holy orders, has a cock at least as vast.”

Mr Cassells added: “The book is one of the most famous Gaelic manuscripts and there have been many different published editions, but this particular poem has been consistently left out because it has been considered to be beyond the pale, by Gaelic scholars and publishers.

"It has been known about, but only within a very small circle of Gaelic scholars. Our own cataloguing of the manuscript hasn’t mentioned this poem. It was handwritten, so the poem was presumably written down by James MacGregor while Iseabail was performing. We know very little about her other than what is captured in this manuscript and very little Gaelic text has survived from this period.

"But it has been purposely overlooked because of the major taboos it has breached. Not only is this a woman writing about sex, but a woman writing about sex with a priest. The fact she is comfortable reciting a poem like this really does undermine some of our assumptions about women in society in that period."