The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Gold medals take both Mod winners by surprise
Heritage: Male winner not native Gaelic speaker
A ferry deckhand from the west coast and a singer returning home to Lewis have won the coveted gold medals at the Royal National Mod.
Hector MacKechnie from the Morven peninsula was the men’s winner in just his fourth Mod.
He was building on winning the silver pendant two years ago in Inverness – and said he was “overwhelmed” by his victory in the top competition in Stornoway.
The gold medals are handed out for fluent solo singing, with the singers competing in the Lewis Sports Centre in front of a large audience.
Mr MacKechnie is a deckhand on the CalMac crossing from Lochaline to Fishnish on Mull.
The 42-year-old said the victory came as a surprise because he felt he hadn’t made a total success of his performance under pressure in the final.
He said: “I felt really emotional because to be totally honest I didn’t think I was going to win.
“I didn’t think I had totally nailed it in the final.”
He is not a native Gaelic speaker and was brought into the language through singing, both as a soloist and with the Burach choir, first singing at the 2013 Mod in Paisley.
He added: “It was the singing which took me into the language and then in order to progress from the Silver Pendant to compete in the Gold Medal competitions.
“It is a huge commitment to try and get that degree of fluency in the language because the idioms are so difficult if you’re not a native speaker.
“And then you’ve obviously got the added difficulty of learning the songs and the words.”
Ladies gold winner Carol Maclean over came a lingering cold to triumph.
Though now living in Tobermory, the 44-year-old hails from Shawbost on Lewis and wanted to have a crack at the main prize on her home island seven years after first going for gold.
She said: “I was totally gobsmacked, amazed and could not believe what had just happened.
“I did not think I was going to win at all. I was just pleased to have sung my songs and hoped that the audience liked what I had sung.
“Just because there were so many other lovely singers in the competition I didn’t think I was going to come top at all.”
Mrs Maclean was singing in her 21st Mod with choirs and soloists.
She said her previous entry in gold medal competition had not been a success because she wasn’t well enough prepared.
She added: “After that I though I don’t want to do
“You’ve got the added difficulty of learning the songs and the words in Gaelic”
that again but I saw other people winning and began to think I should try again.
“I just thought this year, it’s in Stornoway and it’s now or never.”
The competitions continued elsewhere across Stornoway yesterday with the adult choirs beginning to make their mark on the 2016 Mod.
Yesterday the rural choirs were competing for the trophies with Barra’s Gaelic choir winning the prestigious Lorn Shield.
Local Lewis choir Lochs were also one of the most successful groups, winning four trophies.
The Laxdale Ladies, also from Lewis, emerged the victors in the theatrical waulking song event.
Outside of the main competition, fringe events were also spread across the islands, including a dramatic event held at the Callanish Stones on Lewis.
John Morrison, chief executive of An Comunn Gaidhealach, said: “It’s been a quick but great seven days since the Mod started.
“We’ve seen some fantastic performances in all the competitions, and last night’s gold medal was truly outstanding; huge congratulations to Carol and Hector.
“As we reach the final few days here in the Western Isles, there are still some great competitions to come.
“The atmosphere around the Western Isles has been wonderful, and we look forward to the last few days at this year’s Mod.”