‘Sacred and spiritual’ Gaelic songs preserved for future

The sacred and spiritual songs which have underpinned life and faith in Gaelic-speaking communities for generations have been preserved for the future.

Dr Frances Wilkins, a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology with theelph in stone institute at the University of Aberdeen, has spent the last six years undertaking fieldwork in the he brides and West Highlands to explore and record sacred and spiritual singing from the region.

She has been compiling and recording Gaelic song traditions,including hymnody, gaelicp sal mo dy andspiri tu albà rd achd,whic hare diminishing in Hebridean communities.

Research to highlight traditional forms of Gaelic singing has now been turned into an exhibition which will go on tour in 2024 and 2025.

Dr Wilkins said: “In past centuries, the church played an important role in nurturing Gaelic language when it was excluded from schools.

“Today, ironically, the roles have been reversed. Gaelic and English bilingualism which in the past was given little or no credit, is now recognised as hugely beneficial to learning across the school curriculum, but there are very few church services conducted in Gaelic, and this has contributed to a steep decline in the Gaelic sacred singing tradition.”

To help support the safeguarding of the tradition, Dr Wilkins has been documenting and recording Gaelic sacred and spiritual singing to create an archive and bring the music to a wider audience. Her research has led to a new exhibition, Se inns pi or ad ail: sacred sounds cape soft he Highlands and Islands which she has co-curatedwith designer ron an martin. It will open and museum naei lean in Stornoway from Friday ,19 January, and move to Balallan in Lews in June before going on show in skye and loch mad dy in North Uist.

Dr Wilkins added: “While the contexts for singing are currently in decline, the music continues to be a soundscape to a way of life for many people.

“Language is a way to express culture. The deep spiritual connection it has with its people and the role which music plays in this, must be recognised and supported into the future, if we are to keep some of the most precious aspects of Gaelic culture alive.”