AN CLIATH CLIS

NEWS

August 29, 2002

As I sat down to write this, I was thinking we hadn't been very busy the last few months. However, looking back , I found there is a lot to write about. Our annual "Ceilidh On The Shore" at Lauchie Mac Lean's in Bedford was a pretty good one this year. A couple of new faces in the "music room", and our good friend and lovely gaidhlig singer, Carol, dropped by for a few songs at the milling table.

My cousin, Shane Mac Lean, from Sydney Mines, graciously offered to record some of our milling songs this year, for a CD. As of now, the master CD is done and just more or less needs to be approved by the individual lead singers. It is a live recording, which means every song is not perfect, but we sound like we are having a good time and that is the way that a traditional milling frolic is. This was done primarily as a promotional CD. Watch the web site for a real audio presentation of the highlights of the CD. If you are interested in copies they can be provided for a nominal fee.

Generally, An Cliath Clis does not perform much during the summer. However, May, being Gaidhlig Awareness Month in Nova Scotia, was pretty busy for us, so lets start there.

On Friday, May 2nd, Sonny agus Cher, members of An Cliath Clis, performed their hit "Tha Thu Agam, Babe, once again for the Gaidhlig Heritage Night concert in Greenwood, N.S. Some of you are probably shaking your heads and "tsk-tsking" at the notion of Sonny and Cher at a gaidhlig heritage concert !! Well, I need to have a bit of fun with gaidhlig now and then. Gaidhlig should be promoted in whatever way works. I am pretty sure that once the audience stops rolling in the aisles with laughter, they will remember that, yeah ! that was gaidhlig, alright.

O.K. back to the Greenwood concert. Well, Sonny and Cher felt like famous celebrities when we arrived at Pine Ridge Middle School. We were met by two young women, who informed us they were there to attend our every need, and promptly showed us to our dressing room, complete with our names on the door. Talk about star treatment !!

Cher was awe-struck. Thanks so much to the lovely assistants.

Once again this concert entitled: "Celebration of the Dance", was put together by Don Hyslop and his grade 6, 7 and 8 Gaidhlig Choirs. The grade six choir opened the show with some lovely songs. Pipes and drums, highland dancers, the grade seven and eight Gaidhlig Choir and Sonny agus Cher completed the program.

I must mention that the young students in the choirs use their lunch breaks to practice their singing. That's dedication ! Thanks from Sonny and Cher for the invitation to Greenwood, and the wonderful food after the show.

On May 10th and 11th , the Museum of Natural History and the Gaelic Cultural Association of Halifax hosted the Gaidhlig Feis in Halifax opening on Friday with an evening of Gaelic Song featuring Gaelic recording personality, Mary Jane Lamond. While I was unable to attend this concert, other members of An Cliath Clis enjoyed it tremendously.

Saturday was workshops and demonstration day. If you wanted to learn about fiddles, harps, the gaidhlig language, stepdancing, mouth music, bagpipes, Gaidhlig storytelling, waulking songs, or weaving and spinning, that was the place to be.

I did the workshop on traditional waulking songs. Having only one hour is was sort of difficult to know which songs would be suitable to teach. I think the ones I chose were a bit difficult. Next year, if I am asked of course, I'll stick to a couple of the simpler ones. Everyone had a chance to sit at the table and participate in a milling frolic afterwards. That, to me, is always the best time.

This was the first year that the Gaelic Cultural Association of Halifax had a workshop in Puirt-a-Beul (mouth music). Judith Forbes was the instructor.  I took that workshop myself and really enjoyed it. She was very organised and it was evident she was well prepared. And ... Judith had the good sense to teach easy songs ! What I would like to see next year is the stepdancing and Puirt-a-Beul workshops combined in some way.

The Gaelic Cultural Association of Halifax and the Museum of Natural History did a  wonderful job organising this event !

"Féis a Chlachain" was held on May 18th at the Nova Scotia Highland Village Museum in Iona. As always, this was a well run and well attended Gaidhlig  event.  Maxie, Rod C., Jamie, Johnny, Mickey, Peter Jack, Jim Watson, and Beth held court at the head of the table.

A milling frolic was held that evening. Although, initially, it was wasn't well attended, later on a bus tour arrived to fill out the ranks of the spectators.  This was a special bus tour however, filled with young people from around Nova Scotia who work in the Tourism industry.  They were treated to the great hospitality which is the hallmark of a milling and in no time were sitting at the table helping out with the blanket.

Pictou's DeCoste Centre was the scene of "Ceilidh By The Sea" on May 26th. This Gaidhlig Concert was financially supported by the Sobey's Grocery Chain and organised by Elizabeth (Betty) Lord. Again this was a well run and well planned event. Betty deserves every bit of the praise and thanks she received from everyone for putting on this event.  The talent was fantastic and there were quite a few entertainers I had not had an opportunity to see before.  An Cliath Clis opened the show, and Betty herself, an honourary member of An Cliath Clis, lead a waulking song, "Clò Mhic' ille Mhìcheil. Other performers included Emcee Joe Murphy, Alice Freeman,  Iona Gaidhlig Singers, Coisir an Eilean, Jim and Frances Watson, Lewis Mac Kinnon and "Jug in Hand", Pipers Allan J. Mac Kenzie, Hector Mac Quarrie and Chris Gibb

In early May I had the opportunity to participate in a short documentary on milling with University of King's College journalism student, Joyce Mac Donald from Mabou, Cape Breton.  This was a year end project for Joyce and she chose the subject of the milling tradition.  While the documentary is only ten minutes long, it is quite interesting in that she touches on both the serious and fun sides of the tradition and modern practice of Milling. Aside from myself, Joyce also interviews Alistair Mac Leod, Susan "Maxie" Mac Farlane.  To round out the piece our friend Joe Murphy leads An Cliath Clis  in a rousing rendition of "Dh'fhalbh Mo Run" which Joyce recorded live at the milling at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in March of this year. 

A local paper, "Shunpiking" has included a gaelic supplement for their summer edition, which is curently available.  The "MacTalla"  insert is loaded with good gaidhlig information, stories, pictures and more.  Tony Seed, Shunpiking's editor, plans to have more gaidhlig information in future editions. The best part of this whole good news story is that Shunpiking is a FREE publication.  Ask for it at your local magazine stand. 

Towards the end of July, An Cliath Clis had yet another recording session.  This time it was in New Glasgow as guests of gaidhlig instructor and singer Lewis Mac Kinnon for his forthcoming CD.  Lewis led us in a version of "An Toll Dubh".  The whole process of completing the track took a couple of hours and was a very interesting experience.  Thanks for the invitation Lewis, the munchies were great.  Good luck with the CD.

From there I went on to Iona to attend the Barramen's Feast held the last week of July.  An Cliath Clis didn't participate in any of the many events surrounding the week long feast, but I took lots of pictures.

Féill nam Barrach, The Barramen's Feast, was a week long  festival of events to the mark the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first Barra settlers to Iona, Cape Breton.  Of the many enjoyable events during the week the two I wish to mention are: "Ar Dileab 's ar Dochas" - Our Heritage and Our Hope; and the re-enactment of the settlers' landing.

For this piece I have taken the liberty of using excerpts from the "Confrontation and Appeasement" brochure of the feast. I believe that it was authored by Rod C. Mac Neil who is a font of knowledge on the history and culture of the Barramen.  Of particular interest is the story of the legendary Donald Og Mac Neil as well as the account of the initial meeting of the first settlers from the Isle of Barra. I have included a lot of pictures so it will be slow for some people to access.

Back to my account of the happenings with An Cliath Clis this summer ...

The first Saturday in August which is Highland Village Day in Iona was unseasonably cold and damp this year and the crowd, which typically fills the hill at Hector's Point, was much smaller, however none of this served to dampen the enthusiasm of the entertainment.  An Cliath Clis performed in the second hour with a much  smaller entourage than usual.  Thanks to the Iona Gaidhlig Singers and Joe Murphy for lending us a hand ... or two.

Before I close I would like to invite you to join An Cliath Clis at the Middleton Highland Games, Middleton, N.S. on September 14th.  The gathering runs from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. and closes with a ceilidh at the curling club hosted by local celtic performers, "Miller Jug" with their blend of east coast and pop music.  A special guest appearance is slated for your own Sonnaidh agus Cher, so don't miss it !

See you at the table !

Mary