I CAN now give an update on the bands coming to Ullapool village hall this month. Manran, playing there on Saturday, December 17, won the coveted Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards held in Perth last Saturday. As well as that, one of the band members, Norrie MacIver from Lewis, won Best Gaelic Singer at the awards. And I can now tell you that tickets for the Manran gig (doors open at 7.30pm) are on sale at The Ceilidh Place. They are £8 with concessions £6.
SKERRYVORE, playing at the hall on Friday, December 30, were also winners at the Scots Trad Music Awards.
They won Live Act of the Year; what a night it's going to be in Ullapool!
Regarding tickets for the show - at the time of writing the band's website still said "watch this space for details".
Keep checking on www.skerryvore.com because I'm sure they will sell fast once they go on sale.
I WAS delighted to see that the winner of Scots Singer of the Year was Siobhan Miller. Siobhan was a regular visitor to Ullapool; her father, singer/guitarist Brian Miller, was often a guest at the old Ullapool Folk Club and the family frequently stayed with friends Ken and the late Moira McNaughton.
Ken was at the awards ceremony last Saturday to see Siobhan take the award.
You might have seen Siobhan on the last BBC Hogmanay Show; along with Roddy Hart she led the singing of Auld Lang Syne.
She has an amazingly mature voice for someone still in her twenties.
I WAS looking through Tales and Legends for a winter story and I read this one. It's not a seasonal one but if you are finding money tight at this time of year here's a tale to help you get your hands on some extra cash.
The story is called Treasure Hidden at Leac a Bhealich, Fannich. "Tradition says about it as follows, "Lan seiche Searruich do dh'or a fallach naoidh ceuman 's naoidh leuman 's naoidh fad mosgun bho Leac a Bheallaich"; translated as follows, "The hide of a foal full of gold is hidden nine steps, nine leaps and nine lengths of a musket from Leac a Bhealich" which is the name of the hill in the Fannich pass, in the north west of that forest."
The footnote give the translation of Leac a' Bhealich as The Flagstone of the Pass and also gives the map reference which is NH2376. Off you go!
