Hugh Smith’s letter from Islay
Remembering Donald M MacLeod
GAELIC song enthusiasts were saddened to learn of the death in his Portnahaven home on Friday March 16 of veteran Mòd gold medallist Donald M MacLeod.
He was 91 and in December last year he had lost his retired nursing sister wife Katie, with whom he had enjoyed 58 years of happy marriage and family life.
Born Donald MacIntyre MacLeod in Glasgow on May 11 1926, he was soon back in the Rhinns village where he was to spend his life pursuing the joinery trade and tending the family croft.
Portnahaven at that time was a vibrant Gaelic-speaking community which saw Donald developing a lifelong interest in the language and the songs of the Gaels. His singing career began in 1939 when he took first place in the junior singing section at the local Mòd.
This success was repeated 10 years later when he achieved a similar placing in the senior solo singing class.
Following National Service in the RAF, he joined the Gaelic choir in the neighbouring village of Port Charlotte and the choristers’ various successes at National Mòds encouraged Donald to try his luck at the national gold medal competitions.
This paid off as he won the premier solo singing award at the National Mòd in Rothesay in 1952, an honour he shared with Anne Gillies, who went on to marry Calum Kennedy.
Donald’s Rothesay success led to a long and busy singing career which brought pleasure to thousands. He regularly topped the bill at Highland gatherings in venues including Glasgow’s St Andrew’s Halls, at concerts and ceilidhs throughout the Highlands and Islands, as well as broadcasting frequently on radio and television.
He also entertained, with much acclaim, appreciative audiences in London, Ireland, Canada and the USA. In his early career, his records were best-sellers and were often played on Scottish-themed programmes on Radio Luxembourg.
Although retired from public appearances for a number of years, he remains among the most askedfor performers on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal’s weekly request programme Na Dùrachdan.
A CD compilation of some of his best-known recordings was released under the title An T-Eilean Mòr 10 years ago and the demand for the collection, proceeds from which went to a local charity, greatly exceeded expectations. The CD title refers to Orsay Island, which houses the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse which Donald viewed daily from his village home.
Donald’s praiseworthy contribution to Gaelic song was justifiably recognised in 2011 when he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
He also loved foreign travel, derived great pleasure from the beauties of nature which surrounded him and worked tirelessly to ensure his native village was not short changed in civic matters.
They came from far and near to pay their last respects at the service celebrating Donald’s life in the Portnahaven parish church on Wednesday March 21.
It was fitting that during the service another Islay singer, Alasdair Currie, who won the gold medal at the Royal National Mòd in Lochaber last year, sang the Gaelic favourite Eilidh, a song which will be forever associated with Donald.
Alasdair also played the pipes at church and graveside and among his tune selection was the march Donald MacLeod of Portnahaven, written as a tribute to the noted singer in 2002 by Uist piper and composer James MacLean, whose wife Betty, nee Woodrow, hails from Bowmore.
Devotions were led by the Rev Valerie Watson, the parish minister, and Donald was interred alongside his beloved Katie in Nerabus cemetery. He is survived by daughters Jane and Fiona, son Alasdair and four grandchildren who were his pride and joy.
Thig crioch air an t-saoghal ach mairidh gaol agus ceòl (the world will come to an end but love and music will endure).
Daffodil tea
MEMBERS of the Round Church will welcome locals and visitors to their daffodil tea in Bowmore buffet hall on Friday April 6, at 7pm.
There will be lots of attractions on offer. Admission is £4, with proceeds going to the church’s fabric fund. Hugh Smith, 4 Flora Street, Bowmore, Islay, PA43 7JX. Telephone: 01496 810658.