Singing a Mull and Iona song

Competitors ventured from afar to sing a song relating to Mull and Iona, Deoch slainte nan gillean.

Left to right: Alasdair McLean from Cille Mhartainn, Nigel Burgess from Fionnphort, Hilary Rosado from Springfield in the USA, Ishbel Campbell from Tiriodh, Donna Dugdale from Tobar Mhoire and the judges Martin Wilson and Beathag Mhoireasdan. Donna, a pre-school teacher at Tobermory Primary School, came second, winning £20.

‘A few years ago there were no Mull people taking part, which was such a shame, so I have entered every year since. This year there were five that entered from Mull.’

This is Donna’s first big prize since winning the silver pendant, the highest level competition for a learner, in Inverness in 2014.

But all the Mull singers this year were pipped by Ishbel, a Gaelic primary teacher and development officer from Tiree, who took home the Sarah Weir Memorial Trophy, and £30.

The song, she said, did have a Tiree connection: ‘The skipper of the boat that won the Great Tea Race of China was from Tiree.’

Ishbel won the silver pendant at the Mod in Fort William in 2017 and was getting ready to compete for The Oban Times gold medal on Thursday – which she also went on to win.

The Mull and Iona song drew competitors from Thurso to America. Hilary Rosado, a former teacher in Dundee who grew up in St Andrews, had joined the US Army in military intelligence.

Now retired, she has taken up Gaelic singing.

‘I have been learning it first as a poem, so I have to learn the story, the pronunciation, the phrasing, and when I am comfortable, add the music,’ she said. ‘It is important to get involved in the culture, and singing is a great part of it. I will be back next year in Inverness.’