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

I’Ytttival of* Ifi'ilain. I!f5l
GAELIC POETRY PRIZES
In connection with the Festival
of Britain, 1951, the Scottish
Committee of the Arts Council
of Great Britain is offering a
number of prizes for Scottish
Gaelic poetry.
The following scheme of awards
has been drawn up by An Comunn
Gaidhealach at the invitation of
-the Council’s Scottish Committee.
1. The awards for Gaelic poetry,
which are open to Gaelic writers
in any part of the world, are as
follows:—
(i) For a poem of approximately
200 lines in the Oran Mor tra¬
dition. Prizes—1st, £30; 2nd,
£20; 3rd, £10.
a signed declaration that his
poem has not been entered for
any other competition, nor has
it been published, publicly read,
recited or broadcast.
6. Entries should be made under
a pen-name and should be ac¬
companied by the name and ad¬
dress of the competitor enclosed
in a sealed envelope bearing the
pen-name.
7. Two typed copies of each
work submitted should be sup¬
plied, and each copy should bear
the competitor’s pen-name.
8. Competitors are asked to
keep a copy of all works sub¬
mitted, as no responsibility is
accepted for safety of scripts.
9. Entries should be sent not
later than 31st December, 1950,
to the Arts Council of Groan
Britain, 29 Queen Street, Edin¬
burgh.
10. The Scottish Committee of
the Arts Council will do its
utmost to secure publication of
the prize-winning poems, and
also to arrange for recitals of the
selected poems during the
Festival of Britain celebrations
in Scotland. Neither means of
publication can be guaranteed.
THE CENSUS
EVERY ten years since 180i
a census of the population of
this country has been taken,
except in 1941 (owing to the
War). In 1939, however, an
enumeration was mad ? in con
nection with Natio i il Registra¬
tion. The last full census,
therefore, was in 1931.
Preparations are now being
made to take a census next year.
We understand that the census
will include a query about the
number of Gaelic speakers, as has
been the practice since 1881. We
hope that the Gaelic-speakers will
not overlook this matter. Much
importance will attach to the
1951 figures as compared with the
1931 figures.
Cuimhnich
na Laoich
Cuidich an Oigridh
WAR MEMORIAL AND
THANKSGIVING FUND
Please heln to reach the Target
of £20,000 by
31st December, 1950
(ii) For a play in verse to take
mot less than twenty minutes in
performance. Prizes—1st, £40 ;
2nd, £25; 3rd, £15.
(iii) For a collection of six
original poems. No poem to ex¬
ceed 50 lines. Prizes—1st, £25 ;
2nd, £15; 3rd, £10.
Further prizes of £5, £3 and
£2 respectively will be awarded
in the third section for poems of
sufficient merit.
2. Entries will be judged by the
following Panel of Adjudicators
who have been appointed by An
Comunn Gaidhealach:—
The Very Rev. Alexander
MacDonald, M.A.. D.D.
John MacDonald, M.A.
The Rev. Alexander Mac¬
Kinnon, M.A., B.D., Ph.D.
Angus MacLeod, M.A., B.Sc.
Angus Matheson, M.A.
3. The decision of the Adjudi¬
cators is final.
4. No prizes will be awarded
unless the works submitted in
the category concerned are, in
the opinion of the Adjudicators,
of sufficient merit.
5. No poem will be considered
which has been entered in any
other competition. Each com¬
petitor will be required to submit
KEIL SCHOOL
KEIL School, established and
endowed by the munificence
of the late Sir William
Mackinnon and other members
of the Mackinnon family of
Baile-na-cille, has been in exis¬
tence now for thirty-five years.
It was situated first at Southend,
Kintyre, and latterly at Helens¬
burgh (with a sojourn at Baile-
na-cille during the war years).
Many boys from the West High¬
lands and Islands, who have done
well in their various professions
and occupations, have received
there a first-class all-round educa¬
tion. Mr. James Mason, head¬
master since the school was first
opened in 1915, has now retired,
and richly deserves the high
tributes paid to him for his
excellent work in making Keil
School what it is. The new
headmaster is Mr. A. H. Robert¬
son, M.A., B.Sc.
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
(from p. 139)
whispers through electric pylons
but it is as the Hydro-Electric
Board have it on their motto—
Neart nan Gleann (The Strength
of the Glens).
Even the electric power is
Gaelic. Let us keep unsullied
and gloriously alive what is in
truth the essence and spirit of
our people, the vehicle of their
faith, the cloth and colour of
their lives and land—our beloved
Gaelic Language.
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