West Ross man takes on Shakespearean challenge
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THE organiser of a Ross-shire piping festival has come up with a novel way of raising cash for the event – reciting all of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets in public.
Ian Blake hopes his effort, dubbed Sonnet-a-Thon, will raise enough cash to cover the prizes for the Iain Dall Young Pipers’ Festival of which he is chairman.
The competition is held each September in Gairloch High School and attracts talented young pipers from all over Scotland.
But with public funds in scare supply, Ian decided to draw on his own devices in order to be able to offer modest cash prizes for the youngsters.
Ian, from Melvaig near Gairloch, explained: "We are always struggling for sponsorship but have kept going since 2002 with only one or two blips.
"We do get a small grant from Highland Council because we have to accommodate judges but we find it difficult to get funds for the prize money over the seven or eight categories. We also offer a couple of bursaries.
"I decided to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare on April 23 with a Sonnet-a-Thon in Gairloch. If people will sponsor me £5 a sonnet, that will pay for the prizes."
Ian, a former English teacher, will hold Sonnet-a-Thon on Saturday, April 23 in The Shieling restaurant in Gairloch, from 10am to noon and then from 3-5pm, "voice permitting".
Ian is in the process of printing out all of the sonnets on cards in large font and reckons each of the 14-line poems will take about a minute each to recite.
"I’ve taught Shakespeare’s plays over many years but I have never really studied the sonnets before," admitted Ian, a published novelist and poet.
"Some are extremely difficult to read out because the pronunciation of certain words is different.
"I hope that the fundraiser will get support and that people will drop in for a moment to listen.
"Locally people are enthusiastic about the Iain Dall Festival. We have managed to earn quite a reputation as being a friendly festival as some of the competitions can be a bit formal and frightening. It’s great experience, in a friendly atmosphere, particularly for novice pipers."
You can register sponsorship for Sonnet-a-Thon at The Shieling in Gairloch, or contact Ian by email: mackenzie@iambik.org
