Comann Eachdraidh Ionadail Phortrigh

 

Portree Local History Society

Chair: Morna MacLaren
Vice Chair: Bruce McGhie
Secretary: Nanette Muir
Treasurer: Tim Moore

Our New Season
2007 - 2008
begins
Tuesday October 9
at Tigh na Sgire, Portree
7.30 p.m.

Programme of Meetings: 2007 - 2008

October 9 - Ian Suddaby - The Excavation at Home Farm
November 13 - Dr Jeff Stone - St Kilda: Two Decades of Digging and Scraping
(in association with Aberdeen University Centre for Lifelong Learning )
December 11 - Dr Martin MacGregor - The Lordship of the Isles
January 8 - Seonachan MacLeod - Deserted Villages of Skye
February 12 - Professor Brian Sykes - Vikings in the Blood?
March 11 - Murray MacDonald - Mobile Banking by Land and Sea in the Highlands and Islands
April 8 - AGM, with guest speaker - Ronnie Armstrong - Para Handy and the Clyde Puffers

 

22 September 2007
12.45 p.m.
Rosedale Hotel, Portree

As part of a 3 day festival celebrating the life of Màiri Mḥr nan ̉rain
Portree Local History Society has sponsored a plaque to be unveiled at the Rosedale Hotel
the building where Màiri Mḥr spent her final hours.


Our 2006 - 7 Season also celebrated the music of Màiri Mḥr

Màiri Mḥr nan Orain

A song-lecture by Fiona MacKenzie

 

Previous Meetings: 2006 - 2007

October 10 - Bill Cowie - Kirk Cave, Rona
November 14 - Alister Ross – Education – PHS100
December 12 - Norman Newton - Skye and Raasay
(in association with Aberdeen University Centre for Lifelong Learning )
January 9 - Pat Myhill - Telford’s Stein
February 13 - Fiona MacKenzie – Màiri Mḥr nan Orain -
A song-lecture
March 13 - Ian McCrorie - The MacBrayne Story
April 10 - AGM, with guest speaker - Roger Hutchinson - “Calum’s Road”

All meetings are held at Tigh na Sgire, Portree,
at 7. 30 p.m.,
on the second Tuesday of each month.


Contact us:

  

From the moment Fiona was introduced to the packed audience, it was clear that this was to be a very special occasion.

Fiona MacKenzie is the Màiri Mḥr Song Fellow. The Màiri Mḥr Gaelic Song Fellowship was set up in 2002 to encourage participation in Gaelic song events and activities and to provide a reference point for people wanting information on any aspect of Gaelic song.

Using no props other than the words to the songs and her own wonderful voice, Fiona traced Màiri Mhor's life and ideas through her music.
Màiri Mḥr nan Oran (Mary MacPherson) was a nurse from Skeabost. A prolific song writer from the age of 50, she wrote songs of exile, praise and hope as well as songs of protest about the way the Gaels were treated by others.

Fiona spoke of Màiri's life on Skye, in Inverness, and her vindictive imprisonment, her training in Greenock, her songs, her contribution to the Land Struggle, and more; each element was illustrated by song - so much so that it is impossible to do the evening justice here in the written word. We would recommend those interested to pursue both Màiri Mḥr and Fiona's work, perhaps on the internet as a starting point.

An excellent resource is the Am Baile website, but there are many others.

 
Published by Stephen Clarke, on behalf of Portree Local History Society - © January 2007.
Photographs, unless otherwise stated © Dualchas 2006
The publisher and the Society publish this information in good faith, but cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.
Meeting dates and topics are subject to change.