Oban Gaelic Choir won the Lovat and Tullibardine Shield for the third year in a row at the Royal National Mòd in Paisley, becoming only the second choir ever to have achieved that feat in 120 years.
The nine-day festival of Gaelic culture culminates in this contest on Friday, shining a spotlight on the musicality and language of area choirs from across Scotland.
Eight stepped out onto the stage in Paisley Town Hall’s grand new auditorium, competing against each other and the fierce whistling winds of Storm Babet, from Còisir Ghàidhlig Obar Dheathain (Aberdeen Gaelic Choir) in the east, Eadarainn (Dingwall and Inverness Gaelic choirs) in the north, and Còisir Ghàidhlig Bhaile a Ghobhainn (Govan Gaelic Choir) in the south.
Their task was to sing a prescribed song – ‘Cuachag nan craobh’ (‘Cuckoo of the woods’) – and one of their own choice.
Appropriately for the occasion, Còisir Ghàidhlig Chomar nan Allt (Cumbernauld Gaelic Choir), conducted by Rhona McMillan and Gaelic tutoring from Roanaid Deans, chose ‘Canan nan Gaidheal’ (‘The Language of the Gaels’).
Perhaps fittingly for the windy weather, Ghàidhlig an Òbain (Oban Gaelic Choir) selected ‘Aeòlus agus am Balg’ (‘Aeolus and the Bellows’). Ceòlraidh Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic Musical Association), conducted by Kenneth Thomson and Gaelic by Mairead NicLeòid, went all misty eyed for The Sunart Girl.
Eadarainn, a joining of Dingwall and Inverness Gaelic choirs, thundered through The Battle of Falkirk, while Còisir Ghàidhlig Lodainn (Lothian Gaelic Choir), conducted by Angus Tully with Gaelic tutoring by Marcas Mac an Tuainair, did not trip themselves up with ‘I Stretched the Big Leg Out’.
“It has been great to hear these amazing singers,” said one of the four judges, Back Gaelic Choir conductor Avril Allen, before the results were announced on a giant screen above.
Lothian Gaelic Choir scored 371 – giving them third place – just a few points behind Glasgow Gaelic Musical Association on 376, with only a few choirs left to tot up. Surely Glasgow had clinched it? Gasps were heard at the reading of Oban Gaelic Choir’s mark, 380, followed by applause and hugs round the room.
To a cheering hall, conductor Sileas Sinclair made her way from a seat high in the auditorium to the table of sparkling silverware on stage, lifting for the third time the gilded targe above her head – which is no mean feat itself given the weight of hardwood and precious metal.
Speaking between the many prizes, Sileas described the moment as “unexpected” and “unreal”. “I could not be more proud. They worked so hard,” she said, as she headed up the steps again to receive the Malcolm G McCallum Silver Baton from Raibert McCallum of Campbeltown, at his 77th Mòd. “I felt it had gone good, but I heard the others and I thought they were brilliant,” she said.
Afterwards, Sileas still felt speechless. “We weren’t expecting the win tonight,” she said. “We hoped and we worked very hard for it, and it felt good on the stage, but the standard of all the choirs today was just so high. We prepare for the Mòd for most of the year, so much time and effort goes into it, and I could not be more proud of the choir, they’ve worked so, so hard.”
Sileas shared The Oban Times Silver Salver for the highest points in music with Kenneth Thomson, conductor of Ceòlraidh Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu.
Oban Gaelic Choir’s Gaelic tutor, Christine MacIntyre, also held aloft the Donald Thomson Memorial Quaich for gaining the highest Gaelic mark. An “ecstatic” Christine told us: “The choir worked hard. They did the heavy lifting. I started temporarily 10 years ago. [Sileas] is a musical genius. She brings it out the bag every year. On her home turf it will be difficult. I have every faith in her.”
This is the third consecutive Mòd that Còisir Ghàidhlig an Òbain have won the coveted Lovat and Tullibardine Shield – for the first time in 25 years in 2019, then again at the next Mòd in 2022 after the two previous years were cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
Only once before has a choir won the Lovat and Tullibardine three times in a row: Greenock Gaelic Choir in 1932, 1933 and 1934. Could Oban Gaelic Choir make history next year with a fourth win, on home turf?