An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volume 28, October 1932--September 1933

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AN GAIDHEAL.
An t-Samhuin, 1932.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOD.
The Mod of 1932 has come and gone. It
was in many repects a memorable one. In
the numbers attending as competitors and
interested auditors, and in the high standard
of attainment reached in the oral and musical
competitions, all former records were
surpassed. I may be permitted to refer
briefly to some of the things that impressed
me as being marked features of the Mod.
In the first place, one could not help being
struck by the audiences which assembled at
all the sessions. Every hall one visited was
filled by appreciative listeners, while on
Thursday and Friday the huge garage,
capable of accommodating over 2000 persons,
was crammed to its utmost capacity at the
choral competitions and evening concerts.
Tribute should be paid to the admirable
patience and good temper of the audiences
on Thursday and Friday, when the rain,
drumming on the corrugated iron roof,
made it at times difficult, if not impossible,
for a large proportion of the audience to hear
what was spoken or sung.
As everyone knows, Dr. Boss possesses
exceptional oratorical gifts. All his utter¬
ances were happy and effective, but he
excelled himself at the formal opening. The
large audience on that occasion was deeply
impressed as in felicitous diction, and with
fine elocutionary effect, he poured forth his
eloquent periods on the twin themes of
tir is teanga. He spoke first in Gaelic and
afterwards in English, and both speeches
evoked unstinted praise.
This Mod will be noteworthy as the first to
be honoured by the presence of a British
Prime Minister. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald’s
visit was an agreeable surprise, and gave
unbounded delight to the thousands of
fellow-Gaels, who welcomed him with
enthusiastic pleasure and pride. He came to
the Mod as a Mac, not as Prime Minister, as
he said himself, and at the ceilidh on
Wednesday and the rural choirs’ concert on
Thursday spoke words of appreciation and
encouragement. Mr. MacDonald expressed
himself as having enjoyed every minute of his
visit, and he had certainly nothing to com¬
plain of in the warmth and sincerity of the
welcome given him.
A feature of the Mod this year was the
number of distinguished literary men who
were interested and appreciative visitors. In
addition to Mr. Compton MacKenzie and Mr.
Seton Gordon, who are regular habitues,
there were Mr. H. V. Morton, Mr. George
Blake, and Mr. Eric Linklater. These three
were paying their first visit to the Mod. Mr.
Morton declared that, after a long experience
of public functions, he had never attended
any event of the kind which gave him more
genuine delight.
While all the choral performances were of a
high order, the singing of the Greenock Choir
was of outstanding merit. It was a positive
revelation to many, and a sheer delight to
all. Their successes were unprecedented;
they practically swept the board. Sir Hugh
Roberton declared that their wonderful sing¬
ing was as great and thrilling as he had ever
heard anywhere. Both adjudicators predicted
a distinguished future in music for their
brilliant conductor, Mr. Malcolm Mac-
Callum.
One could not help admiring the fine
sportsmanlike spirit shown by the com¬
petitors. Whether they won or lost made no
visible difference in their demeanour. They
were there to do their best and take their
chance, and if luck went against them they
accepted their fate cheerfully and without
complaint. Long may this remain a
characteristic of these happy warriors.
One must add a word of appreciation of
the delightful ceilidhs held in the various
hotels after the work of the day was over.
These ceilidhs are a comparatively recent
development, and they form now one of the
most attractive adjuncts of the Mod. If
there are still left in any mind vestiges of
belief in the Celtic gloom, of which we heard
and read so much a generation ago, a round
of these ceilidhs should effectively destroy
them. The spirit of infectious merriment
and light-hearted gaiety pervaded them all.
There was no stiffness, no formality, no pre¬
arranged programmes. Everyone was happy
and ready to contribute to the happiness of
the others, and when the company joined in
such a gay and lively chorus as “De ni mi
ma sheideas a’ ghaoth,” the rafters
resounded, and if any of the good folks of
Fort William go to bed in Mod Week, their
slumbers were in danger of serious disturb¬
ance.
It is sometimes complained that one does
not hear so much Gaelic spoken at the Mod
as one would expect. There was but little
if any ground for such a complaint this year.
One was cheered by hearing Gaelic being
spoken on every hand wherever one went.
It was a great Mod, and will not be
surpassed for many a day.
M.