Northern Trip: Royal National Mod 2005

Today is the big day for the choristers staying with us. Victoria Gaelic Choir is participating in 3 events. The first is at 9 o'clock at the Sports Centre. The four, Ann, Gordon, Carmel and John, get up at 6.30 a.m. and have breakfast at 7.30. An hour later, they walk up to the venue, with mrs B and myself following 15 minutes later. The two pieces are sung straight after one another: Mor a'cheannaich and Mura bitha Domhnall. Victoria are on 3rd, after Ceolraidh and Aberdeen. And, I'm sorry to report that it's not good, not half as good as those going before. A bit stunned, mrs B and I walk across to the Nicolson Assembly Hall, for the second event which runs concurrently - a third competition started at nine in the Town Hall. We sit through the first few choirs, but Victoria is 12th on the list, so we return to the Sports Centre for a coffee. Then we have another look at the Gaelic Showcase. Victoria's rendition of Maraiche nan Tonn and their own choice (unknown to me) was once more not impressive. Their marks were lowest for both Gaelic and music. We're just too late at the Sports Centre for the adjucation of their early morning performance. On a lighter note, at the Nicolson, the winning choir was called Atomaig Piseag. This means: Atomic Kitten. Excited choristers spread over the area, but the Victoria choir members are glum. Return to Newton for lunch, then walk back in the middle of a second outbreak of rain this week. At the Nic Assembly hall, the final competition takes place with Victoria. They have to compete against choirs from Largs, Nairn and Aberdeen. Prescribed piece is Miann Cridhe. Victoria do well by my ears, but end up last. Only 10 points (out of 355) behind winners Aberdeen. Chi mi 'n Gearraidh is always a winner. This all finishes at 3 pm, so I wend my way down to the Sports Centre for the last competition. Ten choirs perform, but I only hear the last five. Memorable performance by (I think) Cumbernauld choir, who sing about a train journey from Inverness to Achnasheen, with all the right noises for a steamtrain. The MC for the event cracks a joke about the choir's conductor, who he calls the traindriver. The other man retorts that he prefers to be a conductor (sic). Inverness end up winners, which closes competitions for Mod 2005. Go back to Newton, where mrs B is cooking, when Isles FM announce that five pipebands will be playing in the town at 6 o'clock. We rush out to Cromwell Street, but are kept waiting for 50 minutes. It's packed out in the town centre, but good-humoured. Everybody is nattering to everybody else, which actually comes through very well on my recordings. The pipeband comes down Cromwell Street, but stops at the trafficlights - and not because they're at red. A camera crew appears with a bright light and the presenter of the late night Mod programme on BBC2. This lady is known as Giggles, even though she is 46. She marches out in front of the pipeband. They head down North Beach Street, round the corner into Castle Street and into South Beach Street. Mrs B and I cut across through the pedestrianized part of Cromwell Street and await the passage of the pipeband. Rain starts to fall, but that doesn't faze the crowd. When the pipeband turns into James Street to carry on to the Sports Centre, we go straight ahead into Shell Street and Newton Street. We finish supper there. An empty feeling pervades me - the Mod is over and done with. Although there is plenty of events on in the town, I can't be bothered with any of it. Hear later that the Vatersay Boys were too drunk to play at the County Hotel. The Canadians walk out of the room when the Mod program commences at 11.35. They did attend the final concert at the Sports Centre at 7.30, where it probably sank it that they really were not up to standard, sorry as I am to have to report this. Yesterday, a number of them sat in amongst the crowd in the Nicolson Assembly Hall.

Victoria Gaelic Choir (Guth nan Eilean) at the Tall Ships event on June 25th 2005. Picture taken from their website http://members.shaw.ca/ceol/

The below link is a recording of the songs they sang at the first competition, but not as performed on October 21st; this was recorded on February 22nd, 2005.
Much better. http://markreid.org/gaelic/moracheannaich.mp3