PEI Students Visit to Skye & Lochalsh - March 2004

Nineteen pupils from Colonel Grey High School, Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island visited Scotland for the week 13th to 20th March. Three adults including Rob MacDonald, a member of staff in the school, accompanied the pupils. They were part of a pilot project to introduce Gaelic as a subject into the school. It transpires that the class that Rob MacDonald led represented the first time ever that Gaelic was taught as a subject in formal education in PEI. Their visit to Scotland was designed to expose them to more spoken Gaelic and to provide them with a better understanding of the cultural background of the Gaidhealtachd. This visit was also the first by school pupils from PEI to Skye & Lochalsh. Given this, and the fact that Skye & Lochalsh has considerable historical ties with PEI, it was felt that as much as possible be done to ensure that this study visit proved successful.
As it turned out the visit proved highly successful from all viewpoints (notwithstanding some spectacularly bad weather the group experienced) and this success was in large measure as result of the efforts made by many to welcome, connect with entertain them. Already there are thoughts about a reciprocal visit to PEI by young people from Skye & Lochalsh.
This visit was given financial support by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Highland Council, An Tarsainn, Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise & LEADER+.

On Tuesday morning the group met with Anne Martin at Columba 1400 and she gave them a short workshop on Gaelic songs. Thereafter they went to the Museum of Island Life in Kilmuir, which had been opened especially for the group by proprietor, Jonathan MacDonald. The afternoon was spent at Portree High School where Mr AJ MacDonald had arranged from them to sit in on a Gaelic class and a Gaelic medium science class. Thereafter, Mr R MacVicar, another of the school’s Gaelic teachers, gave them a short introduction to shinty.

Later that evening a Council sponsored reception was held for them in Tigh na Sgìre. They were formally welcomed in Gaelic by Councillor Iain MacDonald and a number of senior pupils from the High school joined the group and entertained them with songs, pipe tunes, music on the clàrsach and such like. The efforts of Shona Paterson to arrange for the Skye youngsters to come along should be recognised. Each member of the PEI party was given CDs of local traditional music courtesy of An Drochaid and Macmeanmna.

On Sunday 14th March the group were picked up in Glasgow by three mini-buses, one of which took their heavy luggage directly to Skye. The other buses brought them north stopping at Loch Lomondside and the NTS visitor centre in Glencoe. It was particularly pleasing that the NTS have included a good deal of Gaelic in their interpretation there and immediately the group felt that they were in a country in which Gaelic was an integral and important part of its life. Thereafter, the group was transported to Sabhal Mòr where they were to stay for the next four nights.
On Monday morning the group took part in a range of activities arranged by Angela Gillies of Sabhal Mòr. This includes a tour of the college, a workshop on the teenagers' Gaelic website Sgleog and a short Gaelic lesson. In the afternoon they visited the exhibition at Clan Donald Centre and then had a walk to the deserted settlement at Leitir Fura. They were accompanied on this by ranger, John Phillips who provided them with insights into the area's cultural and natural history. In the evening the group were invited to a musical and social session with Sabhal Mòr students in the Talla Mhòr. This event, which was also organised by Angela Gillies, proved very successful with, among other things, the PEI students sang Gaelic songs they had learned in class in Charlottetown.

On Wednesday morning the group toured the crofting villages of Tarskavaig, Tokavaig and Ord. Some of the group indulged in a bit of hill-walking that morning. Later they visited the Traditional Music School attached to Plockton High School where director, Dougie Pincock and students at the school welcomed them. Dougie organised an impromptu dancing lesson - the group had been introduced to 'Strip the Willow' by the SMO students and they wanted another shot at it and the folk at Plockton obliged. Here the group also met with Kate Beaton, Iain Johnstone and other members of the High School staff as well as Rae MacEachern and two PEI student teachers currently on placement in Kyle and Kyleakin Primary Schools.
The next day, after another short Gaelic class provided by Iain MacPherson, the group left SMO for Inverness, stopping off at Eilean Donan and Urquhart castles on the way. Later that day they visited Culloden battlefield and in the evening they were entertained by Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhirnis and Gaelic medium pupils from Millburn Academy.
The group headed back to Glasgow by train the next day.