An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volume 30, October 1934--September 1935

An Dudlachd, 1934.
AN GAIDHEAL
39
A Minute of the Art and Industry Committee
was read. It was reported that a Celtic Art
Loan Exhibition would be held in Edinburgh
during the Mod week, and Miss Lament of
Knockdow, agreed to assist in forming a local
Committee.
An appeal for the greater recognition of Celtic
Art as an integral part of Gaelic culture was made
by Dr. Colin Sinclair, Glasgow. It was remarkable
how few people were practising Celtic art, he
said. They should recognise that the Gaels
had an art heritage, and they desired to re¬
capture the art aptitude of the people in the
Highlands.
The Propaganda Committee agreed to lend
their aid in the promotion of classes in which
art, with a Gaelic idiom, would be taught.
The Minute was adopted on the motion of
Miss Campbell of Inverneill, Convener.
A Minute of the Mod and Music Committee
was read. It was reported that a Local
Committee had been formed in Edinburgh
for the 1935 Mod, and that the Convener
and Mrs. J. R. Colquhoun had been appointed
representatives to the local Committee.
The Rev. John Bain, Joint Vice-Convener,
reported on the activities of the Local Committee.
The Music Hall and Assembly Rooms are
booked for the Mod proceedings, and the
Usher Hall for the Grand Concert.
The Minute was adopted on the motion of
the Convener, Mr. Malcolm MacLeod.
Three Minutes of Clann an Fhraoich Com¬
mittee were read. The formation of groups
of Comunn na h-Oigridh at Castlebay, Northbay,
Bunessan, Bowmore, Bernisdale, and Carbost
was reported. On the motion of Mr. John
MacDonald, Glasgow, the Minutes were adopted.
A Minute of the Advisory Committee was
read and adopted.
The question of appointing a Committee to
consider the teaching of Gaelic in schools as
per remit from the Annual Meeting was
discussed.
Sir Alexander MacEwen, Inverness, said
he thought this should be a really exhaustive
inquiry into present-day teaching in the
Highlands, and also an inquiry into the
bi-lingual methods of Wales, Ireland, and
possibly Belgium and other countries. The
Gaelic movement had now reached the stage
when they must tackle their teaching scientifi¬
cally. There was a great shortage of teachers
who had been trained in bi-lingual methods,
and it was very important, if they were going
to make real progress, that they should have a
supply of properly trained teachers.
The meeting agreed to ask the Education
Committee to bring forward suitable names
of members to form this special committee.
Dates of Meetings for 1935 were arranged
as follows :—25th January, 5th April (Gaelic
Meeting), 5th July, 28th September (pre¬
liminary), and 22nd November.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the
meeting to a close.
$
BOOK REVIEW.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS
OF SCOTLAND, circa 1695, by Martin Martin,
Genl.; including a Voyage to St. Kilda, by the
same author, and a Description of the Western
Isles of Scotland by Sir Donald Munro in 1549;
edited with introduction by Donald J. Macleod,
O.B.E., M.A., D.Litt., Officier d’Academie.
540 pp., 10/6 net. Published by Eneas Mackay,
Stirfing.
It was a happy thought on the part of the
publisher to gather together in one handsome
volume the three earliest accounts that were ever
written of the Western Islands of Scotland. The
fascination of the theme is not by any means
exhausted. The taste for fine scenery has been
growing apace in recent years; thousands of
visitors flock to the Western Isles; and many
authors and publishers have done excellent service
in providing intelligent travellers with interesting
books about the Hebrides. This is all as it should
be. It is well that the best resources of writers and
of the press should be utilised to make more fully
known the scenic merit and picturesque charm of
the Western Isles.
There is an outstanding feature about these early
authors, Munro and Martin. It is this. They were
both highly educated Highlanders, who knew and
loved their subject, and who were moved to author¬
ship by the urge of that call which the Islands made
to their hearts. And there is another feature of
these early accounts which forms a contrast
to modern writings on the Hebrides. The
interest pervading the early authors is the people
and their customs. The interest running through
recent volumes on the same topic is the places
themselves, and their scenery. Now that is a great
contrast. The record which older travellers have
left of the life and customs of the inhabitants will
retain their worth as the years go by.
Dr. Donald J. Macleod has written an introduc¬
tion which is worthy of these old classics of
Hebridean travel. Extending to fifty-eight pages,
his contribution combines the fruit of ripe Celtic
scholarship with an unusual acquaintance with the
Islands, the people, and their language and
traditions. His erudite pages on the prehistoric
element which clings to popular beliefs is not the
least attractive part of the new book. He clearly
shows by numerous illustrations that many of the
old survivals are pre-Celtic. He also casts fresh
light, from the standpoint of modern methods, on
several ancient customs and beliefs which are an
essential part of the subject, but are not treated by
the old authors. Dr. Macleod writes in clear and
lucid English, in a style of distinction, and with an
ease and fulness which heighten the attractiveness
of the new volume. The printing, the paper, and
the general get-up of the volume are all that could
be desired. The book deserves a very wide
circulation, N. R.