American Mòd

Talking of Alasdair Currie, who I hear was on particularly good form at the Glasgow Skye ceilidh, he is currently performing at the American National Mòd as a result of winning the Gold Medal in Fort William last October.

Reading his social media updates reminds me of my own trip out there after winning the medal in 2013. It is an amazing experience that all our gold medalists come back having greatly enjoyed.

The Mòd itself takes place in the centre of a huge Highland Games in Pennsylvania.

After singing my Mòd pieces on stage, I remember thinking I was off for the day to enjoy the atmosphere of the event. That was until an incredibly anxious American woman ran up to me and asked if I could help her out.

I immediately said I would without inquiring any further.

‘We’re about to go on stage to compete in the Waulking Song competition,’ she explained, ‘and one of our members has taken unwell. Would you be able to stand in?’

To cut a long story short, I agreed before finding out that this was a woman only competition and required me to dress up in shawls and tartan rugs to cover the fact that I was a man.

It was like a scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

And, to make things worse, they didn’t tell me that every member of the team is required to sing a verse of the song. When it came to me, in the heat of the competition, I had to sing in the highest register of my voice so as not to give away my gender lest they be disqualified from the competition.

It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.

I’m sure I’ll bump into Alasdair in Glasgow in the coming weeks and I dare say he will have one or two brilliant stories to tell me about his own time over in the States.