The Living Tradition : Sgoil Chiùil Na Gàidhealtachd
Sgoil Chiùil Na Gàidhealtachd, also known as The National Centre of Excellence and Plockton Music School, was established in 2000 with funding from the Scottish Executive’s Excellence Fund. Since then, it has become renowned as a place where talented young traditional musicians can develop their skills. It is a residential project open to secondary school students in the Scottish education system, based at Plockton High School in the West Highlands.
Entry is by audition, and pupils can enrol at any stage in their secondary school career. They learn playing and singing (both live and in the studio), composing and arranging, the history and context of traditional music, stagecraft, music technology, and all the other diverse skills which go to make up a modern professional musician. There is a busy performing schedule, and the Centre releases a commercial CD every year. The production of the CD is well established as an acoustic yearbook and its production is the focal point of the whole school year. Tuition is provided by experienced professional musicians, and the overall ethos is vocational, aiming to equip students for further study or a career in music if that is what they choose.
It is important to note, however, that the Centre is not merely a hothouse for professional musicians. Many of its leavers have followed other career paths, but take their music with them wherever they go in life. One of the Aims of the Centre is “To give our students an awareness of the concept of tradition and of their place within it.” The young people who gain entry to the Centre are proficient in their own discipline, but it is not uncommon for them to lack awareness of musical traditions other than their own. The fact that the Centre recruits from all over Scotland gives it a unique opportunity to raise awareness amongst its students of each other’s musical backgrounds and traditions, and consequently to spread that awareness when the students leave and forge their own musical paths.
The Centre sees itself as having an equal responsibility towards all of Scotland’s many fine musical traditions, but its location, and the inevitable fact that many of its students are drawn from the Highlands, mean that Gaelic music maintains a strong presence. In addition to its cultural importance, much Gaelic music is an ideal vehicle for teaching many of the musical concepts on which the Centre focuses. Solo performance is key to the Gaelic tradition, but the Centre also places strong emphasis on ensemble work and on contemporary developments in traditional music performance.
The rhythms and melodies of port-a-beul and waulking songs in particular are very appropriate in these settings, and give instrumentalists an ideal opportunity to enhance their song accompaniment skills. The Gaelic instrumental tradition is huge and varied, particularly in terms of the pipe and fiddle repertoires, and this is a very rich source of tunes for both soloists and groups.
The audio clips featured on this page are intended to demonstrate the Centre’s approaches to Gaelic song. All of the songs are traditional, but they have been given arrangements which are first and foremost appropriate to the song’s content and meaning, but also give a contemporary feel which helps to keep the songs current and interesting to the general audience.
School Director Dougie Pincock says: “Keeping our students aware of their place in the long lines of Scotland’s musical traditions is one of our most important duties, but it is also a great pleasure to see how much they love finding out about and playing this marvellous music which we in Scotland are privileged to call our own.”
The following are taken from the sleeve notes written for each song on the CD on which it appears:
- Tobair Tobair Siollaidh (from “First Class”, SCGCD001, released 2001)
This song was taught to us by Mary Anne Kennedy, and is a charm sung when pulling water from a well. In its original form, it’s a four-line fragment, but we arranged it to make it much longer with improvised instrumental sections. - Smeòrach Chlann Dòmhnaill (from “Duck!”, SCGCD005, released 2005)
These are some selected verses from a poem composed by John MacCodrum, bard to Sir James MacDonald, 8th Baronet of Sleat in Skye. MacCodrum was a native of North Uist, where the MacDonalds of Sleat owned a considerable estate. The poem develops into a eulogy on the Clan Donald, and the arrangement develops into a bit of a free-for-all! - Macreach An Each Dubh A Sassain (from “The Right Path”, SCGCD016, released 2016)
This song is about a horse, whose rider, Ronald MacDougal from Uist, receives gold from the king for putting golden horseshoes onto the horse. Robert MacInnes, the lead singer, first heard the song on Rachel Walker’s album “Air Chall”, and subsequently learned the song in his lessons with Rachel, who is the Gaelic Song tutor at the Centre. - Buain A’ Choirce (from “Brick By Brick”, SCGCD017, released 2017)
This is a traditional working song that we heard on the album “Glen Lyon: A Family Song Cycle” by Margaret and Martyn Bennett. The song is about a woman who sits down after cutting her knee reaping oats, and is looking for anyone who resembles the man that she loves.
Tobair Tobair Siollaidh
Smeòrach Chlann Dòmhnaill
Macreach An Each Dubh A Sassain
Buain A’ Choirce (from “Brick By Brick”, SCGCD017, released 2017).
Robert John MacInnes
I think that Scottish traditional music and Gaelic songs in particular are a huge part of the Gaelic language. Many people decide to learn the language because they know the music, or enjoy listening and singing Gaelic songs. Just like in other languages, there are some Gaelic songs that everyone knows even if they don’t have Gaelic, and this is proven at ceilidhs and performances when the audience join in!
As a radio presenter who showcases new music in the Scottish traditional music world, I can certainly say that there is a huge amount of new music being released by current and new artists in Gaelic, though this is also helped by other bodies such as Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Fèis Rois.
I definitely see musical arrangements of Gaelic songs continuing to change. As a young musician I’m quite unusual because although I love an upbeat song arrangement, I equally love a solo singer or an archive recording which many young people don’t go anywhere near nowadays. As well as continuing to make new song arrangements, it is so important that we remember the traditions and stories behind each song - and it is amazing how many different versions of one song you can find on Tobar an Dualchais, a version you might prefer to the one that you already know.
Although naturally interested in doing my own background research into the songs I sing, this was a vital part of groupwork at the Music School (and in any groupwork situation) because the stories and feel of each song end up influencing the musical arrangements. It is so important that every person in the group has a copy of the words (even if they don’t speak Gaelic - you can note punctuation breaks or long and short words), a copy of the translation, a composer (or noted as traditional) and a song background.
It is also very important for the younger generations to pay attention to the older generations and hear their versions - there are some Uist songs that I sing in a style learnt from my own Uist family. I’m not copying them, I just love the way that they sing them and that is the version that has been passed down!
Gaelic songs will be safe if the newer generations show an appreciation of older versions and the background of the songs - just singing them and putting a musical arrangement behind them will not be enough. The songs are so much more than just lyrics!
Dòmhnall Barker
In my own experience, Gàidhlig music is currently at a very exciting crossroads. While direct learning of songs from older relatives and neighbours is sadly no longer as common as it once was, online resources such as Tobar an Dualchais and Bliadhna nan Oran are making it easier to gain access to part of the wealth of Gàidhlig music that we are so lucky to have. As a generation, we might be the last with direct access to tradition bearers. We have a responsibility to preserve as much as we can and it would be great to see more field recordings taking place like they did back when the School of Scottish Studies was starting out in the 1950s.
Not only is it fantastic to see traditional Gàidhlig music being nurtured but also very refreshing to see new projects being realised and different approaches being taken to Gàidhlig music, breathing new life into it.
The opportunities that I have been presented with through the medium of Gàidhlig led me to specialise in the study of Gàidhlig song at the NCETM in Plockton for my 6th year of school. Although well used to singing and harmony singing in particular at home, being given the opportunity to arrange songs for instrumental accompaniment was relatively new for me and something I really enjoyed through my Plockton experience. This only furthered my love for the music and has led me onto other opportunities performing regularly locally as well as further afield.