Am Bratach No. 196
Ùrachadh success at Celtic Connections Taigh na Gàidhlig Mhealanais project, Ùrachadh, was well received at Celtic Connections, where the multimedia show made its festival debut at the Tron Theatre on Burns Night, reports secretary, Catriona MacLeod. Catriona, who was also one of the artistes, said: “It was great being part of the festival. The Tron Theatre setting was perfect for the show and the audience were very relaxed and appreciative.” She said that many had travelled a distance to be present. Among them was Canada-born Margaret Mackay, head of the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University, whose forebears came from Lairg. She was accompanied by colleague, Donald William Stewart, producer of the 2007 touring show, whose original poetry in the dialect of the Mackays is an integral part of it. Others are known to have travelled from as far afield as Assynt and Lairg, from Aberdeen, and from as far south as Glastonbury in Somerset. A special guest was Nicola Marshall, formerly of Golspie, now living in Inverness. She gave a display of Scottish step-dancing to the rare Strathspey and Reel medley, “Mrs Fraser”. The tunes were composed by tailor, fiddler and dancing master, Dougal Mackay of Bettyhill, in honour of a manageress of Bettyhill Hotel. Mackay, a friend of fiddle virtuoso, James Scott Skinner, was born in Loch Strathy house in the nineteenth century. |