Days gone by – 2001/2002
There were plenty of goodies on offer at this PTA raffle, but we are unsure of the year and which school were they helping. Pictured are Margaret Kennedy (chairman), Nicola O’Brien, 12, Karen McPhee (PTA), Stephanie Munro, Ina Dawson (PTA), Nicola Gemell and Fiona Stephen (PTA).
FOR Highlanders and islanders living in Glasgow, November and the beginning of December is busy time of year in their social calendar with the various annual gatherings of many of these homeland’s respective associations taking place.
Although there is a scattering of these events during other times of the year, there is a pronounced concentration in the early winter months.
The Lewis and Harris, Jura, Tiree, Uist and Barra, Coll, and Skye gatherings all take place within a few weeks of each other and, with much crossover of attendees, this kicks the winter off in a lively fashion for exiled Gaels.
Taking the form of concerts and dances and with much accompanying fringe activity, these events and the associations that run them have played an important role in the lives of urban Gaels for more than 100 years.
Set up mainly in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these societies were formed predominantly to bring together the many hundreds of people who had left their island homes to find work in the city.
It is a natural human desire when far from home to want to join together with others with the same geographic and cultural background, and back in the days when travel and communications were much more limited, it allowed people to keep in touch practically and emotionally with the homes they had left.
A very important role of these groups in earlier times and a strong factor leading their formation was their role as a provider of financial assistance to those who found themselves in poverty.
This was many years before the introduction of the welfare state, and the prospects for those in poverty, far from home, in a strange city, were not good.
Receiving practical, moral and financial support from fellow islanders would have been a lifeline for many in these harsh times.
Over the past week, I have been looking over old programmes from the Tiree Association and I was surprised by how important a part this took in the work of the group and it shows much foresight, caring and humanity in the intentions of those involved in the setting up and running of these organisations.
As well as this role as a helping hand to individuals, the associations would also help financially with many other projects and causes relating to their areas.
With the recent solemn occasion of Remembrance Sunday, when we pay our respects to those who sacrificed their lives in war, it is interesting and relevant to note that it was the Tiree Association, ably supported by local initiatives on the island, which set up the fund for the erection of Tiree’s war memorial.
From the publication of Na Bàird Thirisdeach in 1932 right up to the present day, when next weekend will be launched The Tiree Songbook, the association has played a key role in preserving and promoting the island’s history, culture and heritage.
All other of the island societies of this kind played similarly important roles and their work should be recognised as a very significant part in the history and evolution of these islands.