Mòd nan Lochan Mòra 2010, our eighth Ohio Mòd, will take place at the Ohio Scottish games, Friday, June 25th to Sunday June 27th.
We will have two judges this year: Sine Anna MacKay and Angus MacDonald.
Sine Anna is a Mòd gold medalist from Scotland and as such she attended the ACGA Mòd in 2008. She has sung in many Mòds in Scotland and has been very involved in the Mòd scene for many years; she is currently organizing the Inverness Mòd in between choir and fiddle practice and performances. She has had much experience adjudicating at Mòds and will be our music adjudicator.
Angus MacDonald has sung in many Mòds, and is a member of the prestigious Largs Gaelic Choir. He has had experience as a mòd co-adjudicator in Scotland and will be our Gaelic language adjudicator.
Both Sine Anna and Angus will teach the workshop on Sunday morning. Angus will judge the poetry competition and Sine Anna will judge the story telling.
The word Mòd (pronounced like the name Maud) is the Gaelic for assembly, meeting, or a court at which local tenant disputes would be settled. More recently it has been used to refer to a Gaelic song and language competition.
Since the speaking of Gaelic in Scotland had been forbidden for many years the language was in danger of becoming extinct. In an effort to prevent this, the Royal National Mòd was started in 1896. It’s aim was to encourage the learning of Gaelic song and poetry, and the use of the written language. Today the Royal National Mòd is a weeklong event, drawing entrants from all over the world. It has resulted in a great revival of Gaelic, to the extent that it is now being taught in schools, with the first all Gaelic High School opening in Glasgow four years ago.
About 21 years ago members of the Gaelic Society of North America started the National Mòd in America with the support of the National Mòd in Scotland. This American Mòd, which takes place at the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania, has evolved into a three-day event, with competitions in song, poetry, storytelling and prose. The National Mòd in America is most supportive of regional Mòds throughout the United States, in order to give Gaelic learners from distant locations the opportunity to participate in Mòds closer to home.
The Great Lakes Gaelic Society was formed in 2003 to promote the learning of Gaelic and to organize an annual Mòd in the Great Lakes Region. A number of people were already learning Gaelic and had expressed an interest in participating in a local Mòd. Mòd nan Lochan Mòra (The Great Lakes Mòd) is modeled on the National Mòd in America and has evolved into a three day event. Although the aim of regional Mòds is to attract local contestants, we still have entrants traveling from other states to compete in our Mòd. The Mòd chair and adjudicator select the categories, songs and poems for the competition.
Please come in and listen to the song competition. We are located in the Fairgrounds office, building 48, to the left of the main gate as you enter the grounds. Just follow the signs to the Gaelic Mod. We close the inner doors to minimize noise, just enter quietly at any time, we have seating for your comfort, and our building is usually cooler than it is outside!
Please come and join us at a waulking demonstration in the afternoon upon the completion of the song competition. Follow the signs to the demonstration; come right in and join us, learn how to shrink tweed to the driving rhythms of the ever popular waulking songs.
Looking for a fun way to end your day at the Ohio Games? Join us for a Mòd Banquet and Ceilidh at the Oberlin Inn on Saturday evening, from 6:00 p.m. till 11:00 p.m. Cost $27.00 per person, children from 3 – 12 years old, $13.50, under 2 years old, $3.00 service charge. To make a reservation, mail your check to Frances Acar, 234 Lowell Dr, Kent, Ohio 44240, by June 10, 2008, with Mod Banquet in the memo line.
For more information on where to learn Gaelic and to learn about Gaelic events go to the Gaelic Society of North America’s website at www.acgamerica.org and follow the links to classes and events.
For information on where to learn Gaelic language and song in Northeast Ohio, email Frances Acar at frances.acar@gmail.com