An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volumes 44--45, January 1949--December 1950

even a third overflow concert
Tield in the Cosy Corner—six
concerts in all in Mod Week, and
that did not take into account
the many ceilidhs held in the
various hotels and boarding¬
houses where visitors had put up.
There was also a dance in the
Cosy Comer on Friday night,
with a full attendance.
The Prizewinners
EVEN though a full list of
all the prizewinners is
given elsewhere in 11 An
•Gaidhea! it might be well, and
quite interesting to readers, to
make brief reference to the chief
prizewinners.
The Junior Medallists are
Alistair MacCulloch, son of the
President of Govan Branch of
An Comunn. who is a native of
Inverness (his mother is from
Lewis), and Anne MacLeod, who
is of Lewis parentage. The Mrs.
Campbell Trophy (for unison
singing) was won by Oban High
Rchool Junior Choir “ A,”
followed by Glasgow Gaelic
Musical Association Junior Choir.
In the former first-prize winners’
competition the winner was
Alasdair Gillies, a member of a
musical Scotstoun family which
hails from Skye.
The “ Oban Times ” Shield was
won by the “ G.G.” (of Glasgow),
followed by Oban. The winners
•of the Mrs. Miller Trophy (for
choral singing) were the Nicolson
Memorial Junior Choir, Green¬
ock, followed by Tarbert (Loch-
fync). The Action Song com¬
petition (for the Shiant Shield,
presented by Mr. Compton
Mackenzie) was won by Carra-
dale Junior Choir, followed hv
two Oban choirs.
The Gold Medallists are Flora
M. Campbell. Campbeltown, and
Angus MacLeod. Scalpay. Harris,
with Aunice M. Gillies, Loch¬
gilphead, Catriona MacLean,
Dunoon. Alexander MacDonald,
and Finlay MacKeachan,
Glasgow, following them up
•closely. The Nova Scotian prize¬
winner was Finlay MacKeachan,
followed by Duncon MacCalman.
Islay. The James Grant (men)
was won by Alex. J. MacDonald,
followed by Angus MacLeod,
Scalpay, and Finlay Mac¬
Keachan, The men’s “ Oran-
Mor ”—that masterpiece, “ A’
Chuairt-Chuain ” by Gohha na
Hearadh—was very appropriately
won by a Harrisman, Angus
MacLeod, followed by Iain
Darroch, Jura, and Finlay Mac¬
Keachan. who is of Islay parent¬
age. The winner of first place
in the women’s “ Oran-Mor ”
competition was Catriona J. B.
MacLean, Dunoon, third genera¬
tion as a leading prizewinner at
a Mod, daughter of two Mod
Gold Medallists and grand¬
daughter of a prizewinner in the
bardic competitions. Margaret
MacKay, Glasgow was second.
Flora Campbell, as well as
being the female Gold Medallist,
was also first in the Kennedy-
Fraser and James Grant (ladies’
voices) competitions. Nan
Hunter, Duror. was the winner
in the Uist and Barra, and the
winner in the Mull and Iona was
Aunice Gillies. In the Members
Competition for ladies (Bessie
Campbell Memorial), Elspeth
A. Lamont, Glasgow, was the
winner, followed by Nan Hunter.
Miss Hunter, followed by Anne
M. Gillies, Scotstoun. was also
the winner of the Oban and Lorn
(female) competition; while
Angus MacLeod, followed by
another MacLeod—Donald, from
Portnahaven, won the male
voices’ Oban and Lorn Badge.
Literary and Oral
COMING to the Literary
and Oral Competitions:
Mr. Angus Matheson, a
native of Skye resident in
Glasgow and an ex-tramwayman,
won first place (and also second
place with another poem) for the
composition of a poem on any
subject. This gained for him the
Bardic Crown, making him the
fifth Skyeman to have that
honour. But he won more than
that, for he also took the Miss
Miller Weir Gold Pendant. The
Cassillis Cup, awarded to the
most outstanding competitor in
the Literary Section, was
awarded to Mrs. Mary I. Millar.
Kingussie.
Two outstanding prizewinners
in the Senior Oral competitions
were Mary MacLean, of Grimsay,
List, and Lachlan Robertson,
Glasgow (of Skye). The adjudi¬
cators gave the exceptionally
high mark of 100 per cent, to
Miss MacLean for a narrative told
with supreme elegance. She won
a number of prizes.
Lachlan Robertson’s prize
effort was an Ossianic lay which
has come down in his family.
The adjudicators recommended
that An Comunn should get both
Miss MacLean’s story and Mr.
Robertson’s lay printed in An
Comunn publications and thus
have them permanently pre¬
served. for they cannot be
allowed to be forgotten.
The Calum MacPharlain Mem¬
orial Prize (for reciting original
poetry specially composed for the
occasion) was won by Mrs.
Margaret Black, Oban, a native
of Mull. The Glasgow Skye
Association Medal for the highest
marks in the senior oral section
was awarded to Christina M.
Dick, Glasgow.
Choral
THE Rural Choirs Competi¬
tions on Thursday were a
musical treat. The Lorn
Shield, and also /the Dalriada
Cup for the choir gaining the
highest marks in Gaelic, were
both won by the Portree Gaelic
Choir, and Glasgow, Lewis,
and Ceilidh nan Gaidheal folk
were proud to see that the choir
was ably led by Aline Mackenzie,
as we knew her when she was a
leading member of the Ceilidh.
The Sheriff MacMaster Campbell
Cuach was won bv Southend
Choir.
A Govan Choir Quartette, who
called themselves “ An Ceathrar
Corra-ghriodhach,” won first
place in that competition and
proved that it would be morfe
appropriate to term themselves
“ An Ceathrar Smeorach ”.
The winners of the Mull and
Iona Shield (for male-voice
choirs) were Greenock Gaelic
Choir, followed, by Campbeltown.
The winners of the choral puirt-
a-beul competition were the “ G.
G..” followed by London and
Campbeltown again.
But the really big competition
was that for mixed choirs, for
the Lovat and Tullibardine Shield
and the “ Weekly Scotsman ”
Cuach (for highest marks in
Gaelic). There were twelve
choirs entered. Campbeltown
was first, “ G.G. ”, and Green¬
ock were equal at second place,
with Oban following. Stornoway
was highest in Gaelic, being four
marks ahead of Oban, which was
second for Gaelic, and thus
Storonway again won the Cuach
which they won two years ago
at Glasgow, the first year it was
competed for.
The annual meeting of An
Comunn. of which a full report
appears elsewhere in this
number, was held in the Burgh
Hall on Saturday morning, and
there it was decided that
Rothesay should be the venue
for the 1952 Mod—the second
time it will house the National
Mod. There was another invita¬
tion before the meeting, one
from Largs, and it was an in¬
spiration that such an invitation
should come from Celtic Ayr¬
shire. Although the decision was
made for Rothesay in 1952, we
hope to see the Mod at Largs
or elsewhere in Ayrshire in the
not too distant future.
142