Annual Scottish Gaelic cultural festival in Scotland
The
Royal National Mod
(
Scottish Gaelic
:
Am Mod Naiseanta Rioghail
) is an
Eisteddfod
-inspired international
Celtic festival
focusing upon
Scottish Gaelic literature
,
traditional music
, and
culture
which is held annually in
Scotland
. It is the largest of several major Scottish
Mods
and is often referred to simply as
the Mod
.
The Mod is run by
An Comunn Gaidhealach
(The Gaelic Association) and includes competitions and awards.
History
[
edit
]
The Mod was founded by
An Comunn Gaidhealach
.
St Columba's Church, Glasgow
, also greatly influenced the Mod's inception when, in 1891, its choir was invited to give a Gaelic Concert in
Oban
, presided over by Lord
Archibald Campbell
.
[1]
The concert was attended by much of the
Scottish nobility
, including
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife
. After the concert, the choir were entertained to supper at the Alexandra Hotel, and a description of the entertainment is given in one of
William Black
's novels.
[1]
This concert was the prelude to the first Mod, which was held at Oban the following year and St. Columba Choir won the award in the
Choral music
competition.
[1]
The poetess,
traditional singer
, and
Highland Land League
activist
Mairi Mhor nan Oran
(1821-1898), performed in the first Mod's Gaelic song competition, but she was not awarded a medal.
[2]
[3]
The Mod has been held most years in October since 1892. The only years in which the National Mod was not held were during the
First World War
of 1914-1919, the
Second World War
1939?1946, and the
Covid pandemic
year of 2020. The "Royal" was not originally part of the name. It is still the practice of the St Columba's Church to send a concert party to start off the fund-raising when the Mod visits
Oban
. As well as winning the premier choir competition for the first three years, the congregation has also had many Mod gold medallists over the years.
The Mod itself has been greatly influenced by the
National Eisteddfod of Wales
, although it tends to be somewhat more restrained in its ceremonial aspects.
[
according to whom?
]
According to Ronald Black, "In 1923, following the example of the Welsh
Eisteddfod
,
An Commun Gaidhealach
simplified the structure of its annual poetry competitions into a single contest for a Bardic Crown (
Crun na Bardachd
), the winner to be acknowledged as Bard of An Commun (
Baird a' Chomuinn Gaidhealaich
) for the coming year. The man behind the move, not surprisingly, was Angus Robertson, then President of An Comunn. Offering a distinctive middle path between traditional and modern verse, the competition produced much work of note which deserves to be put into perspective... (Many subsidiary prizes remained;
Sorley Maclean
won a junior one in 1928, while in 1946
Derick Thomson
won a gold medal as the most distinguished entrant in the literary competitions generally). The Bard was crowned each year at the closing concert of the Mod. Astonishingly, unlike in Wales, the winning poem itself formed no part of the proceedings... In 1978 no award was made because not entry was of adequate quality. It was the second time in five years that this had happened, and in March 1979 An Comunn announced that the Bardic Crown would no longer be awarded."
[4]
A watershed moment took place during the 2011 Royal National Mod at
Stornoway
, when the poetry of Lewis MacKinnon, composed in the
Canadian Gaelic
dialect spoken in
Antigonish County
,
Nova Scotia
, won the
Bardic Crown
. It was the first time in the history of the Mod that such an award had been granted to a non-Scot.
[5]
Competitions
[
edit
]
The Mod largely takes the form of formal competitions. Choral events and
traditional music
including Gaelic song,
fiddle
,
bagpipe
,
clarsach
and folk groups dominate.
Spoken word
events include children's and adults'
poetry
reading, storytelling and
Bible
reading, and categories such as Ancient Folk Tale or Humorous
Monologue
. Children can also present an original
drama
, and there are prose and poetry competitions in written
Scottish Gaelic literature
. The Mod also runs an annual
shinty
competition, the Mod Cup, between the two shinty teams closest to where the Mod is taking place.
The winners of each day's competitions are invited to perform in the winners'
ceilidhs
held every evening.
The Mod is a celebration of [Scottish] Gaelic language and culture,
[6]
which raises its profile and contributes towards the aim of securing its future.
[7]
Improvements in and the recent mass expansion of
Scottish Gaelic-medium education
across Scotland has meant that beginning in 2007 the junior fluent speakers' section increased to such an extent that the organisers were forced to extend some Mod competitions beyond one day.
[8]
Culturally, the Mod is comparable to the
Welsh
Eisteddfod
and the
Irish
Oireachtas na Gaeilge
.
The Mod Fringe
[
edit
]
The Mod draws a large crowd, which leads local venues to put on various events in addition to the official Mod events. These events are collectively referred to as the
Mod Fringe
.
[9]
To participants, the Mod is also an opportunity to meet with old friends and make new ones.
[
citation needed
]
Controversy
[
edit
]
There has been some recent criticism of the "Gold Medal" event, which favors the style of Gaelic singing as adapted into the
Victorian era
art song
tradition, which was popularized in the early 20th century by
Marjory Kennedy-Fraser
. Some 21st century
Scottish traditional musicians
now allege that the contest has long marginalised more
traditional singers
like the late
Flora MacNeil
and their styles.
[10]
This is not a new criticism, however. In conversation with American
ethnomusicologist
Amy Murray, Fr.
Allan MacDonald
(1859-1905), an iconic poet in
Scottish Gaelic literature
, once said that the choral arrangements of Gaelic songs usually performed at the Mod during its inception were based on "collections noted both on the staff and in
Tonic Sol-Fa
, with of course all the twists and turns cut out", and were "As though you were to fit a statue into a box by taking off the nose and ears."
[11]
[12]
More recently, Scottish traditional musician
Fergus Munro
has also gone on the record, as Scotland has grown increasingly secularised, as a critic of what he alleges is a growing tendency to exclude both
Christian poetry
and
Gaelic psalm
- and
hymn
-singing from the Mod.
[13]
Furthermore, the Mod is popularly known as the "
Whisky
Olympics",
[7]
which is considered, "either a vicious slur or fair comment".
[14]
Media coverage
[
edit
]
BBC Scotland
has traditionally broadcast Mod highlights on
BBC One
,
BBC Two
and
Radio nan Gaidheal
.
[7]
Since its introduction in 2008,
BBC Alba
has provided coverage in
Gaelic
. Presenters have included traditional musician,
Gaelic speaker
and broadcaster,
Mary Ann Kennedy
and Gaelic broadcaster
Cathy Crombie
.
[7]
Past and future festivals
[
edit
]
The Mod is held each October, and has been held in the following locations throughout
Scotland
, both
Highland
and
Lowland
.
These are the host locations to date:
[15]
- Aberdeen
- 1946, 1955, 1964, 1976
- Airdrie
- 1993
- Aviemore
- 1969
- Ayr
- 1973
- Blairgowrie
- 1996
- Dingwall
- 1905, 1931, 1991
- Dundee
- 1902, 1913, 1937, 1959, 1974
- Dunoon
- 1930, 1950, 1968, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012, 2018
- East Kilbride
- 1975
- Edinburgh
- 1899, 1910, 1919, 1928, 1935, 1951, 1960, 1986
- Falkirk
- 2008
- Fort William
- 1922, 1927, 1932, 1981, 1985, 1999
- Glasgow
- 1895, 1901, 1907, 1911, 1921, 1933, 1938, 1948, 1958, 1967, 1988, 1990, 2019
- Golspie
- 1977, 1995
- Greenock
- 1904, 1925
- Inverness
- 1897, 1903, 1912, 1923, 1936, 1949, 1957, 1966, 1972, 1984, 1997, 2014, 2021
- Largs
- 1956, 1965, 2002
- Lochaber
- 2007, 2017
- Motherwell
- 1983
- Oban
- 1892, 1893, 1894, 1898, 1906, 1920, 1926, 1934, 1953, 1962, 1970, 1978, 1992, 2003, 2009, 2015
- Paisley
- 2013, 2023
- Perth
- 1896, 1900, 1924, 1929, 1947, 1954, 1963, 1980, 2004, 2022
- Rothesay
- 1908, 1952
- Skye
- 1982
- Skye and Lochalsh
- 1998
- Stirling
- 1909, 1961, 1971, 1987
- Stornoway
- 1979, 1989, 2001
- Thurso
- 2010
- Western Isles
- 2005, 2011, 2016
The locations for upcoming Mods are:
[16]
- Oban - October 2024
- Lochaber - October 2025
The southernmost host location is Ayr, the easternmost Aberdeen and the northernmost is Thurso. As can be seen from the list, certain locations are more favoured. Areas with large amounts of hall space and accommodation are favoured.
Some notable areas of Scotland that have never been visited by the Mod include
Arran
,
Islay
(which has a significant Gaelic-speaking population),
Dumfries and Galloway
,
Fife
, Angus (outwith Dundee), most of North East Scotland,
Loch Lomond
-side etc.
The Mod has never been to the
Scottish Borders
or the
Northern Isles
, but there is little connection between these areas and the Gaelic language.
Unlike the National Eisteddfod, the National Mod has never been held in England.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Encouragement to the Gaelic Mod"
Archived
22 October 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
in
The Highlander's Friend Chapter 9
, Highland Cathedral, St Columba's Church of Scotland
- ^
Domhnall Eachainn Meek,“Mairi Mhor nan Oran : Taghadh de a h-Orain” (Dun Eideann : Comann Litreachas Gaidhlig na h-Alba, 1998)pp27-28 &30
- ^
Somhairle Mac Gill-eain, "Ris a' Bhruaithaich The Criticism and Prose Writing of Sorley MacLean" (Stornoway : Acair, 1985)251
- ^
Ronald Black (1999),
An Tuil: Anthology of 20th Century Scottish Gaelic Verse
, page 821.
- ^
Non-Scot is Gaelic Bard for first time
By David Ross.
The Herald
, 19th October 2011.
- ^
"Mod generated £3.5m for Inverness"
.
BBC News
.
BBC
. 3 February 2015.
- ^
a
b
c
d
MacLeod, Murdo; Stewart, Fiona (12 October 2002).
"Mod 2002 - and 20,000 Gaels blow in for festival of music"
.
The Scotsman
.
Johnston Press
. Retrieved
15 June
2021
.
- ^
"Mod's fluent youth speaks volumes for Gaelic education"
.
The Scotsman
. Johnston Press. 16 October 2007
. Retrieved
21 February
2015
.
- ^
House, Ellie (10 October 2014).
"Mod expected to generate £3 million for Inverness economy, say organisers"
.
Inverness Courier
. Retrieved
5 December
2016
.
- ^
"Gold Medal controversy casts a shadow over Mod performances"
.
www.scotsman.com
. Retrieved
15 March
2017
.
- ^
Roger Hutchinson (2010),
Father Allan: The Life and Legacy of a Hebridean Priest
,
Birlinn Limited
. Pages 177-178.
- ^
Amy Murray (1920),
Father Allan's Island
, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, New York City. Page 90.
- ^
Laoidh mun Nollaig
by Fr. Allan MacDonald.
- ^
Ross, Peter (18 October 2008).
"Whisky Olympics continue to thrive in a Mod-ern world"
.
The Scotsman
. Johnston Press. Archived from
the original
on 3 February 2015
. Retrieved
12 January
2022
.
- ^
"Am Mod Naiseanta - Ionadan gach bliadhna (The National Mod - Centres every year)"
.
uhi.ac.uk
(in Scottish Gaelic).
Sabhal Mor Ostaig
. Retrieved
1 June
2024
.
- ^
"Lochaber to host Royal National Mod 2025"
.
www.ancomunn.co.uk
(Press release). An Comunn Gaidhealach. 22 May 2023
. Retrieved
1 June
2024
.
External links
[
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]
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