Members of the Melvich Gaelic Choir picked up several of the major trophies for rural choirs and are planning to showcase their talents at a special performance in Thurso next month following their return from the eight-day contest held in Falkirk last week.

Gaelic enthusiasts from all over Scotland travelled to the Central Belt town for the Mod, officially launched by First Minister Alex Salmond, which was hailed a success by organisers – reportedly boosting the local economy by £1.5 million.

The local choir, whose members come from Caithness and north Sutherland, won in several categories and brought home the main awards for rural choirs, including the prestigious Lorn Shield.

The group, the only mainland contenders for the trophy, narrowly defeated the Back Gaelic Choir (Còisir Sgir a' Bhac) from Lewis by one point and were awarded £100 from An Comunn Gàidhealach – the Mod organising body – as well as the shield.

The Melvich choir (Còisir Ghàidhlig Mhealabhaich) also won the Captain Angus Stewart Trophy for the highest marks in music, while the Mrs Catherine C. Macdonald Silver Baton was presented to conductor Raymond Bremner.

They had earlier taken first place in the puirt-a-beul competition, winning the Aline MacKenzie Memorial Trophy and the Evelyn Huckbody Memorial Trophy for the highest marks in music.

Mr Bremner, from Thrumster, was awarded the John Young Memorial Baton as the conductor of the winning choir.

The group's ladies' choir, conducted by Graham Cameron, also took part and their points helped secure the Sandy Heron Cup for the highest aggregate marks.

Former Mod gold medallist Mr Bremner this week said that it was the first time in the history of the Melvich choir that its members had pulled off the double, including the Lorn Shield accolade – a goal he had held since taking over the conductor's baton in 2001.

"Winning the puirt-a-beul competition for a second time along with the Lorn Shield was well beyond the choir's expectations," he told the Caithness Courier.

"We couldn't believe that we had won the puirt-a-beul competition. We had just finished a practice with the choir's folk group, Ceol bho Thuath, and were just going into a competition when one of the choir members, who had stayed behind for the result, came bursting in the door with the news."

The group had never won the puirt-a-beul competition prior to 2001 but went on to lift the award the following year in Largs. At that time they were runners-up in the Lorn Shield competition and have been on two other occasions since.

Mr Bremner said: "I knew the choir was doing well in practice in the run-up to the festival, having won all their competitions at the provincial Mod back in June. I thought they were going to peak too soon and that's why we had a concert for the public before we went rather than another practice – it's not often that local folk hear the standard we have achieved before we go to the Mod."

Mr Bremner, who won a gold medal at the Lochaber Mod in 1999, maintained that new, younger members had given the choir a "tremendous" boost.

He referred to soloist Philip Todd, who joined the choir while in his final year at Thurso High School last year. The 18-year-old, who attends the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, won in the traditional singing (learners) and boys' solo (16 to 18) categories for the second year running.

Philip, who received a Highland Council-sponsored Màiri Mhòr Gaelic Song Fellowship Award at the Fort William Mod last year, is currently studying film-making and was invited by the BBC to shadow the Mod production team during this year's event.

Former Wick High deputy head Celia McDougall, from Shebster, won the Kennedy-Fraser Cup and the Johanna Fortune Memorial Trophy for her rendition of a Marjory Kennedy-Fraser number from her Songs of the Hebrides collection – the only Mod competition which features piano accompaniment.

The Melvich Gaelic Choir's success was rounded off when three of its members – Thurso's Shonagh MacLennan (20), Sarah Sutherland (19), from Reay, and Shona MacDonald, a former teacher at Miller Academy who has recently moved to Inverness – each received gold cards for fluency in Gaelic.

This year's Mod drew to a close at the weekend with massed choirs and pipe bands marching along Falkirk's High Street before converging at the town's bandstand for the traditional finale.

The convener of the local organising committee, Falkirk councillor Angus MacDonald, hailed the event as a tremendous success. "The positive feedback we have received from locals and Mod visitors, both during and after the Mod, has been heartening. We were determined to stage one of the best Mods ever, and it looks like all the hard work by the local organising committee has paid off," he said.

The Melvich Gaelic Choir is now preparing for a performance at the group's annual ceilidh being held at the Weigh Inn Hotel, Thurso, on Saturday, November 29. Gold medallists from this year's Mod will be attending the event which begins at 7.30pm.

Preparations are already under way for the first staging of the Royal National Mod in Caithness in 2010. Local organisers are aiming to raise more than £20,000 for the festival which will be one of the biggest events ever to be staged in the Far North.

It is hoped the competition will bring an economic boost to the area with the expected influx of 2000 competitors, plus officials, judges and spectators.

e.mackay@nosn.co.uk

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