Norman Johnson talks in Gaelic to Mary Morrison about the special role of the piper in many regiments in the First World War – Canadian, Australian, Indian, and others, as well as Scottish. He relates anecdotes heard from old soldiers in the war, and finishes with a special tune – Donald’s awa’ to war.
Mary made this recording for the “An fheadhainn tha laighe sàmhach” project led by the North Uist Historical Society, Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath.
Four new pages have been added to the Guthan nan Eilean/Island Voices website in the past week. They bring together selections from the additional recording work that has been ongoing in the community since the original Series One and Two were completed.
The four themes are Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Great War, Gaelic Journeys, and Storytellers. Between all four you will currently find links to 48 separate recordings in four different languages. This number is liable to grow further as more recordings in these areas are made and added to the pages. The pages also contain links to relevant blogposts about the individual recordings, as well as Clilstore versions in some cases.
You can access the pages just by clicking on the above links in this post, or you will also find tabs for the pages across the top of this site and in the sidebar to the right, below the links to Series One and Two and others. Happy viewing/listening/reading!
The number of people subscribing to the Island Voices WordPress site has passed another milestone. We now have over 2000 followers around the world! If you would like e-mail notification of new posts, please just sign up in the right-hand sidebar – just below the “Follow on Facebook” invitation.
Entering the New Year naturally offers an opportunity for reflection on progress in the year just passed as well. And there’s no doubt that the centenary since the outbreak of the First World War added special poignancy to the annual marking of time on this occasion. An fheadhainn tha laige sàmhach is an ongoing community project which has already yielded some wonderful recordings. More will no doubt be forthcoming in 2015.
Some 2014 online statistics for Island Voices underline the levels of interconnectedness between what we do here and the interests and language learning aspirations of people right across the globe. The number of visits to this WordPress site continues to grow year on year, as does the number of countries from which those visits come – 99 in 2014 (compared with 87 in 2013).
As usual, the YouTube channel outscores even the WordPress site – 154 different countries again. The UK, USA, and Canada are the “big three” as before, but it’s interesting to note new entries in the “top ten” this year, with both Brazil and the Philippines now making a significant showing for the first time.
Readers who are particularly interested in statistics may also wish to compare these 2014 snapshots with the more detailed figures up to mid-2013 in the “Digital Literacies” report on the project’s research page. While one can speculate endlessly over the reasons, it is any event encouraging to note that the growing local interest in the work of Island Voices appears to be matched at international level. Happy New Year!
Shared from An Fheadhainn tha Laighe Sàmhach, the North Uist Historical Society (Comunn Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath) project commemorating the outbreak of “An Cogadh Mòr” (the Great War).
“The December issue of our local Am Pàipear carries a comprehensive report on the opening of our exhibition, together with some lovely pictures of the event.
It really was a very special occasion, and we’re grateful for all the contributions across the generations.
You can read the Am Pàipear report here, or just click on the picture below.”
The December bumper issue of Am Pàipear hits the shops today, and we’re assured it’s the biggest one yet. As a community newspaper Am Pàipear has won multiple awards over the years, and was also featured in the Island Voices Series Two Enterprise collection of short video documentaries and interviews. Check it out!
While the paper has its own website and Facebook page too, there’s no doubt that you need to get the print issue to really appreciate the amount of news this community generates.
Among the highlights this month is an article by Island Voices co-ordinator Gordon Wells on the recent Irish visit. You can read it here or click on the image below – but remember this is just one page of nearly fifty!
Here’s another video recording on the new Guthanna na nGael YouTube channel, set up by our Irish visitors on returning home after their recent visit to Benbecula. Here, from the top of Rueval, Archie Campbell explains to the visitors some of the historical background to the sights spread out below and beyond. They reached their viewpoint following the same road that Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald took when escaping “over the sea to Skye”.
Archie also points to the settlement where another more contemporary Flora Macdonald was raised, and alludes to the bilingual book “Còco is Crùbagan” (with Gaelic audio) that she wrote about her upbringing there. It comes well recommended for any learner of Gaelic!
(Flora was also one of the earliest contributors to Guthan nan Eilean, featuring in the Craigard English and Gaelic documentaries, as well as providing an interview herself.)
Catherine Eunson worked hard behind the scenes during the recent Irish visit. And when she wasn’t cooking she was composing poetry – or taking pictures! So here’s another Island Voice – this one Orkney-born…
Greenfinch
Hopping along bright-eyed with my bonnie beak,
You stopped and you saw me
Through your kitchen window,
Me, the bird in the grass
Vibrant, like a Key lime envoy
With neat feathered edges, yellow and black,
Do you remember?
Yes, I remember,
I remember very vividly, yet
I forget the rest of that day,
And much of the next,
Though both contained plenty of goodness,
Industrious hours spent in the kitchen,
Chicken pie, apple crumble, carrots and cranachan hours,
Three soups, six gingerbreads, spuds and cheese scones.
All the Irish visitors were out walking
While I steamed, clattered, mixed and rolled,
Sometimes like a thing possessed,
All the while minutes dropped through the sieve,
It was over and done with in no time.
But the salmon pie was cooked through,
And didn’t they just love it?
So you were the herald, a éin bhig ghlais,
You were their leader,
That huge migratory flock of moments,
Those welcome winter visitors!
Slán abhaile, agus
Fad saoil agat!
Catherine Eunson, November 2014
Posted from Facebook. Double click the title if contents not visible.
Today marks the opening of the An fheadhainn tha laighe sàmhach project’s exhibition at Taigh Chearsabhagh in Lochmaddy. It was a fitting occasion in which young and old came together to mark a momentous point in our common history. Numerous stories and songs had already been shared, including via Island Voices, but this was a particularly special occasion when all came together to share and commemorate.
https://www.facebook.com/GuthanVoices/posts/939395226090212
Air an oidhche mu dheireadh bha còmhradh goirid “dà-chànanach” ann eadar Caoimhín Ó Dónaill agus Gordon Wells.
’S e Caoimhín, a tha ag obair aig Ollscoil Uladh, a chuir air dòigh a’ chuairt le taic bhon choimpàirteachas “Colmcille”, agus tha Gordon na cho-òrdanaiche aig Guthan nan Eilean, agus e ag obair mar oifigear phròiseactan airson Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
An seo tha iad a’ bruidhinn air mar a bha iad fhèin a’ faireachdainn mu na chunnaic iad agus na rinn iad sna beagan làithean a bh’ aca.
Tha tòrr air tighinn a-mach mar-thà, le bhidiothan gu leòr air seanail ùr “Guthanna na nGael”. (Tha iad air Facebook cuideachd). Agus thathas an dòchas gum bi barrachd ri fhaicinn agus ri dhèanamh còmhla fhathast…