…PART TWO of ‘the magic of a return visit to Mull in the Scottish Hebrides’…

…from the mouths of babes, those sum’time charming ‘angels with dirty faces‘, can come the sweetest music… on this ol’ Jurassic’s recent journey back to the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides, I was privileged to be asked to present the prizes at the local Mod in Tobermory… the Mod is the competitive annual Gaelic festival of music, poetry, and bagpiping, held in provincial centres around Scotland, culminating in the National Mod at a different location each year… (for people in the UK to understand a bit more, it’s the Scottish equivalent of the Welsh Eisteddfod)... as a young man in my mid to late teens, I spent six years on the island working in a bank there, and as a Gaelic language learner, winning singing prizes in various places each year… many years ago, I donated a trophy in my name, dedicated for learners, the Gallacher Prize, (original eh, Mabel?) and for the first time ever, after decades, I was allowed to present that at the Tobermory Mod... a real ‘bucket list’ item… what a buzz!…the children ranged from pre-schoolers to 12 year -olds… what a joy to hear the wee-est of the them deliver ‘Baa-baa-black sheep’ in Gaelic… the clip here shows them on stage, totally uninhibited… in typical nursery-school abandon, one kid waving to his Mammy, one looking at the stage curtains, another with her finger in her nose… some of them actually singing together, others filling in bits and sounds when they felt like it… pure magic!…

…in the first evening of the two days of the Festival, the children’s ceilidh (concert) featured many of the winners from the day’s events… one of my (many) favorites is the song here by three delightful developing soprano voices… the video doesn’t do it proper justice, but yeez’ll get a sense of it anyway…

…then came the pleasure of distributing the prizes to the day’s winners (I did so also for the adults the next day, but that’s for another blog post )… in my eyes and to my ears, they are ALL champions… indeed,  one choir came up to receive their prize from me en masse… what a laugh… here’s the ‘smash and grab’ presentation as they all wanted to be holding it…

…European Champions League winners  have NUTHIN on these kids!… there’s so much energy being devoted at grass roots levels around Scotland to ensure the Gaelic language and heritage remains alive and well… these children and those who teach them, are testament to the ongoing success of that effort… see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!…

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