The Royal National Mod

The Royal National Mod
Copyright all rights reserved to Monica Pereira 2013
Smashwords Edition

Everyone likes to celebrate.  Celebration is what keeps tradition alive -  it promotes ideas, diversity,  craftsmanship, and unity.  People like to travel all over the world in order to attend different celebrations.  Celebration is a fun time of the year, and some people plot to attend their favourite events at the beginning of their year.

So let us now talk about the Scottish Mod Festival.  It is one of those chirpy festivals where a lot of people join in order to promote song, art, and culture.  Most people gather to attend by the bucket.  Not always is it as lavish as some other traditional events, however it is a lovely traditional celebration which joins the community together.


The Mod was founded by a Church.  The church of Glasgow was a great influence of the development of the Mod festival.  The Mod festival was created in the early years before the development of the modern world in the 1900's.  It was actually developed earlier in 1891.  A great choir was invited to give a Gaelic Concert in the region of Oban.  This region was being lorded over by Lord Achibald Campbell.  The concert was praised very much and it was a large success.  The most noble attended -  this included Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife 'Louise'.  Everyone who attended enjoyed the concert so much that the choir was treated to a special dinner at the Alexandra Hotel.  This great event was also written in writer William Black's novel.  What was more this concert was the first step toward the Mod festival -  every year after choirs were invited to sing in competition.


The Mod has been celebrated on an annual scale since 1892.  The Church helps to fund-raise every event by asking the public to give money so that they may be able to help with the planning of the festival.  Medals are given to those who win the annual competitions -  this is a good incentive for singers and aspiring musicians.  

The Mod has many kinds of competitions.  Of course there are the traditional choral competitions -  but there is more to music then just singing in a choir.  With this noted the traditional music competition is also open to other categories of music expertise -  this includes the fiddle, the bagpipe, the clarsach*1.  Also there are other events like poetry reading, storytelling, Bible reading, drama, and humorous monologue.  Finally there is also shinty*2 competitions.  All competitions are open to children and adults; those who win are invited to a second performance at that ceilidhs*3.


If you are one of those people who want to question the reason for tradition then Mod does have a reason which urges people to want to perform every single year at their favourite event.  The reason is that the event promotes Gaelic language and culture.  This is important because in the modern world there is pressure to leave traditions behind.  Without tradition there is no past, and no history; to tie oneself with tradition people learn to play, learn to sing, and they learn to speak the traditional language fluently.  This upkeeps more then just traditional skills, it also lets the past and present merge so that people young and old can relive the days of the past.
 
People get together to have a good time at the Mod.  It is often covered by the BBC (Scotland) and its highlights are shown on BBC Two and also Radio nan.  The event is often one-hundred percent Gaelic -  the Presenters are Gaelic, the coverage is in Gaelic, and the broadcasters are Gaelic; all speak Gaelic to be part of the traditional past.  Obviously a person who attends might need to brush up on their Gaelic otherwise the event may just sound like a range of runny slurs which is what ha given the Mod its nickname 'Runny Olympics'.
If you are interested in attending the Mod then you may wish to travel to attend the event which changes location every year.  The event is held in August -  so keep your August calendars clear.  Here are the locations; 2013 – Paisley, 2014 – Inverness, 2015 – Oban, 2016 – Western Isles.  Ensure to brush up on your slurry tongue and enjoy this traditional Gaelic music event!


*1 Clarsach -  This is an old harp.  It is commonly known as the English or Celtic Harp.  It is made of a triangle shape and it takes great skill to play.  The item has been closely tied to royalty.

*2 Shinty -  This is a stick and a ball game.  It is played in the Scottish Highlands -  however it did not originate there.  In the past it was an English stick and ball game, however it went out of fashion in England and migrated to Scotland.  It is a little like hockey -  however the player is allowed to shoot the ball in the air and even use both sides of their stick to bat the ball.  Players are also allowed to block and tackle.

*3 Ceilidhs -  This is a place to share music and dance.  It is a traditional social gathering and its name means 'companion'.