Gaels descend on county for annual provincial mod
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A CULTURAL celebration hits Caithness this weekend as the Gaelic community from around Scotland takes part in the Caithness and Sutherland Provincial Mod.
Organisers are hoping the annual musical and literary meeting in Wick tomorrow will continue the legacy created when the county hosted the Royal National Mod in October 2010 to great acclaim.
Local branch chairman Raymond Bremner said the local Gaelic contingent is waiting with open arms to welcome back fellow speakers from around the country to the event.
“We are particularly encouraged to find that people who regularly attend the national mod are going to be back in the area as a result of the provincial mod being hosted here, and who may not otherwise have visited the county at this time – especially given the fact it is also a holiday weekend for the jubilee celebrations,” he said.
“Perhaps they have considered that Wick is a great place to be, either to celebrate it at the provincial mod, or get away from it at the provincial mod.”
Events begin tonight with one of Gaeldom’s top bands – the Iain Angus MacLeod Ceilidh Band – performing at the Old Smiddy Inn in Thrumster. The pre-mod traditional ceilidh kicks off at 9pm and will also feature local and national artistes who are visiting the county for the following day’s competitions.
The main event starts tomorrow at 9am in the Assembly Rooms and 9.30am in the Pipe Band Hall.
Solo, instrumental, folk group and junior choral competitions are being held in the morning, with the afternoon set aside for visiting senior choirs competing in the adult choral competitions.
This includes an appearance from the renowned Melvich Gaelic Choir – a considerable number of whose choristers come from Caithness and who are current national mod champions.
The festival will also see the newly formed Coilich a’ Chinn a Tuath (Cocks of the North) male voice choir taking part.
Other choirs are visiting from Lairg and one of the folk groups is coming all the way from Glasgow and features musicians from Sabhal Mòr Ostaig – the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye.
“We are fortunate that we have all competitions held on the same day – both junior and senior,” said Mr Bremner. “This allows us the opportunity for the older folks to encourage the young folks to keep going with performance and music; after all, it is very much part of our national and cultural heritage.”
Joining the influx of visitors to the county will be adjudicators from all over Scotland who have been invited to the county to judge the competitions and will be guests at the festival evening’s main event, a gala concert and ceilidh dance in the Assembly Rooms.
The concert and ceilidh starts at 7.30pm tomorrow night and will be hosted by Murdo Morrison, who was involved in the national mod coming to Caithness two years ago.
The Saturday evening event will feature guest artiste and Royal National Mod gold medallist from the Isle of Mull, Alasdair Whyte, as well as winning artistes from the day’s competitions. Once again, the Iain Angus MacLeod Ceilidh Band will be providing the music and the trophy ceremony will see Margaret, Viscountess Thurso, presenting the awards to the festival winners.
Graham Cameron, secretary of the local branch of the provincial mod organising committee, and who was convenor of the stewards committee for the national mod in Caithness, is happy to hear from anyone who is willing to help out on the day, although the committee has a number of volunteers who have made themselves available.
Anyone who wishes to help can make contact on 07765 420 971 or e-mail cameronatcroick@tiscali.co.uk
