Today’s rejection of minimum pricing by Scottish Labour’s Alcohol Commission has been
welcomed by the Scotch Whisky A ssociation. The Association said it supported moves towards
a UK-wide ban on sales below tax , combined with excise duty reform so that all alcohol was
taxed at the same rate, according to alcohol content.
Scotch Whisky drinkers currently pay 250% more duty per uni t of alcohol than cider drinkers.
The duty on whisky is 37% greater than beer and 30% higher than wine.
By progressively moving to an equitable system where all drinks are taxed at the same rate ,
the Government could generate more than £1 billion a year extra revenue according to
independent analysis commissioned by the Association.
Gavin Hewitt, SWA Chief Executive, said: “ Excise duty reform is long overdue. It could bring
significant extra revenue for Government . C ombined with a ban on sales below tax to set a
legal ‘floor price’ for alcohol, duty reform could also address concerns at low priced drinks on
a UK-wide basis.”
The Association welcomed the Scottish Labour p arty’s scepticism of a proposal to restrict
alcohol sponsorship and advertising, saying such a move would damage local community groups,
tourism, and important support for many cultural and sporting events.
A suggestion that alcoholic drinks should not be served at Scottish Government or
Parliamentary functions was dismissed by the A ssociation, which said that Scotch Whisky should
be showcased as a premium Scottish product at such events.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
'SCOTTISH MINIMUM PRICE PLAN IS ILLEGAL AND INEFFECTIVE' says SWA
The Scottish Government’s proposed minimum price of 45 p a unit will do little to address
alcohol harm in Scotland but will cause significant damage to Scotch Whisky at home and
abroad, The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said today.
Scotch Whisky producers believe minimum pricing would breach EU and international trade
rules. Copycat action in export markets – with trade barriers justified on spurious health
grounds – would have a major negative impact on Scotch Whisky overseas, undermining the
industry and its supply chain across Scotland at a time of economic uncertainty.
At 45p a unit, the cost of an averagely priced bottle of Scotch Whisky in Scotland will increase
by 16% to £12.60, reducing the domestic market by nearly 13%. Value and own-label brands
would be particularly impacted.
A Scottish Government commissioned model suggests the pr oposed price fails to meet the basic
tests of EU law, with only a 4.3% fall in alcohol consumption predicted. A range of other
measures could achieve a similar impact, without distorting competition or restricting trade.
The SWA again called for political parties to unite around long overdue excise duty reform and
a ban on alcohol sales below tax . This would set a legal and transparent ‘floor price’,
address ing issues around the pricing of certain alcoholic drinks.
Gavin Hewitt, SWA Chief Executive, said:
“The Scottish Government’s scheme fails to meet the basic tests of EU law and will do little to
address alcohol misuse. This policy would, however, significantly damage Scotch Whisky at
home and abroad.
“We need consensus on a legal alternative. Excise duty reform so that all drinks are taxed on
the same basis , accordi ng to alcohol content, and a ban on sales below tax, is a fair and
socially responsible way forward. It would also raise over £1bn extra revenue for the public
finances.
alcohol harm in Scotland but will cause significant damage to Scotch Whisky at home and
abroad, The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said today.
Scotch Whisky producers believe minimum pricing would breach EU and international trade
rules. Copycat action in export markets – with trade barriers justified on spurious health
grounds – would have a major negative impact on Scotch Whisky overseas, undermining the
industry and its supply chain across Scotland at a time of economic uncertainty.
At 45p a unit, the cost of an averagely priced bottle of Scotch Whisky in Scotland will increase
by 16% to £12.60, reducing the domestic market by nearly 13%. Value and own-label brands
would be particularly impacted.
A Scottish Government commissioned model suggests the pr oposed price fails to meet the basic
tests of EU law, with only a 4.3% fall in alcohol consumption predicted. A range of other
measures could achieve a similar impact, without distorting competition or restricting trade.
The SWA again called for political parties to unite around long overdue excise duty reform and
a ban on alcohol sales below tax . This would set a legal and transparent ‘floor price’,
address ing issues around the pricing of certain alcoholic drinks.
Gavin Hewitt, SWA Chief Executive, said:
“The Scottish Government’s scheme fails to meet the basic tests of EU law and will do little to
address alcohol misuse. This policy would, however, significantly damage Scotch Whisky at
home and abroad.
“We need consensus on a legal alternative. Excise duty reform so that all drinks are taxed on
the same basis , accordi ng to alcohol content, and a ban on sales below tax, is a fair and
socially responsible way forward. It would also raise over £1bn extra revenue for the public
finances.
BBC ALBA EXPLORES ISLANDERS BELIEFS ON THE SABBATH
Trusadh – Shifting Sabbath / La Air Leth?
Monday 13 September at 9pm on BBC ALBA
The Fourth Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, has influenced many of the traditions of the Isles of Lewis, Harris and North Uist for generations. Today, these are some of the last communities in the UK to adhere to Sunday observance - but for how much longer?
An insightful new BBC ALBA documentary ‘Shifting Sabbath’, produced by mactv, reveals how modern attitudes and shifting religious belief are changing the shape of the Sabbath day in these Highland areas.
The documentary introduces us to the dilemma posed in some Hebridean communities, where many have been brought up in the Sabbath-observing Presbyterian churches, on the role Sundays should play in 21st century island living.
One concern highlighted with the prospect of a changing Sabbath landscape is that some of the unique culture and rich traditions of the Isles would die away.
As well as increased transport links with Sunday flights which began in 2002 and ferry sailings in 2009, a growing number of businesses now open on Sundays throughout the isles. However, one businessman who remains steadfast in his beliefs, refusing to open on the Sabbath, is Shonnie MacRitchie, owner of the County Hotel in Stornoway. He says: “It’s sad to watch the Sabbath changing. It’s almost like any other day now in Stornoway.” Mr MacRitchie believes it’s good for staff morale and wellbeing to have Sundays free. “If the staff were to do shift work for seven days it would affect their work,” he adds.
Weekend access to sporting facilities is an issue for campaigners for the seven day opening of Lewis Sports Centre who say they wish to be able to pursue healthy activities and enjoy weekend family time at this facility, the same as their counterparts in the Southern Isles. This is also a contentious issue for Stornoway Golf Club, where Sunday playing is not permitted despite club membership voting 80-3 in favour.
Campaigner and mum-of-three Elma Macleod says Sunday is the easiest day for families to spend together and denies that it would start a clamour for even more facilities to open on the Sabbath. Elma says: “If the sports centre was to open on a Sunday it doesn’t mean the next huge place will open on Sunday. There is no other huge place. This is the only facility that we have for sport and leisure.”
Free Church minister Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, of Day One, (formerly the Lord’s Day Observance Society), says that Sunday sports centre opening would have a negative effect on the community as a whole. “I know people say there is nothing wrong with it but maybe we are not examining it properly. What about the people that need to work to give others that option? What about the pressure there would be on families to enter their children into sports competitions that take place on a Sunday and so on?”
The debate looks set to continue for some time. Will islanders keep the practice that many think contributes to the uniqueness of the area or have the seeds of change been sown?
‘Shifting Sabbath’ broadcasts on BBC ALBA on Monday 13 September at 9pm.
Monday 13 September at 9pm on BBC ALBA
The Fourth Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, has influenced many of the traditions of the Isles of Lewis, Harris and North Uist for generations. Today, these are some of the last communities in the UK to adhere to Sunday observance - but for how much longer?
An insightful new BBC ALBA documentary ‘Shifting Sabbath’, produced by mactv, reveals how modern attitudes and shifting religious belief are changing the shape of the Sabbath day in these Highland areas.
The documentary introduces us to the dilemma posed in some Hebridean communities, where many have been brought up in the Sabbath-observing Presbyterian churches, on the role Sundays should play in 21st century island living.
One concern highlighted with the prospect of a changing Sabbath landscape is that some of the unique culture and rich traditions of the Isles would die away.
As well as increased transport links with Sunday flights which began in 2002 and ferry sailings in 2009, a growing number of businesses now open on Sundays throughout the isles. However, one businessman who remains steadfast in his beliefs, refusing to open on the Sabbath, is Shonnie MacRitchie, owner of the County Hotel in Stornoway. He says: “It’s sad to watch the Sabbath changing. It’s almost like any other day now in Stornoway.” Mr MacRitchie believes it’s good for staff morale and wellbeing to have Sundays free. “If the staff were to do shift work for seven days it would affect their work,” he adds.
Weekend access to sporting facilities is an issue for campaigners for the seven day opening of Lewis Sports Centre who say they wish to be able to pursue healthy activities and enjoy weekend family time at this facility, the same as their counterparts in the Southern Isles. This is also a contentious issue for Stornoway Golf Club, where Sunday playing is not permitted despite club membership voting 80-3 in favour.
Campaigner and mum-of-three Elma Macleod says Sunday is the easiest day for families to spend together and denies that it would start a clamour for even more facilities to open on the Sabbath. Elma says: “If the sports centre was to open on a Sunday it doesn’t mean the next huge place will open on Sunday. There is no other huge place. This is the only facility that we have for sport and leisure.”
Free Church minister Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, of Day One, (formerly the Lord’s Day Observance Society), says that Sunday sports centre opening would have a negative effect on the community as a whole. “I know people say there is nothing wrong with it but maybe we are not examining it properly. What about the people that need to work to give others that option? What about the pressure there would be on families to enter their children into sports competitions that take place on a Sunday and so on?”
The debate looks set to continue for some time. Will islanders keep the practice that many think contributes to the uniqueness of the area or have the seeds of change been sown?
‘Shifting Sabbath’ broadcasts on BBC ALBA on Monday 13 September at 9pm.
BBC ALBA EXPLORES ISLANDERS BELIEFS ON THE SABBATH
Trusadh – Shifting Sabbath / La Air Leth?
Monday 13 September at 9pm on BBC ALBA
The Fourth Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, has influenced many of the traditions of the Isles of Lewis, Harris and North Uist for generations. Today, these are some of the last communities in the UK to adhere to Sunday observance - but for how much longer?
An insightful new BBC ALBA documentary ‘Shifting Sabbath’, produced by mactv, reveals how modern attitudes and shifting religious belief are changing the shape of the Sabbath day in these Highland areas.
The documentary introduces us to the dilemma posed in some Hebridean communities, where many have been brought up in the Sabbath-observing Presbyterian churches, on the role Sundays should play in 21st century island living.
One concern highlighted with the prospect of a changing Sabbath landscape is that some of the unique culture and rich traditions of the Isles would die away.
As well as increased transport links with Sunday flights which began in 2002 and ferry sailings in 2009, a growing number of businesses now open on Sundays throughout the isles. However, one businessman who remains steadfast in his beliefs, refusing to open on the Sabbath, is Shonnie MacRitchie, owner of the County Hotel in Stornoway. He says: “It’s sad to watch the Sabbath changing. It’s almost like any other day now in Stornoway.” Mr MacRitchie believes it’s good for staff morale and wellbeing to have Sundays free. “If the staff were to do shift work for seven days it would affect their work,” he adds.
Weekend access to sporting facilities is an issue for campaigners for the seven day opening of Lewis Sports Centre who say they wish to be able to pursue healthy activities and enjoy weekend family time at this facility, the same as their counterparts in the Southern Isles. This is also a contentious issue for Stornoway Golf Club, where Sunday playing is not permitted despite club membership voting 80-3 in favour.
Campaigner and mum-of-three Elma Macleod says Sunday is the easiest day for families to spend together and denies that it would start a clamour for even more facilities to open on the Sabbath. Elma says: “If the sports centre was to open on a Sunday it doesn’t mean the next huge place will open on Sunday. There is no other huge place. This is the only facility that we have for sport and leisure.”
Free Church minister Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, of Day One, (formerly the Lord’s Day Observance Society), says that Sunday sports centre opening would have a negative effect on the community as a whole. “I know people say there is nothing wrong with it but maybe we are not examining it properly. What about the people that need to work to give others that option? What about the pressure there would be on families to enter their children into sports competitions that take place on a Sunday and so on?”
The debate looks set to continue for some time. Will islanders keep the practice that many think contributes to the uniqueness of the area or have the seeds of change been sown?
‘Shifting Sabbath’ broadcasts on BBC ALBA on Monday 13 September at 9pm.
Monday 13 September at 9pm on BBC ALBA
The Fourth Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, has influenced many of the traditions of the Isles of Lewis, Harris and North Uist for generations. Today, these are some of the last communities in the UK to adhere to Sunday observance - but for how much longer?
An insightful new BBC ALBA documentary ‘Shifting Sabbath’, produced by mactv, reveals how modern attitudes and shifting religious belief are changing the shape of the Sabbath day in these Highland areas.
The documentary introduces us to the dilemma posed in some Hebridean communities, where many have been brought up in the Sabbath-observing Presbyterian churches, on the role Sundays should play in 21st century island living.
One concern highlighted with the prospect of a changing Sabbath landscape is that some of the unique culture and rich traditions of the Isles would die away.
As well as increased transport links with Sunday flights which began in 2002 and ferry sailings in 2009, a growing number of businesses now open on Sundays throughout the isles. However, one businessman who remains steadfast in his beliefs, refusing to open on the Sabbath, is Shonnie MacRitchie, owner of the County Hotel in Stornoway. He says: “It’s sad to watch the Sabbath changing. It’s almost like any other day now in Stornoway.” Mr MacRitchie believes it’s good for staff morale and wellbeing to have Sundays free. “If the staff were to do shift work for seven days it would affect their work,” he adds.
Weekend access to sporting facilities is an issue for campaigners for the seven day opening of Lewis Sports Centre who say they wish to be able to pursue healthy activities and enjoy weekend family time at this facility, the same as their counterparts in the Southern Isles. This is also a contentious issue for Stornoway Golf Club, where Sunday playing is not permitted despite club membership voting 80-3 in favour.
Campaigner and mum-of-three Elma Macleod says Sunday is the easiest day for families to spend together and denies that it would start a clamour for even more facilities to open on the Sabbath. Elma says: “If the sports centre was to open on a Sunday it doesn’t mean the next huge place will open on Sunday. There is no other huge place. This is the only facility that we have for sport and leisure.”
Free Church minister Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, of Day One, (formerly the Lord’s Day Observance Society), says that Sunday sports centre opening would have a negative effect on the community as a whole. “I know people say there is nothing wrong with it but maybe we are not examining it properly. What about the people that need to work to give others that option? What about the pressure there would be on families to enter their children into sports competitions that take place on a Sunday and so on?”
The debate looks set to continue for some time. Will islanders keep the practice that many think contributes to the uniqueness of the area or have the seeds of change been sown?
‘Shifting Sabbath’ broadcasts on BBC ALBA on Monday 13 September at 9pm.
ARGYLL AND BUTE ENCOURAGES TALL SHIPS TO VISIT
Representatives from Argyll and Bute Council have attended the final leg of the Tall Ships’ Races in Hartlepool in a bid to convince the ships’ captains to visit the area during next year’s Scottish leg of the race.
Campbeltown, Oban and Islay have been identified as 'Cruise in Company' ports for next year’s event. This means that after completing the racing leg of their trip from Waterford to Greenock, participating ships have the opportunity to 'cruise' up the west coast of Scotland and visit these ports on their way to Lerwick.
From Lerwick things will get competitive once again as the vessels race towards Stavanger, finally finishing in Halmstad.
The event gave the Argyll team the opportunity to meet with other Cruise in Company representatives and gauge interest from the ships. And, sporting bright orange t-shirts, their presence certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
Marine and Airports Manager Martin Gorringe said: “Because there is no guarantee on the number of tall ships that will call into the Argyll ports during next year’s races, if any at all, our visit to the 2010 event in Hartlepool gave us the opportunity to promote what we have to offer here in Argyll and sell the location.
“It also enabled us to find out what the crew like to do during these stop offs and all the captains we spoke to seemed very enthusiastic and keen to visit.”
South Kintyre Councillor John Semple, said: “The Tall Ships' Race is an internationally acclaimed competition which is held every summer in European waters. Each year around 100 vessels from throughout the world take part, crewed by up to 6,000 young people.
“The main aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for young people to develop their personal skills in a challenging and memorable sail-training environment. I very much hope that the participating ships do visit Argyll, where they can be sure of a fantastic welcome.”
Oban North and Lorn Councillor Duncan MacIntyre agreed, saying: “It would be an amazing spectacle to have the tall ships here in Argyll. Oban will be celebrating its bi-centenary at the time of the potential visit, so it would be a wonderful addition to the events and activities already being organised.
“The Tall Ships Race has a significant number of followers and we have an abundance of hospitality to offer them in Argyll. I also hope that Argyll is well represented with sail trainees on board. This is a fantastic opportunity for young people and I would urge them to join up.”
Anyone who would like to take part in next’s years Tall Ships Races should contact Martin Gorringe on 01546 604666.
Campbeltown, Oban and Islay have been identified as 'Cruise in Company' ports for next year’s event. This means that after completing the racing leg of their trip from Waterford to Greenock, participating ships have the opportunity to 'cruise' up the west coast of Scotland and visit these ports on their way to Lerwick.
From Lerwick things will get competitive once again as the vessels race towards Stavanger, finally finishing in Halmstad.
The event gave the Argyll team the opportunity to meet with other Cruise in Company representatives and gauge interest from the ships. And, sporting bright orange t-shirts, their presence certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
Marine and Airports Manager Martin Gorringe said: “Because there is no guarantee on the number of tall ships that will call into the Argyll ports during next year’s races, if any at all, our visit to the 2010 event in Hartlepool gave us the opportunity to promote what we have to offer here in Argyll and sell the location.
“It also enabled us to find out what the crew like to do during these stop offs and all the captains we spoke to seemed very enthusiastic and keen to visit.”
South Kintyre Councillor John Semple, said: “The Tall Ships' Race is an internationally acclaimed competition which is held every summer in European waters. Each year around 100 vessels from throughout the world take part, crewed by up to 6,000 young people.
“The main aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for young people to develop their personal skills in a challenging and memorable sail-training environment. I very much hope that the participating ships do visit Argyll, where they can be sure of a fantastic welcome.”
Oban North and Lorn Councillor Duncan MacIntyre agreed, saying: “It would be an amazing spectacle to have the tall ships here in Argyll. Oban will be celebrating its bi-centenary at the time of the potential visit, so it would be a wonderful addition to the events and activities already being organised.
“The Tall Ships Race has a significant number of followers and we have an abundance of hospitality to offer them in Argyll. I also hope that Argyll is well represented with sail trainees on board. This is a fantastic opportunity for young people and I would urge them to join up.”
Anyone who would like to take part in next’s years Tall Ships Races should contact Martin Gorringe on 01546 604666.
'Attitude to alcohol needs to change' - says NHS Highland
NHS Highland welcomes and fully supports the Scottish Government proposal to apply a minimum price of 45p per unit of alcohol.
The Scottish Health Survey has said just this week that Scots are more likely to binge drink and exceed weekly recommended safe drinking limits compared to the rest of the UK.
The survey also revealed that Scots drink almost a quarter more on a daily basis than our counterparts in England and Wales, with this in mind NHS Highland Chair Garry Coutts believes it is time our attitude towards alcohol changed.
He said: “We are already doing a lot to combat this problem in Scotland through education and public health campaigns. I believe however the time has come to take a much more radical and responsible approach to reducing consumption.
“Applying a minimum price of 45p per unit will directly impact on the cheap drinks currently available. For example own brand high strength cider currently sold on average at 17p per unit will increase from around £2.80 to £7.50 for 3 litres. At the moment for less than £5 per week, men can exceed the recommended safe limits”.
“How can it be acceptable that soft drinks, in particular water, are more expensive than alcohol? NHS Highland was happy to support the proposal for minimum pricing when we were consulted on this last year and continue to support the policy”.
Sales of alcohol in supermarkets are more than double that in bars and clubs, this trend is undoubtedly being driven by the lower priced alcohol available in supermarkets. It also means that people are drinking in uncontrolled environments rather than licensed premises which afford a level of supervision.
With alcohol sales data suggesting that since 2005 enough alcohol has been sold every week for every adult to exceed the recommended safe drinking limits for men (21 units) the effect on health cannot be under-estimated.
Scotland sees, on average, 115 hospital discharges per day due to alcohol misuse. Over the past five years the number of alcohol related discharges from Scottish acute hospitals has risen by 9% to around 42,000 in 2008-9.
Dr Margaret Somerville, NHS Highland’s Director of Public Health said: “We have a serious and growing problem with alcohol in our area that requires us all to work in partnership to address the issues affecting our communities.
“Over the past 20 years Scotland has had one of the fastest growing chronic liver disease and cirrhosis mortality rates in the world, at a time when rates in most of Western Europe are falling.
“If we want to reverse the trend of people losing their health prematurely due to harmful drinking, we need to make major changes in attitudes and behaviours.
“As Director of Public Health and Chair of the Highland Alcohol & Drugs Partnership, I support the raft of measures included in the Scottish Government’s proposals, and minimum pricing is a key element. There is a lot of evidence showing that the cheaper it is to buy alcohol, the more alcohol is consumed. Heavy drinkers in particular are very price sensitive."
Mr Coutts added: “People should not be fooled by the argument that imposing a minimum price will have an adverse effect on their shopping bill, the cost increases for responsible drinkers will be minimal if at all.”
The Scottish Health Survey has said just this week that Scots are more likely to binge drink and exceed weekly recommended safe drinking limits compared to the rest of the UK.
The survey also revealed that Scots drink almost a quarter more on a daily basis than our counterparts in England and Wales, with this in mind NHS Highland Chair Garry Coutts believes it is time our attitude towards alcohol changed.
He said: “We are already doing a lot to combat this problem in Scotland through education and public health campaigns. I believe however the time has come to take a much more radical and responsible approach to reducing consumption.
“Applying a minimum price of 45p per unit will directly impact on the cheap drinks currently available. For example own brand high strength cider currently sold on average at 17p per unit will increase from around £2.80 to £7.50 for 3 litres. At the moment for less than £5 per week, men can exceed the recommended safe limits”.
“How can it be acceptable that soft drinks, in particular water, are more expensive than alcohol? NHS Highland was happy to support the proposal for minimum pricing when we were consulted on this last year and continue to support the policy”.
Sales of alcohol in supermarkets are more than double that in bars and clubs, this trend is undoubtedly being driven by the lower priced alcohol available in supermarkets. It also means that people are drinking in uncontrolled environments rather than licensed premises which afford a level of supervision.
With alcohol sales data suggesting that since 2005 enough alcohol has been sold every week for every adult to exceed the recommended safe drinking limits for men (21 units) the effect on health cannot be under-estimated.
Scotland sees, on average, 115 hospital discharges per day due to alcohol misuse. Over the past five years the number of alcohol related discharges from Scottish acute hospitals has risen by 9% to around 42,000 in 2008-9.
Dr Margaret Somerville, NHS Highland’s Director of Public Health said: “We have a serious and growing problem with alcohol in our area that requires us all to work in partnership to address the issues affecting our communities.
“Over the past 20 years Scotland has had one of the fastest growing chronic liver disease and cirrhosis mortality rates in the world, at a time when rates in most of Western Europe are falling.
“If we want to reverse the trend of people losing their health prematurely due to harmful drinking, we need to make major changes in attitudes and behaviours.
“As Director of Public Health and Chair of the Highland Alcohol & Drugs Partnership, I support the raft of measures included in the Scottish Government’s proposals, and minimum pricing is a key element. There is a lot of evidence showing that the cheaper it is to buy alcohol, the more alcohol is consumed. Heavy drinkers in particular are very price sensitive."
Mr Coutts added: “People should not be fooled by the argument that imposing a minimum price will have an adverse effect on their shopping bill, the cost increases for responsible drinkers will be minimal if at all.”
Major General Alexander McDougall
The Islayman at the heart of the American War of Independence
By
The Right Honourable the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT GCMG HonFRSE PC
Covering a whole wall of the old chapel of West Point Military Academy, the premier leadership training institution of the US army, are plaques commemorating the key military leaders of the American war of independence. In pride of place at the top, understandably, is that of General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Immediately underneath that plaque is that of ‘Major General Alexander McDougall’ with his date of birth and his date of death 53 years later.
Few people who see that plaque know that behind that simple name is the story of a remarkable man who was born at Portintruin, just outside of Port Ellen, on this island of Islay in 1732, two hundred and seventy nine years ago.
“Alexander McDougall, a milkman’s son who helped to found a nation, blazed a trail across the American Revolutionary scene like a meteor”, said one history of that time.
There is here an amazing story, of a boy from Islay who in his twenties became the captain of two privateering warships, was afterwards a successful New York merchant, and, when the revolutionary tide started to flow was a key agitator and street leader whose provocative essay led to a jail term for libel and turned him into a hero in Britain’s 13 American colonies. He then became a soldier who rose to the highest rank in the American Army in just three years, serving under General George Washington. He was also a politician, an elected member of the first US Congress and was selected by that Congress to be the first US Minister of the Marine and was lastly a financier, first President of New York’s oldest Bank - the Bank of New York, which would be the first company registered on the New York Stock Exchange. He died at only 53 years of age in 1786.
After his death President George Washington called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’.
So who was this man and why has he received so little notice for his starring role in the creation of the world’s most successful nation?
Alexander McDougall’s father, Ranald, was a tenant farmer at Portintruin Farm, but also at Torodale and Nether Killean Farms in the parish of Kildalton and Oa on this island.
In 1738, when young Alexander was 6 years old (the same age as myself when our family left Islay) his family emigrated to America on the promises of a Captain Lachlan Campbell, promises of a better life which were to turn hollow when they got there.
The McDougalls received some solid education at the church they attended at Ballynewtonmore Farm and they took to America good references from the local minister.
After a 3-4 month miserable journey by sea, Alick’s father rebelled against the man who had taken the 470 people from Islay, broke away and worked on a dairy farm, known as Beekman’s Pasture. He and the young Alick carried the pails of milk round the streets ofManhatten – then a pretty small place. (It is worth remembering there were not much more than a million people in the 13 colonies stretching from Georgia to Maine at that time).
McDougall went to sea at the age of 14. It was a rough and difficult life but unusually he thrived. At the age of 19 he took the long, difficult journey back to Islay (as we always do…..) and married a cousin, Nancy McDougall, daughter of the local Surveyor, Stephen McDougall. Although persuaded to stay he returned to America with his new wife.
Back at sea, at the age of 25 he Captained the ‘Tyger’, an 8 gun sloop with a crew of 62. Two years later he was Master of the 12 gun sloop ‘General Barrington’, with 80 of a crew.
Ostensibly these were British warships fighting the French, but they also used that as an excuse to be privateers robbing ships of many nations and trading in slaves, molasses, tea and rum mainly from the Caribbean.
Off the back of this trading he became a prosperous New York businessman and quit the sea. He was wealthy. He owned land in and near New York, a tavern (a ‘slop-shop’) and a sloop called the ‘Shuyler’. He sent his sons to the Presbyterian College of New Jersey – now Princeton University.
But “some would never accept him as a social equal”.
One of the Livingstons, part of the biggest Tory faction in New York, said this of him at the time,
“Suitable to the savageness of his clime and disposition, goes forth a hungry Scotchman as a robber of mankind”. Another comment on him at the time was marginally less unkind, “A Scot whose heavy stuttering brogue identified his ancestry, he had broad shoulders, a muscular neck and a well proportioned head – all combing to give him a rugged appearance.”
He was known as a snappy, even flamboyant dresser and this was seen by the ruling classes as vulgar. He was dismissively referred to as Captain McDougall.
By the early 1760s, with McDougall in his early 30s discontent was rising at the attitude of the British government. The ‘Sons of Liberty’ were formed as a militant patriot body and McDougall was quickly seen as a street leader of the Sons.
In order to pay for the wars with the French and the Indians the British Parliament brought in the Stamp Act, the Mutiny Act and then, disastrously, the tax on Tea. The patriots’ slogan was ‘No taxation without representation’. The Boston Tea Party let a fuse. The New York tea party followed and McDougall was one of its principle organizers.
In 1770 McDougall wrote a pamphlet called ‘TO THE BETRAYED INHABITANTS OF THE CITY AND COLONY OF NEW YORK’. Distributed at night with a small boy hidden in a box who would jump out and paste it on walls, it provoked a disproportionate and counter-productive response. McDougall was arrested and charged with ‘False, seditious and infamous libel’ and, refusing to pay bail, was sent to the New Gaol of New York.
He served 5 months in jail becoming famous throughout the 13 colonies. He was visited by so many people that he had to schedule appointments, and eventually only in the afternoons, since he was writing so much. One commentator said it was more of a social event than a confinement.
On the 14th February, McDougall’s supporters arranged a celebration of the 45th day of the year. This number 45 was symbolic of the 45th edition of John Wilkes’ newspaper, the ‘North Briton’ which had led to the English MP’s own imprisonment for libel.
A Boston newspaper reported the celebration thus,
“forty five gentlemen, cordial friends of American liberty, went in decent procession to the New York jail and dined with McDougall on 45 pounds of beefsteak, cut from bullocks 45 months old. The highlight was the arrival of 45 virgins who sang 45 songs”
Some serious questions, it has to be said, were raised about the veracity of the term ‘virgins’. One critic suggested they were all 45 years old.
In the history of West Point the author, Lt General Dave Richard Palmer, says that after prison (the charges were dropped), ‘wherever appeared that high forehead, accented by a receding hairline and puffy eyes, one could expect to hear hot words or hotter action from this Son of Liberty.
WAR
The resistance to Britain turned to war in the 1770s and McDougall was swift in joining the Continental (Revolutionary) Army.
In 1775 he was appointed Colonel of the First New York Infantry Regiment. He was 43.
He was made a Brigadier General the following year, and the year after that Major General – the highest rank in the army, only Washington, the Commander in Chief being a full General.
As a field commander, where he was happiest, he took part in the battles of Germantown, White Plains, and he was largely responsible for the successful war-saving retreat, Dunkirk-style after the Continental Army’s defeat at the Battle of Long Island.
McDougall was sent to command at West Point, a strategically vital point on the River Hudson, which flowed from the Canadian frontier down to New York. Referred to as the ‘Gibraltar of America’, it was vital to the war’s success. Had the British taken the Hudson they would have fatally divided the revolutionary forces. McDougall commanded West Point and the wild but hugely important Hudson Highlands for much of the war although he tried valiantly to get back to field command.
He supervised the building of the construction of the forts at West Point, the creation of a great Chain, a boom across the river, and he was posted there again to deal with the situation after Major General Benedict Arnold, a hero of the early war, defected to the British. Arnold whose name McDougall gave mischievously to the main fort at West Point, is commemorated with only one statue in America at the field of the battle of Saratoga. In an early battle he had been badly wounded in his leg. The statue is only of Arnold’s wounded leg. It says that that was the only patriotic part of him. His name is chiseled out of his plaque in West Point’s chapel.
The war was long, it was a war of attrition, brutal for the soldiers who were underfed, alternatively too hot or too cold and ill-paid and badly treated. The rest of the colonies however saw little fighting, fared relatively well and felt little sympathy for the poor souls fighting in the forests and on the battlefield for their freedom. This was to lead to a near mutiny in which McDougall played a major role - but that was later.
In 1778 the Americans signed a Treaty with the French against the British. It was a sadly premature moment of joy. In the history of West Point it was called a ‘wild, delicious, delirious time’.
The same history quotes contemporary records of McDougall, “who always displayed ‘much of the Scottish Character’ and was, when plied with wine ‘affable and facetious’ On such occasions he often described his ‘national peculiarities and family origin’ an act which never failed to convulse his audience in laughter. ‘Now gentlemen, you have got the history of Sawney McDougall, the milk-mon’s son.’
The joy was short lived and the French were reluctant to translate the Treaty into committing troops.
Spirits plunged and in 1780 Alexander Hamilton, one of the moving forces of the Revolution and a founding father of the United States said this,
“Our countrymen have all the folly of an ass and all the passivity of a sheep in their compositions. They are determined not to be free and they can neither be frightened, discouraged nor persuaded to change their resolution. If we are saved it will be France and Spain who will save us. I have the most pygmy-feeling at the idea, and I almost wish to hide my disgust in universal ruin”.
Two years later, and a year after he had been elected to the Continental Congress, McDougall had a furious fall-out, and clash of personalities with a fellow General, William Heath.
(Familiar names to us at the time - Heath, Clinton, Thacher, Howe).
Heath had taken command of West Point and McDougall disagreed with his method of working; so he bitterly attacked him in public.
Heath arrested McDougall and placed him on 7 charges, “conduct unmilitary and unbecoming an officer”. After a court marshal of 3 months where McDougall defended himself he was acquitted on 6 of the seven charges and reprimanded (gently) by Washington for calling Heath a ‘knave’. It did him little harm.
This was perhaps because McDougall was a very popular leader of men. There are many references to his conviviality. When Lord Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown and surrendered his whole Royal army in October of 1781 there were wild celebrations when news two weeks later reached West Point. Dr Samuel Adams recorded in his diary “if our joy on the glorious occasion may be measured by the amount of liquor and wine we drank, it is beyond dispute that we were exceedingly glad”.
McDougall led the festivities. At dawn it is recorded that “after drinking a little coffee with a very hung-over Col Crane, the jubilant revelers took some wine and ‘cold collations’ with General McDougall”.
In his official biography, by Roger Champagne there is another hint about his leadership skills,
“McDougall was direct and outspoken, too talkative perhaps, an affable drinking companion who made as much fun of himself as others, and who regularly invited his junior officers to share his table”.
Well, he did come from Islay,
Member of Congress.
McDougall served in the Continental Congress as a delegate from New York from 1781-2 and again from 1784-5.
In 1781 the Congress decided that it could not continue to run its affairs by committee. It created four Departments of State – Treasury, Foreign Affairs, War (the Army) and Marine. McDougall was elected as the first ever Secretary of the Marine Department. He accepted, but with two conditions. One was that he be permitted to rejoin the field army for half the year and second, that he be allowed to retain his Major General’s rank (and, given his now poverty, salary). The congress declined his conditions but in his time in the post one of his tasks was to oversee to the appointment of John Paul Jones as first head of the US Navy. Jones, also to be an Admiral in the Russian Navy of Catherine the Great, came from the small Scottish town of Kirkcudbright in Galloway. One of his daring exploits as a marauding sea captain was to enter Lochindaal at this island and fire at Islay House. (Or so Tom Freidrich and Lady Clare Margadale tell me)
His conditions having been declined McDougall returned to West Point where he stayed in command on and off, until the end of the war when Washington took personal command. Even at that point Washington believed West Point was the most important location in the war.
However in 1783 the unpaid, underfed, undervalued troops who had won of the War to liberate America were in a state of real unrest and there was a serious risk of a military coup. McDougall was nominated to lead the delegation along with Alexander Hamilton to Philadelphia to plead with the Congress, of which he was a member, to pay the back-pay and treat the veterans with some justice. Their efforts averted the threatened coup and may well have saved the infant nation.
The British finally left New York, their last toe-hold on the continent, in 1783.
America’s proud commercial capital was a sad mess. 40% of houses had been destroyed. Refugees were everywhere and the economy was in ruins. Inflation was rampant, debt was huge and some desperate people were turning to violence,
Alexander Hamilton was galvanized into action. He proposed that a Bank be founded to lead the economic regeneration of New York. That bank was the Bank of New York, now the Bank of New York Mellon (who have given a modest donation to allow a memorial cairn to be erected in memory of McDougall at Portintruin). McDougall was nominated by Alexander Hamilton to be its first President. The bank was to be the first company quoted on the now mighty New York Stock Exchange.
McDougall did the job for a year, but being a man of restless action, resigned saying it was ‘too confining a life for me’. He went back to being a member of the New York Senate where he fought (successfully) for the separation of the church and state (the Church of England/Anglicans had opposed the patriots whereas the Presbyterians formed the basis of the Sons of Liberty.) and (unsuccessfully) against the issuing of paper money. He was carried into the Senate on a stretcher to vote on the latter issue.
Alexander McDougall, Islay-born but American by adoption, rebel by habit and inclination, a leader of men and a valiant fighter for liberty died in Nassau Street, New York City on June 10, 1786 at the age of only 53 years. He was buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Church. His memorial stone is situated prominently today on the wall of the First Presbyterian Church of New York in Greenwich Village and that stone will be replicated on the cairn to be erected on the hill overlooking his birthplace here in Islay.
We can now see why, after his death George Washington rightly called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’ and the New York Gazeteer said this of him on the day of his massively attended funeral;
“Of strong intellect, prudent and sagacious in council, of deliberate courage in the field, he had equal claims as a soldier and a statesman.
While integrity, love of country, fortitude and ability continue to be esteemed, this sentiment will be the faithful guardian of his fame.”
The milkman’s son from Islay did well.
By
The Right Honourable the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT GCMG HonFRSE PC
Covering a whole wall of the old chapel of West Point Military Academy, the premier leadership training institution of the US army, are plaques commemorating the key military leaders of the American war of independence. In pride of place at the top, understandably, is that of General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Immediately underneath that plaque is that of ‘Major General Alexander McDougall’ with his date of birth and his date of death 53 years later.
Few people who see that plaque know that behind that simple name is the story of a remarkable man who was born at Portintruin, just outside of Port Ellen, on this island of Islay in 1732, two hundred and seventy nine years ago.
“Alexander McDougall, a milkman’s son who helped to found a nation, blazed a trail across the American Revolutionary scene like a meteor”, said one history of that time.
There is here an amazing story, of a boy from Islay who in his twenties became the captain of two privateering warships, was afterwards a successful New York merchant, and, when the revolutionary tide started to flow was a key agitator and street leader whose provocative essay led to a jail term for libel and turned him into a hero in Britain’s 13 American colonies. He then became a soldier who rose to the highest rank in the American Army in just three years, serving under General George Washington. He was also a politician, an elected member of the first US Congress and was selected by that Congress to be the first US Minister of the Marine and was lastly a financier, first President of New York’s oldest Bank - the Bank of New York, which would be the first company registered on the New York Stock Exchange. He died at only 53 years of age in 1786.
After his death President George Washington called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’.
So who was this man and why has he received so little notice for his starring role in the creation of the world’s most successful nation?
Alexander McDougall’s father, Ranald, was a tenant farmer at Portintruin Farm, but also at Torodale and Nether Killean Farms in the parish of Kildalton and Oa on this island.
In 1738, when young Alexander was 6 years old (the same age as myself when our family left Islay) his family emigrated to America on the promises of a Captain Lachlan Campbell, promises of a better life which were to turn hollow when they got there.
The McDougalls received some solid education at the church they attended at Ballynewtonmore Farm and they took to America good references from the local minister.
After a 3-4 month miserable journey by sea, Alick’s father rebelled against the man who had taken the 470 people from Islay, broke away and worked on a dairy farm, known as Beekman’s Pasture. He and the young Alick carried the pails of milk round the streets ofManhatten – then a pretty small place. (It is worth remembering there were not much more than a million people in the 13 colonies stretching from Georgia to Maine at that time).
McDougall went to sea at the age of 14. It was a rough and difficult life but unusually he thrived. At the age of 19 he took the long, difficult journey back to Islay (as we always do…..) and married a cousin, Nancy McDougall, daughter of the local Surveyor, Stephen McDougall. Although persuaded to stay he returned to America with his new wife.
Back at sea, at the age of 25 he Captained the ‘Tyger’, an 8 gun sloop with a crew of 62. Two years later he was Master of the 12 gun sloop ‘General Barrington’, with 80 of a crew.
Ostensibly these were British warships fighting the French, but they also used that as an excuse to be privateers robbing ships of many nations and trading in slaves, molasses, tea and rum mainly from the Caribbean.
Off the back of this trading he became a prosperous New York businessman and quit the sea. He was wealthy. He owned land in and near New York, a tavern (a ‘slop-shop’) and a sloop called the ‘Shuyler’. He sent his sons to the Presbyterian College of New Jersey – now Princeton University.
But “some would never accept him as a social equal”.
One of the Livingstons, part of the biggest Tory faction in New York, said this of him at the time,
“Suitable to the savageness of his clime and disposition, goes forth a hungry Scotchman as a robber of mankind”. Another comment on him at the time was marginally less unkind, “A Scot whose heavy stuttering brogue identified his ancestry, he had broad shoulders, a muscular neck and a well proportioned head – all combing to give him a rugged appearance.”
He was known as a snappy, even flamboyant dresser and this was seen by the ruling classes as vulgar. He was dismissively referred to as Captain McDougall.
By the early 1760s, with McDougall in his early 30s discontent was rising at the attitude of the British government. The ‘Sons of Liberty’ were formed as a militant patriot body and McDougall was quickly seen as a street leader of the Sons.
In order to pay for the wars with the French and the Indians the British Parliament brought in the Stamp Act, the Mutiny Act and then, disastrously, the tax on Tea. The patriots’ slogan was ‘No taxation without representation’. The Boston Tea Party let a fuse. The New York tea party followed and McDougall was one of its principle organizers.
In 1770 McDougall wrote a pamphlet called ‘TO THE BETRAYED INHABITANTS OF THE CITY AND COLONY OF NEW YORK’. Distributed at night with a small boy hidden in a box who would jump out and paste it on walls, it provoked a disproportionate and counter-productive response. McDougall was arrested and charged with ‘False, seditious and infamous libel’ and, refusing to pay bail, was sent to the New Gaol of New York.
He served 5 months in jail becoming famous throughout the 13 colonies. He was visited by so many people that he had to schedule appointments, and eventually only in the afternoons, since he was writing so much. One commentator said it was more of a social event than a confinement.
On the 14th February, McDougall’s supporters arranged a celebration of the 45th day of the year. This number 45 was symbolic of the 45th edition of John Wilkes’ newspaper, the ‘North Briton’ which had led to the English MP’s own imprisonment for libel.
A Boston newspaper reported the celebration thus,
“forty five gentlemen, cordial friends of American liberty, went in decent procession to the New York jail and dined with McDougall on 45 pounds of beefsteak, cut from bullocks 45 months old. The highlight was the arrival of 45 virgins who sang 45 songs”
Some serious questions, it has to be said, were raised about the veracity of the term ‘virgins’. One critic suggested they were all 45 years old.
In the history of West Point the author, Lt General Dave Richard Palmer, says that after prison (the charges were dropped), ‘wherever appeared that high forehead, accented by a receding hairline and puffy eyes, one could expect to hear hot words or hotter action from this Son of Liberty.
WAR
The resistance to Britain turned to war in the 1770s and McDougall was swift in joining the Continental (Revolutionary) Army.
In 1775 he was appointed Colonel of the First New York Infantry Regiment. He was 43.
He was made a Brigadier General the following year, and the year after that Major General – the highest rank in the army, only Washington, the Commander in Chief being a full General.
As a field commander, where he was happiest, he took part in the battles of Germantown, White Plains, and he was largely responsible for the successful war-saving retreat, Dunkirk-style after the Continental Army’s defeat at the Battle of Long Island.
McDougall was sent to command at West Point, a strategically vital point on the River Hudson, which flowed from the Canadian frontier down to New York. Referred to as the ‘Gibraltar of America’, it was vital to the war’s success. Had the British taken the Hudson they would have fatally divided the revolutionary forces. McDougall commanded West Point and the wild but hugely important Hudson Highlands for much of the war although he tried valiantly to get back to field command.
He supervised the building of the construction of the forts at West Point, the creation of a great Chain, a boom across the river, and he was posted there again to deal with the situation after Major General Benedict Arnold, a hero of the early war, defected to the British. Arnold whose name McDougall gave mischievously to the main fort at West Point, is commemorated with only one statue in America at the field of the battle of Saratoga. In an early battle he had been badly wounded in his leg. The statue is only of Arnold’s wounded leg. It says that that was the only patriotic part of him. His name is chiseled out of his plaque in West Point’s chapel.
The war was long, it was a war of attrition, brutal for the soldiers who were underfed, alternatively too hot or too cold and ill-paid and badly treated. The rest of the colonies however saw little fighting, fared relatively well and felt little sympathy for the poor souls fighting in the forests and on the battlefield for their freedom. This was to lead to a near mutiny in which McDougall played a major role - but that was later.
In 1778 the Americans signed a Treaty with the French against the British. It was a sadly premature moment of joy. In the history of West Point it was called a ‘wild, delicious, delirious time’.
The same history quotes contemporary records of McDougall, “who always displayed ‘much of the Scottish Character’ and was, when plied with wine ‘affable and facetious’ On such occasions he often described his ‘national peculiarities and family origin’ an act which never failed to convulse his audience in laughter. ‘Now gentlemen, you have got the history of Sawney McDougall, the milk-mon’s son.’
The joy was short lived and the French were reluctant to translate the Treaty into committing troops.
Spirits plunged and in 1780 Alexander Hamilton, one of the moving forces of the Revolution and a founding father of the United States said this,
“Our countrymen have all the folly of an ass and all the passivity of a sheep in their compositions. They are determined not to be free and they can neither be frightened, discouraged nor persuaded to change their resolution. If we are saved it will be France and Spain who will save us. I have the most pygmy-feeling at the idea, and I almost wish to hide my disgust in universal ruin”.
Two years later, and a year after he had been elected to the Continental Congress, McDougall had a furious fall-out, and clash of personalities with a fellow General, William Heath.
(Familiar names to us at the time - Heath, Clinton, Thacher, Howe).
Heath had taken command of West Point and McDougall disagreed with his method of working; so he bitterly attacked him in public.
Heath arrested McDougall and placed him on 7 charges, “conduct unmilitary and unbecoming an officer”. After a court marshal of 3 months where McDougall defended himself he was acquitted on 6 of the seven charges and reprimanded (gently) by Washington for calling Heath a ‘knave’. It did him little harm.
This was perhaps because McDougall was a very popular leader of men. There are many references to his conviviality. When Lord Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown and surrendered his whole Royal army in October of 1781 there were wild celebrations when news two weeks later reached West Point. Dr Samuel Adams recorded in his diary “if our joy on the glorious occasion may be measured by the amount of liquor and wine we drank, it is beyond dispute that we were exceedingly glad”.
McDougall led the festivities. At dawn it is recorded that “after drinking a little coffee with a very hung-over Col Crane, the jubilant revelers took some wine and ‘cold collations’ with General McDougall”.
In his official biography, by Roger Champagne there is another hint about his leadership skills,
“McDougall was direct and outspoken, too talkative perhaps, an affable drinking companion who made as much fun of himself as others, and who regularly invited his junior officers to share his table”.
Well, he did come from Islay,
Member of Congress.
McDougall served in the Continental Congress as a delegate from New York from 1781-2 and again from 1784-5.
In 1781 the Congress decided that it could not continue to run its affairs by committee. It created four Departments of State – Treasury, Foreign Affairs, War (the Army) and Marine. McDougall was elected as the first ever Secretary of the Marine Department. He accepted, but with two conditions. One was that he be permitted to rejoin the field army for half the year and second, that he be allowed to retain his Major General’s rank (and, given his now poverty, salary). The congress declined his conditions but in his time in the post one of his tasks was to oversee to the appointment of John Paul Jones as first head of the US Navy. Jones, also to be an Admiral in the Russian Navy of Catherine the Great, came from the small Scottish town of Kirkcudbright in Galloway. One of his daring exploits as a marauding sea captain was to enter Lochindaal at this island and fire at Islay House. (Or so Tom Freidrich and Lady Clare Margadale tell me)
His conditions having been declined McDougall returned to West Point where he stayed in command on and off, until the end of the war when Washington took personal command. Even at that point Washington believed West Point was the most important location in the war.
However in 1783 the unpaid, underfed, undervalued troops who had won of the War to liberate America were in a state of real unrest and there was a serious risk of a military coup. McDougall was nominated to lead the delegation along with Alexander Hamilton to Philadelphia to plead with the Congress, of which he was a member, to pay the back-pay and treat the veterans with some justice. Their efforts averted the threatened coup and may well have saved the infant nation.
The British finally left New York, their last toe-hold on the continent, in 1783.
America’s proud commercial capital was a sad mess. 40% of houses had been destroyed. Refugees were everywhere and the economy was in ruins. Inflation was rampant, debt was huge and some desperate people were turning to violence,
Alexander Hamilton was galvanized into action. He proposed that a Bank be founded to lead the economic regeneration of New York. That bank was the Bank of New York, now the Bank of New York Mellon (who have given a modest donation to allow a memorial cairn to be erected in memory of McDougall at Portintruin). McDougall was nominated by Alexander Hamilton to be its first President. The bank was to be the first company quoted on the now mighty New York Stock Exchange.
McDougall did the job for a year, but being a man of restless action, resigned saying it was ‘too confining a life for me’. He went back to being a member of the New York Senate where he fought (successfully) for the separation of the church and state (the Church of England/Anglicans had opposed the patriots whereas the Presbyterians formed the basis of the Sons of Liberty.) and (unsuccessfully) against the issuing of paper money. He was carried into the Senate on a stretcher to vote on the latter issue.
Alexander McDougall, Islay-born but American by adoption, rebel by habit and inclination, a leader of men and a valiant fighter for liberty died in Nassau Street, New York City on June 10, 1786 at the age of only 53 years. He was buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Church. His memorial stone is situated prominently today on the wall of the First Presbyterian Church of New York in Greenwich Village and that stone will be replicated on the cairn to be erected on the hill overlooking his birthplace here in Islay.
We can now see why, after his death George Washington rightly called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’ and the New York Gazeteer said this of him on the day of his massively attended funeral;
“Of strong intellect, prudent and sagacious in council, of deliberate courage in the field, he had equal claims as a soldier and a statesman.
While integrity, love of country, fortitude and ability continue to be esteemed, this sentiment will be the faithful guardian of his fame.”
The milkman’s son from Islay did well.
VIEWS SOUGHT ON BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN
Residents of Argyll and Bute are being urged to give their views on the latest draft of the area’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), which has already delivered many benefits in protecting and enhancing local habitats and species.
The plan was originally launched in 2001. This is its first review, and the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership hopes it will result in agreement on a series of far-reaching conservation activities over the next few years.
The partnership has already been working with RPS Consultants in reviewing the current plan. Now the general public is being given the chance to have their say on what is planned over the next four years.
The consultation focuses on threatened habitats and species through adopting the nationally-accepted ‘ecosystem’ approach as a means of ensuring cohesive conservation activities.
There are six work programmes under the scheme - Freshwater and Wetland, Marine and Coastal, Lowland and Farmland, Woodland, Upland and the Built Environment . Each programme contains a number of habitats and associated species for which projects will be developed in a bid to ensure their sustainability.
The consultation will concentrate on exploring these programmes, and how best to deliver them.
Councillor Bruce Marshall, Chair of the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership, said: “As this is International Year of Biodiversity, it is fortunate that we are carrying out a review of the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Action Plan and publishing a new set of actions to be delivered over the next four years.
“It is essential for the success of the latest plan that we encourage people to comment on our new approach to delivering biodiversity benefits. We are very fortunate in Argyll and Bute to have the accolade of having some of the best examples of biodiversity in Britain, and I urge people to become part of this process.”
The LBAP has already involved many partners, and has motivated a significant number of local communities across the area to take up the challenge of the Community Action for Biodiversity initiatives.
Information events served to raise awareness as well as promote the integration of biodiversity into many land, freshwater and marine and coastal management activities.
The plan has also influenced agricultural environment schemes, river basin and catchment management plans, protected marine and coastal habitats and species and encouraged people to be more proactive in their community.
The proposed work programme takes account of the potential impacts of climate change and our ever-changing economy.
The partnership has stressed that the effort community groups and individuals put in now will reap great benefits in ensuring that what is important to Argyll and Bute is protected and enhanced for the future.
The consultation period runs from 20 September 2010 to 29 October 2010 and can be viewed by following the link at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/biodiversity/.
Comments can also be sent to Simon Zisman at RPS, 7 Clairmont Gardens, Glasgow G3 7LW or at zismans@rpsgroup.com.
The Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership was established in 1997, with the first tranche of the LBAP launched in 2001. The partnership has thirty members.
The plan was originally launched in 2001. This is its first review, and the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership hopes it will result in agreement on a series of far-reaching conservation activities over the next few years.
The partnership has already been working with RPS Consultants in reviewing the current plan. Now the general public is being given the chance to have their say on what is planned over the next four years.
The consultation focuses on threatened habitats and species through adopting the nationally-accepted ‘ecosystem’ approach as a means of ensuring cohesive conservation activities.
There are six work programmes under the scheme - Freshwater and Wetland, Marine and Coastal, Lowland and Farmland, Woodland, Upland and the Built Environment . Each programme contains a number of habitats and associated species for which projects will be developed in a bid to ensure their sustainability.
The consultation will concentrate on exploring these programmes, and how best to deliver them.
Councillor Bruce Marshall, Chair of the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership, said: “As this is International Year of Biodiversity, it is fortunate that we are carrying out a review of the Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Action Plan and publishing a new set of actions to be delivered over the next four years.
“It is essential for the success of the latest plan that we encourage people to comment on our new approach to delivering biodiversity benefits. We are very fortunate in Argyll and Bute to have the accolade of having some of the best examples of biodiversity in Britain, and I urge people to become part of this process.”
The LBAP has already involved many partners, and has motivated a significant number of local communities across the area to take up the challenge of the Community Action for Biodiversity initiatives.
Information events served to raise awareness as well as promote the integration of biodiversity into many land, freshwater and marine and coastal management activities.
The plan has also influenced agricultural environment schemes, river basin and catchment management plans, protected marine and coastal habitats and species and encouraged people to be more proactive in their community.
The proposed work programme takes account of the potential impacts of climate change and our ever-changing economy.
The partnership has stressed that the effort community groups and individuals put in now will reap great benefits in ensuring that what is important to Argyll and Bute is protected and enhanced for the future.
The consultation period runs from 20 September 2010 to 29 October 2010 and can be viewed by following the link at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/biodiversity/.
Comments can also be sent to Simon Zisman at RPS, 7 Clairmont Gardens, Glasgow G3 7LW or at zismans@rpsgroup.com.
The Argyll and Bute Local Biodiversity Partnership was established in 1997, with the first tranche of the LBAP launched in 2001. The partnership has thirty members.
BÒRD NA GÀIDHLIG AG AMHARC TRI BLIADHNA AIR THOISEACH
Tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig a’ coinneachadh airson dà là air an t-seachdain seo an Inbhir Nis ris na prìomh bhuidhnean Gàidhlig a bhios a’ toirt cùisean air adhart le taic on Bhòrd sna trì bliadhna a tha ri teachd. An dèidh leirmheas a dhèanamh air obair nam buidhnean san ràith a chaidh seachad, tha am Bòrd a-nis a’ tairgse cothrom conaltraidh as ùr air amasan a’ Bhùird thaobh meudachadh àireamhan luchd labhairt na Gàidhlig mu choinneimh nan ro-innleachdan a th’anns a’ phlana Ginealach Ur na Gàidhlig a dh’ aontaichear leis a’ Mhinistear nas tràithe air a’ bhliadhna.
Thathas gu sònraichte gu bhith a’ beachdachadh air ciamar a bhios na buidhnean an dùil co-obrachadh gus amasan a choilionadh thaobh: taic do phàrantan a dh’ fhaodadh clann a chur gu foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig no tha ga dhèanamh a cheana; neartachadh agus leudachadh seirbheisean ro-sgoile; neartachadh seirbheisean Gàidhlig sa bhun sgoil; taic do dheugairean; cothroman ionnsachaidh dha inbhich; taic don Ghàidhlig san dachaigh.
Thuirt Ceannard Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Iain A MacAoidh: “ Tha e coltach gum bi na trì bliadhna a tha ri teachd duilich dha gach buidheann san roinn phoblach, ach feumaidh sinn aghaidh a chur air an dùbhlan sin. San àrainneachd anns am bheil sinn ag obair tha conaltradh, co-obrachadh is compàirteachais dòigheil air leth cudromach, is tha sin deatamach chan ann a-mhàin eadar nam buidhnean Gàidhlig ach cuideachd eadarainn is nam buidhnean poblach aig am bheil planaichean Gàidhlig. Feumaidh sinn a bhith èifeachdach nar modhan obrach gus a bhith soirbheachail nar gnìomhan.”
Thuirt Daibhidh Boag, Leasaiche Cànain a’ Bhùird: “ ‘S e drochaid a th’ ann an Ginealach Ur na Gàidhlig, eadar a’ chiad agus an dàrna phlana Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig. Tha fòcas làidir anns a’ phlana seo air pròiseactan a tha ag amas air àireamhan luchd-labhairt na Gàidhlig àrdachadh agus tha dleastanasan oirnn uile, oidhirp a dhèanamh mu choinneamh an t-amas soilleir seo. As dèidh na h-obrach air leirmheas a dhèanamh air comasan nam buidhnean, bidh am Bòrd ag obrachadh gu dlùth ris na buidhnean Gàidhlig gus compàirteachas as ùr a thogail airson na h-ath trì bliadhna a tha romhainn. ‘S e amannan dùbhlanach a bhios ann gun teagamh air thaobh ionmhas phoblach, ach ‘s e cothrom a th’ann cuideachd, fòcas as ùr a dhèanamh air na seirbheisean a tha deatamach dha pàrantan, clann-sgoile agus coimhearsnachdan air feadh Alba.”
Bidh na choinneamhan air an cumail air 9-10 Sultain.
Thathas gu sònraichte gu bhith a’ beachdachadh air ciamar a bhios na buidhnean an dùil co-obrachadh gus amasan a choilionadh thaobh: taic do phàrantan a dh’ fhaodadh clann a chur gu foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig no tha ga dhèanamh a cheana; neartachadh agus leudachadh seirbheisean ro-sgoile; neartachadh seirbheisean Gàidhlig sa bhun sgoil; taic do dheugairean; cothroman ionnsachaidh dha inbhich; taic don Ghàidhlig san dachaigh.
Thuirt Ceannard Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Iain A MacAoidh: “ Tha e coltach gum bi na trì bliadhna a tha ri teachd duilich dha gach buidheann san roinn phoblach, ach feumaidh sinn aghaidh a chur air an dùbhlan sin. San àrainneachd anns am bheil sinn ag obair tha conaltradh, co-obrachadh is compàirteachais dòigheil air leth cudromach, is tha sin deatamach chan ann a-mhàin eadar nam buidhnean Gàidhlig ach cuideachd eadarainn is nam buidhnean poblach aig am bheil planaichean Gàidhlig. Feumaidh sinn a bhith èifeachdach nar modhan obrach gus a bhith soirbheachail nar gnìomhan.”
Thuirt Daibhidh Boag, Leasaiche Cànain a’ Bhùird: “ ‘S e drochaid a th’ ann an Ginealach Ur na Gàidhlig, eadar a’ chiad agus an dàrna phlana Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig. Tha fòcas làidir anns a’ phlana seo air pròiseactan a tha ag amas air àireamhan luchd-labhairt na Gàidhlig àrdachadh agus tha dleastanasan oirnn uile, oidhirp a dhèanamh mu choinneamh an t-amas soilleir seo. As dèidh na h-obrach air leirmheas a dhèanamh air comasan nam buidhnean, bidh am Bòrd ag obrachadh gu dlùth ris na buidhnean Gàidhlig gus compàirteachas as ùr a thogail airson na h-ath trì bliadhna a tha romhainn. ‘S e amannan dùbhlanach a bhios ann gun teagamh air thaobh ionmhas phoblach, ach ‘s e cothrom a th’ann cuideachd, fòcas as ùr a dhèanamh air na seirbheisean a tha deatamach dha pàrantan, clann-sgoile agus coimhearsnachdan air feadh Alba.”
Bidh na choinneamhan air an cumail air 9-10 Sultain.
BÒRD NA GÀIDHLIG AG IARRAIDH GUM BI DLEASTANAS SÒISEALTA A’ LEANTAINN ANN AN LEASACHADH
Tha pàirt deatamach air a bhith aig Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean agus Bòrd Leasachaidh na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean a bh’ ann roimhe, ann an cruthachadh agus ann an cumail suas leasachadh eaconamach, cànanach, cultarach agus sòisealta co-cheangailte ri Gàidhlig sa Ghàidhealtachd ’s na h-Eileanan thar nan deich bliadhna fichead a chaidh seachad.
Anns an tagradh gu Comataidh an Eaconamaidh, Lùth agus Turasachd aig Riaghaltas na h-Alba mar fhreagairt don bhreithneachadh làithreach air an adhbhar airson buidheann iomairt, tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig air iarraidh gum bi dleastanas leasachaidh sòisealta HIE air a chumail suas. Tha buannachdan eaconamach agus sòisealta air èirigh a-mach às an sin thar nan trì deicheadan bhliadhnaichean a chaidh seachad, tha am Bòrd ag aithris, a’ toradh luach airgid a bha ann an co-rèir ris an t-sùim bheag sa cheud de bhuidseat na Buidhne Iomairt a chaidh a riarachadh airson na dleastanais shòisealta.
Thuirt Iain Aonghas MacAoidh, Ceannard (CEO) ùr a’ Bhùird: “Tha am Bòrd ag obair ann an com-pàirteachas le ùghdarrasan ionadail, buidhnean poblach agus buidhnean coimhearsnachd gus iomairtean Gàidhlig a mhaoineachadh. Tha Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean (HIE) agus Bòrd Leasachaidh na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean (HIDB) a bh’ ann roimhe sin, air a bhith nam prìomh luchd-ùidh a thaobh leasachadh agus seilbh ann am pròiseactan cànain, cultair agus dualchais na Gàidhlig air feadh na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean, gu h-àraid bho thoiseach nan 1980an nuair a chaidh a thuigsinn gun robh comas cànanach agus cultarach na spreigeadh do leasachadh sòisealta agus eaconamach. Bha an raon-dleastanais shòisealta a bha air a gleidheadh san reachdas a stèidhich an HIDB aig an àm sin, na stèidh airson iomairtean ùr-ghnàthach cànanach is cultarach a chur air bhonn, a tha bhon uair sin air cosnadh brìgheil agus buannachdan eaconamach don sgìre a thoirt gu buil - gu deatamach ann an sgìrean far nach robh modalan eaconamach àbhaisteach air a bhith soirbheachail gu ruige seo no nam brosnachadh làidir gu leòr airson ath-nuadhachadh a chur air adhart.”
Anns an tagradh chun na Comataidh, tha am Bòrd a’ togail gu làidir air an leasachadh ann an craoladh Gàidhlig, na h-ealain Ghàidhlig, foillseachadh Gàidhlig agus iomairtean coimhearsnachd Gàidhlig a tha air a bhith maoinichte tro raon-dleastanais shòisealta HIE, nach robh a-riamh air a thighinn gu bith às aonais. Am measg phròiseactan seilbhe cànain is cultair na Gàidhlig a tha air a bhith nam buannachd do na sgìrean aca tro leasachadh eaconamach agus tro chruthachadh is gleidheadh chosnaidhean, tha na prìomh leasachaidhean aig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig san Eilean Sgìtheanach, Studio Alba agus Colaisde a’ Chaisteil ann an Leòdhas, a thuilleadh air tachartasan cultarach leithid fèis ciùil Blas, Fèisean nan Gàidheal agus liubhairt air cùmhnant leasachaidh Gàidhlig HIE tro Chomunn na Gàidhlig agus Pròiseact nan Ealan.
Còmhla, tha na leasachaidhean sin air àireamh bhrìgheil de chosnaidhean a chruthachadh agus a chuideachadh, a tha air buaidh mhòr eaconamach a thoirt air an sgìrean fhèin, gu h-àraid an ath-nuadhachadh air a’ choimhearsnachd ann an Slèite san Eilean Sgitheanach am measg an fheadhainn as sònraichte, air a spreigeadh agus air a chumail suas leis a’ Cholaiste Ghàidhlig, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
Tha am Bòrd a’ crìochnachadh le: “Tha raon-dleastanais shòisealta HIBD/HIE gu follaiseach air cuideachadh le spiorad iomairt a bhrosnachadh, a tha freumhaichte ann an dìlseachd cànanach is cultarach ann an sgìrean far nach robh modalan leasachaidh eaconamach eile roimhe buadhmhor gu ìre sam bith, agus mar sin a’ cruthachadh dhòighean ùr-ghnàthaichte a thaobh leasachadh gnothachais.
Tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig a’ moladh gu làidir gum bi an t-àite agus an raon-dleastanais seo air a chumail a’ dol san àm ri teachd. Ma leanas an ath-bhreithneachadh làithreach seo air adhart gu solar ùr airson eadar-theachd a dhèanamh air leasachadh eaconamach, tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig a’ moladh gum bi an raon-dleastanais sòisealta air a neadachadh air feadh Alba gu lèir, ann an co-rèir ri dleastanas na h-iomairt gus dèanamh cinnteach gum faodar doigh-obrach ioma-phàirteach a choileanadh ann an leasachadh sòisealta, cultarach, cànanach agus eaconamach.”
Tha tagradh a’ Bhùird air fhoillseachadh gu h-iomlan air an làraich-lìn,
gaidhlig.org.uk
Anns an tagradh gu Comataidh an Eaconamaidh, Lùth agus Turasachd aig Riaghaltas na h-Alba mar fhreagairt don bhreithneachadh làithreach air an adhbhar airson buidheann iomairt, tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig air iarraidh gum bi dleastanas leasachaidh sòisealta HIE air a chumail suas. Tha buannachdan eaconamach agus sòisealta air èirigh a-mach às an sin thar nan trì deicheadan bhliadhnaichean a chaidh seachad, tha am Bòrd ag aithris, a’ toradh luach airgid a bha ann an co-rèir ris an t-sùim bheag sa cheud de bhuidseat na Buidhne Iomairt a chaidh a riarachadh airson na dleastanais shòisealta.
Thuirt Iain Aonghas MacAoidh, Ceannard (CEO) ùr a’ Bhùird: “Tha am Bòrd ag obair ann an com-pàirteachas le ùghdarrasan ionadail, buidhnean poblach agus buidhnean coimhearsnachd gus iomairtean Gàidhlig a mhaoineachadh. Tha Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean (HIE) agus Bòrd Leasachaidh na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean (HIDB) a bh’ ann roimhe sin, air a bhith nam prìomh luchd-ùidh a thaobh leasachadh agus seilbh ann am pròiseactan cànain, cultair agus dualchais na Gàidhlig air feadh na Gàidhealtachd ’s nan Eilean, gu h-àraid bho thoiseach nan 1980an nuair a chaidh a thuigsinn gun robh comas cànanach agus cultarach na spreigeadh do leasachadh sòisealta agus eaconamach. Bha an raon-dleastanais shòisealta a bha air a gleidheadh san reachdas a stèidhich an HIDB aig an àm sin, na stèidh airson iomairtean ùr-ghnàthach cànanach is cultarach a chur air bhonn, a tha bhon uair sin air cosnadh brìgheil agus buannachdan eaconamach don sgìre a thoirt gu buil - gu deatamach ann an sgìrean far nach robh modalan eaconamach àbhaisteach air a bhith soirbheachail gu ruige seo no nam brosnachadh làidir gu leòr airson ath-nuadhachadh a chur air adhart.”
Anns an tagradh chun na Comataidh, tha am Bòrd a’ togail gu làidir air an leasachadh ann an craoladh Gàidhlig, na h-ealain Ghàidhlig, foillseachadh Gàidhlig agus iomairtean coimhearsnachd Gàidhlig a tha air a bhith maoinichte tro raon-dleastanais shòisealta HIE, nach robh a-riamh air a thighinn gu bith às aonais. Am measg phròiseactan seilbhe cànain is cultair na Gàidhlig a tha air a bhith nam buannachd do na sgìrean aca tro leasachadh eaconamach agus tro chruthachadh is gleidheadh chosnaidhean, tha na prìomh leasachaidhean aig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig san Eilean Sgìtheanach, Studio Alba agus Colaisde a’ Chaisteil ann an Leòdhas, a thuilleadh air tachartasan cultarach leithid fèis ciùil Blas, Fèisean nan Gàidheal agus liubhairt air cùmhnant leasachaidh Gàidhlig HIE tro Chomunn na Gàidhlig agus Pròiseact nan Ealan.
Còmhla, tha na leasachaidhean sin air àireamh bhrìgheil de chosnaidhean a chruthachadh agus a chuideachadh, a tha air buaidh mhòr eaconamach a thoirt air an sgìrean fhèin, gu h-àraid an ath-nuadhachadh air a’ choimhearsnachd ann an Slèite san Eilean Sgitheanach am measg an fheadhainn as sònraichte, air a spreigeadh agus air a chumail suas leis a’ Cholaiste Ghàidhlig, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
Tha am Bòrd a’ crìochnachadh le: “Tha raon-dleastanais shòisealta HIBD/HIE gu follaiseach air cuideachadh le spiorad iomairt a bhrosnachadh, a tha freumhaichte ann an dìlseachd cànanach is cultarach ann an sgìrean far nach robh modalan leasachaidh eaconamach eile roimhe buadhmhor gu ìre sam bith, agus mar sin a’ cruthachadh dhòighean ùr-ghnàthaichte a thaobh leasachadh gnothachais.
Tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig a’ moladh gu làidir gum bi an t-àite agus an raon-dleastanais seo air a chumail a’ dol san àm ri teachd. Ma leanas an ath-bhreithneachadh làithreach seo air adhart gu solar ùr airson eadar-theachd a dhèanamh air leasachadh eaconamach, tha Bòrd na Gàidhlig a’ moladh gum bi an raon-dleastanais sòisealta air a neadachadh air feadh Alba gu lèir, ann an co-rèir ri dleastanas na h-iomairt gus dèanamh cinnteach gum faodar doigh-obrach ioma-phàirteach a choileanadh ann an leasachadh sòisealta, cultarach, cànanach agus eaconamach.”
Tha tagradh a’ Bhùird air fhoillseachadh gu h-iomlan air an làraich-lìn,
gaidhlig.org.uk
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
iTRAD SERIES SHOWCASES YOUNG TRADITIONAL MUSICIANS ON BBC ALBA
The eagerly-anticipated iTRAD series featuring forty young traditional musicians begins on BBC ALBA from Monday 13 September at 8.30pm.
Created by mactv and reflecting the rise in interest of traditional Scottish music, iTRAD showcases eight young bands immersed in traditional music. In interviews, visits and live performances, the programme makers capture the talent, drive and energy of the young musicians.
The amazing flow of talent constantly emerging through the Fèisean movement, Gaelic arts tuition festivals mainly for young people that take place throughout Scotland, as well as The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School, is featured in the series through the groups, Fèis Rois, Oidhche Chiadain, Ceilear and three groups from Plockton.
In a visit to the Traditional Music and Gaelic course in Benbecula, some superb performances were filmed under the guidance of tutor Anna Wendy Stevenson. The sheer passion for music the youngsters have shines through the young group from Stornoway, Oidhche Chiadain, and the song writing talents of Fuaim Glaschu, who met at Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School), make for a very special musical treat in this new series. A beautiful Gaelic adaptation of Leonard Cohen’s “Alleluia” is a real treat from the Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail, who like all the iTRAD bands, show inspiring musical ability.
Directed by Don Coutts, iTRAD is packed with delights and surprises and with the performances filmed in Ullapool in crisp winter sunshine the series is definitely one to watch.
iTRAD starts broadcasting weekly, on BBC ALBA starting Monday 13th September at 8.30pm. The series will also be available to view via the BBC iPlayer, www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer.
Created by mactv and reflecting the rise in interest of traditional Scottish music, iTRAD showcases eight young bands immersed in traditional music. In interviews, visits and live performances, the programme makers capture the talent, drive and energy of the young musicians.
The amazing flow of talent constantly emerging through the Fèisean movement, Gaelic arts tuition festivals mainly for young people that take place throughout Scotland, as well as The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School, is featured in the series through the groups, Fèis Rois, Oidhche Chiadain, Ceilear and three groups from Plockton.
In a visit to the Traditional Music and Gaelic course in Benbecula, some superb performances were filmed under the guidance of tutor Anna Wendy Stevenson. The sheer passion for music the youngsters have shines through the young group from Stornoway, Oidhche Chiadain, and the song writing talents of Fuaim Glaschu, who met at Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School), make for a very special musical treat in this new series. A beautiful Gaelic adaptation of Leonard Cohen’s “Alleluia” is a real treat from the Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail, who like all the iTRAD bands, show inspiring musical ability.
Directed by Don Coutts, iTRAD is packed with delights and surprises and with the performances filmed in Ullapool in crisp winter sunshine the series is definitely one to watch.
iTRAD starts broadcasting weekly, on BBC ALBA starting Monday 13th September at 8.30pm. The series will also be available to view via the BBC iPlayer, www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
