A project which aims to inspire young Gaelic speakers to engage with the wealth of Gaelic culture in their local communities, has resulted in a free online resource of over 100 Gaelic songs, sung by young Gaelic singers from across Scotland, with the latest songs having been researched and recorded during the pandemic.
‘Fuaran’ is a heritage initiative established by Gaelic arts organisation, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, to encourage a new generation of Gaelic speakers and singers to actively engage in the research and collection of Gaelic songs in their local area. Over the last seven years, over 54 young people aged 16-25 have taken part in research, training and song workshops, led by a host of leading Gaelic song and research experts.
Last year, another 18 young Gaels joined Fuaran and 12 have now recorded some of the songs they collected from communities across Scotland. The project participants first met, online, in May 2020, taking part in online workshops led by Gaelic song researcher Jo MacDonald, Director of Tobar an Dualchais, Floraidh Forrest and Gaelic singer and song researcher Gilbert MacMillan whilst also receiving one-to-one support via video call from Gaelic singers Christine Primrose and Margaret MacLeod.
Earlier this year the singers were recorded in various locations across the country including Lews Castle in Stornoway, The Stables in Cromarty and The National Piping Centre and Pollokshields Burgh Halls in Glasgow. The latest songs to be added to the Fuaran resource include a new setting of a poem by Lewis bard, Murdo MacFarlane, two Gaelic psalms and a satire to Patrick Sellar. All recordings in the resource are accompanied by translations, background information and videos of the recording process.
The songs were researched and recorded this year by participants from all over the country, from the Isle of Lewis to Glasgow, and include; Alice MacMillan (Point, Isle of Lewis), Calum Ross (Aberdeen), Donald and Peigi Barker (Black Isle), Eòin Cumming (Gairloch), Evie Waddell (Stirling), Fergus Munro (Fort William), Finlay MacLennan (Kirkhill), Peigi MacVicar (Isle of Skye), Rona Macleod (Bonar Bridge), Rory Cormack (Conon Bridge) and Sophie Macdonald (Glasgow).
Researching songs of religion, Fergus Munro commented: “I really enjoyed this project. We have a wealth of spiritual songs in Gaelic and I found two really good examples which shine a light on the kind of faith that people held in Lochaber 150 years ago and the important work that folklorist Father Allan MacDonald undertook in the Highland and his creative skills. I’m really happy that these songs are being given new life through Fuaran.”
Brother and sister duo, Donald and Peigi Barker, looked at the songs of siblings, Margaret and Donnie Macleod of Na h-Òganaich fame. They came across a poem, Gille Gu Geingealadh, by the great Gaelic Lewis bard Murdo MacFarlane, a close friend of the Na h-Òganaich siblings. When they couldn’t trace a melody for the song they put their musical talents to use and composed a brand new melody to set the poem to which Margaret gave her every blessing. They added: “Taking part in Fuaran allowed us to develop our Gaelic language and research skills. We got help with the different aspects throughout the process; our conversations with Mairead na h-Òganaich were so helpful and we learnt lots of new skills which we will be able to implement in future projects.”
Fèisean nan Gàidheal Development Officer and project co-ordinator, Karen Oakley said: “It’s with great delight that we can showcase the youngsters’ songs online. When the Fuaran participants first sung some of them for a live online concert as part of Blas Festival, it was very heart-warming to read the comments of audience members watching at home. Many wrote of the songs reminding them fondly of particular times or places and people in their lives. It shows how powerful and uplifting projects like this are to, not just the participants, but those with a keen interest in our Gaelic songs and culture.”
“The songs feature on the newly developed Fuaran website that allows users to search for songs pertaining to a particular area of Scotland. We hope that it will be a great resource for people wanting to discover more about the people, places and stories and songs in their area and across Scotland.”
For more information about Fuaran and to use the resource, please visit www.feisean.org/fuaran.
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