An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Sruth > Volume 1 > No. 45, 12 December 1968

Sruth Di-ardaoin, 12 latha de'n Dubhlachd
Thi
HIGHLAND FLING
?;ighland Fling, the exhibi¬
tion aboard tne Macbrayne
steamer, RMS Clansman, will
present to visitors an exciting
and accurate picture of life in
the Highland?, today.
i he main exmbition area
on the vessel’s car deck will
be divided into thirteen
regional displays — Dunoon
and Cowal, Caithness, Strath¬
spey, Inverness and Easter
Ross, Orkney, Shetland, Suth¬
erland, Outer Hebrides, Skye,
Wester Ross, Lochaber and
Ardnamurchan, Oban, Mull
and Tiree, Kintyre and Islay.
These will portray the en¬
vironment ol each location.
Colour, typography, photo¬
graphs and models are all
being used to achieve maxi¬
mum effect. Some displays
will include demonstrations
of spinning; weavihg, chair¬
making and other skills.
The opportunity will be
taken, too, of presentirig a
visual account of the work
being carried out in the area
by the Highlands and Islands
Development Board. In this
section of Highland Fling,
particular emphasis is placed
on the opportunities that
exist for new investment in
manufacturing, industry, fish¬
ing and tourism.
Market Place
Above the main exhibition
floor will be the Highland
Market Place, situated on the
vessel’s promenade deck —
canopied for the occasion and
lined with Harris Tweed. This
will introduce to trade buyer
and consumer alike products
being manufactured in the
Highlands ana islands.
J?ood, wnisky, furniture,
knitwear and tweeds, sports
goods, cosmetics, glass and
jewellery will be displayed in
an attracti/e manner. About
120 individuals, hi ms and
trade and craft associations
will be represented.
Catering on board the
Clansman will be used as a
medium for promoting High¬
land and Island products
which will not be on show vi
the Market Place, such as
seafoods, mutton and venison.
Some of the whiskies which
are on show in the Market
Place will also be on sale in
the ship’s bar.
Industrial Promotion
One section of the exhibi¬
tion will be devoted to in¬
dustry in the Highlands and
islands. The section, whose |
basic theme will be “ Yester-1
day and Today ” will com- j
pare the present picture with !
the period before the Board ■
came into being. It will also
look forward to future de- !
velopments such as those en- !
visaged in the Jack Holmes
Planning Group’s report.
Also available will be |
the latest information about
Counterdrift with pictures of
successful “ Counterdrifters ”
and employers whose labour
needs have been met through
the unique manpower register
aspect of this project.
On display will be some of
the goods produced by firms
which have been attracted to
the Highlands and Islands by
the Board.
television will be able to pre- j
view Highland Fling on Janu¬
ary 8th, the day RMS Clans¬
man is scheduled to tie up
at Tower Pier. On that day,
the Harris Tweed Association
will be giving a fashion show i
aboard, incorporating acces¬
sories and materials produced I
in the Highlands and Islands. !
Design
Henry Wylie and Partners,
Architects, Edinburgh, are
responsible for the design and
layout of the exhibition. Gas- |
kell and Chambers, who
worked on the Q.E.2, are the i
main contractors. Associated
with the designers is their ;
graphics consultant, Durness-
born Mr William MacKay,
who has produced a new type
style strongly influenced by
the Celtic art tradition for
the exhibition.
CROY
NEWS
Poppy Day Collection
The sum of £8 16/- was
collected in Croy village, Can-
traywood, Balnabual, Holme
Rose and Midcoul by pupils of
Croy Junior Secondary School.
Collectors were: — Jessie
Cameron, Avril Mackintosh,
Pamela McCutcheon, William
McKenzie, Marion MacLean,
Margaret Mackintosh.
Concert in Croy Hall
HEADMASTER
APPOINTED TO
CROFTERS COMMISSION
Mr William Ross, Secretary
of State for Scotland, has ap¬
pointed Mr John M. Mac¬
Millan, of Lochs, Lewis, part-
time member of the Crofters
Commission for the period to
September 30, 1971. lie re¬
places Mr Jonathan MacDonald.
Mr MacMillan is headmaster
of Leurbost Junior Secondary
School, Lochs, a member of the
Western Isles Crofters’ Union
and of the Northern Regional
Hospital Board and the
National Insurance Committee.
Chairman
Mr James Shaw Grant has
been reappointed chairman of
the Commission for a further
three years. Two part-time
members of the Commission,
Dr Alastair Fraser and Mr
George Mclver, have also been
reappointed for the same period.
Their terms of office expired
last September 30.
Dr Fraser (44) is the resident
tutor in Argyll for Glasgow
University’s Department of
Extra Mural Education. Mr
Mclver (61), of Brora, Suther¬
land, is a crofter and hotelier.
These appointments maintain
the total membership of the
Commission at eight.
Transport Interest
| In addition to the trade
concerns who will be repre¬
sented at Fling, transport and
I tourist interests will be par¬
ticipating. British Rail, BritLh
! European Airways, Scottish
Bus Group, Nortn of Scot¬
land Shipping Co., and, of
course, MacBraynes have
taken exhibition space.
An interesting feature on
the car deck will be the Hotel
Bureau. Here visitors will be
able to check their accommo¬
dation requirements against
the facilities offered by over
100 hotels in the Highland
counties. This will be done
by means of slides and litera¬
ture.
Members of the press and
NEW R.C. BISHOP OF
ARGYLL AND ISLES
A Gaelic-speaking parish
priest, Father Colin Macpher-
son (51), of St Mary’s Church,
Fort William, was named yes¬
terday as the new Roman Catho¬
lic Bishop of Argyll and the
Isles to succeed Bishop Stephen
McGill, who was installed as
Bishop of Paisley in September.
Father Macpherson is a
native of Lochboisdale, South
Uist, and was educated at Sr
Mary’s College, Blairs, Aber¬
deen. He was ordained in Rome
in 1940 and served at Oban,
i Knoydart, Eriskay and Ben-
becula before moving to Fort
! William in 1966.
The following artistes pro¬
vided most acceptable entertain¬
ment in Croy Hall, at a concert
organised in aid of school
Christmas parties and hall
funds.
Piping—William MacDonald
(Benbecula), Highland dancing
by Rae MacColl, Sally Mac¬
pherson, Donella Murchison,
Roderick MacDonald, pupils ol
Edith Macpherson’s School of
Dancing; accordion music —
John Dallas, Smithton; Millers
Folk Group, Duncan MacLen-
nan and Elsa Stevens, Inverness;
Anne MacLean, Mod Gold
Medallist, Aberdeen; Irene
Ross, Inverness; Janet Camp¬
bell, Inverness; Donnie Mac-
Dougall, Inverness, who sang
and also played the accom¬
paniments ; Murdo Campbell,
Croy and James Mackintosh,
Hardhill, told some amusing
stories.
I
Mr Robert Thomson, recently
retired, received a token of
appreciation of his long period
of service as secretary of hall
committee. Mrs Campbell, Ard-
'roy was the lucky winner of the
box of chocolates. The function
was organised and chaired by
Mr M. Campbell, Schoolhouse.
Th« riews expr«s*d in this news,
paper are not necessarily those
of the publishers : An Comunn
Gaidheatach.
Land
Improvement
30,000 ACRES
COMPLETED
The completion of 30,000
acres of land improvement car
ried out by crofters with the
assistance of grant from ihe
Crofters Commission has just
been announced.
To mark the occasion Mr
Hugh Donald, Lands Officer,
with the Department of Agri¬
culture and Fisheries for Scot¬
land and the Commissions
local representative in the Uists,
presented the cheque represent¬
ing the Commission’s share of
the cost of the crofter’s regene¬
ration effort to Mr D. J.
Campbell, a Uist crofter on
whose land the 30,000th acre
was improved at a ceremony in
Balivanich on Tunesday, <uh
November.
In making the presentation
Mr Donald stated that the value
of a good surface seed was
evident for all to see and ex¬
pressed the hope that many
more crofters wnuld undertake
similar land improvement work
taking advantage of the sub¬
stantial grant assistance avail¬
able.
The Chairman of the Crof¬
ters Commission, commenting
on the occasion, said that he
was very pleased that the pre-
.entation had taken place at a
meeting organised by the North
of Scotland College of Agri¬
culture. “This is very much a
joint enterprise” he said—“the
Commission provides the grant,
the College of Agriculture pro¬
vides the knowledge and the
crofter provides the enterprise.
The crofter makes the major
contribution because the work
and the risk are his.”
“Thirty thousand acres is
roughly the area of the island
of Rhum but as one acre of
improved land is worth ten or
twenty of rough grazings, it
means the crofters have added
the equivalent of ten sizeable
islands to the grazings value of
their land. This is a very con¬
siderable contribution to High¬
land development. It is also
evidence of the crofter’s initi¬
ative when he gets a chance.”
In the Outer Islands (of
Inverness) 2,630 acres have
been improved and of this 1,980
acres have been carried out by
individual crofters.
Thig gu
ALISTER MACDONALD
HIGH STREET, FORT WILUAM
S»ve Money on Tyres
and Motor Accessories
Gach ni airson Car is Rothair
Faille gu
M. L. M. GORDON
HIGH STREET, FORT WILLIAM
Claran—Records
Cuir Seachad—Sports
Caraichean Beaga—Dinkie Cars
Opportunities
For Adventure
Training
LOCH RANNOCH CENTRE
Site facilities at the Army
Youth Team centre at Carie,
on the south side of Loch
Rannoch, are to be given to
other organisations concerned
with adventure training for
j young people.
This is announced in a
memorandum just issued by the
Scottish Education Department.
I Education authorities and vol-
| untary organisations will be
able to erect huts at Carie for
the use of youth groups under¬
taking adventure training and
various other outdoor activities,
j These youth groups would
normally operate under their
own leaders, live in their own
j huts, look after their own
[ domestic arrangements and ar-
i range their own programmes.
The Army Youth Teams would
| be available, on request, to give
: expert advice and general
J assistance.
The civilian organisations
would have to provide and
maintain their own huts but
I these might be built by the
| youth groups and school clubs
themselves under the guidance
of the Royal Engineers with the
civilian organisations paying
only for the cost of materials.
The team pursiiits which can
be followed at Carie include
canoeing, dinghy sailing, swim¬
ming, rock-climbing, abseiling,
archery, orienteering, hill walk¬
ing and ski-ing in winter.
PORT GLASGOW CEILIDH
Mr Angus Smith (Lewis)
President of the local branch
welcomed a capacity audience
to the monthly ceilidh in Port
Glasgow. He also introduced
the Fear-an-Tigh for the even¬
ing, Mr Calum D. Morrison.
Mr Morrison, after his intro-
ductory remarks proceeded with
the musical entertainment, led
by the association piper John
Maclnnis The artistes, who
were all enthusiastically wel¬
comed, included Mr Bill Mar¬
shall (Skye), Mr Cameron
MacAulay (Ardnamurchan), Mr
Duncan MacLellan (Greenock),
Miss Christine Grant (Lewis')
Miss Patricia MacRae (Gree¬
nock) and Mr Robert Teasdale,
accordionist. All accompani¬
ments were in the capable
hands of Mrs Nicol. Mr Duncan
Clark (Easdale) vice-president
of the branch accorded all who
had given such a wonderful
evening’s entertainment, the
vote of thanks. This was im¬
mediately taken up by the audi¬
ence. It was also announced
that the December ceilidh would
take the form of a film show of
the Highlands and Western
Islands. This will take place
on the 20th December 1968.
Among the artistes booked to
entertain are Miss Margaret
MacLeod (Peterhead) and Mrs
Jannette Maclnnis (Tiree). The
chair will be taken by Mr
Finlay MacNeill.