Skye Camanachd & Lewis Camanachd Contest “Kaid” MacLean Cup | |
23 February 2017 Skye Camanachd and Lewis Camanachd will once again contest the “Kaid” MacLean Cup at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 25 February 2017. The trophy, The ‘Kaid’ Maclean Cup, was presented in John “Kaid” MacLean’s memory by his friend, William MacIntosh and the inaugural match was played in Oban on 1 January 1935 between Oban Celtic and Glasgow Skye, with the Oban side winning 9-1. It is not believed to have been played for again until 16 May 2015 when Skye Camanachd and Kingussie contested the trophy at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree as part of a weekend of commemorations to mark 100 years since the Battle of Festubert. Kingussie won that encounter on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Skye Camanachd beat Lewis Camanachd to win the trophy at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 27 February 2016.
John “Kaid” MacLean features in The Great Book of Skye. John 'Kaid' Maclean. MM. 14 May 1885 - 14 January 1932
John Maclean was of a well-known Skye family. His father was a leader of the Land League in Skye in the 1880s. He was also involved with Skye Camanachd in the early years of the club. A brother, Angus Archibald Neil Maclean was killed during WW1 and another brother Rev Charles Maclean was minister of Fairfield Parish Church, Govan, Glasgow, and latterly at Stanley, Perthshire. A further brother, William Maclean (born in Portree in 1881), had a distinguished military career, serving in the Boer War, WW1 and in the Army Educational Corps in WW2, culminating in one of the highest ranks attained by a member of the Skye crofting community when he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. A sister, elocutionist Mary B. MacMillan, was prominent in Scottish life. Kaid MacLean joined the Royal Engineers aged 19 as a Telegraphist and he was mobilised in Aldershot in August 1914. He reached the rank of Sargent and was recognised with military honours such as the Military Medal for Bravery before being wounded (gas) in 1918. The word “Kaid” is Arabic for Master or Leader. It is believed that the nickname was given after General Sir Harry Aubret De Vere MacLean who was known as Kaid. MacLean trained 100 soldiers in Gibraltar 1n 1877 at the instruction of the Sultan of Morocco. MacLean spent the next 30 years in the Sultan’s service, becoming a well-known figure. John “Kaid” MacLean settled back into Glasgow life where he got married and he was employed as a Post Office telegraph department. Kaid was a versatile entertainer. He composed poems and songs in Gaelic and English including The Shinty Referee and The Furnace Shinty Song in honour of their Camanachd Cup winning team. He was a popular singer of Gaelic and English songs at concerts and he was also an entertaining story teller who was well-known to Highland audiences. As well as playing shinty for Skye Camanachd before WW1, Kaid was a pioneer of the Shinty / Hurling internationals between Scotland and Ireland. Indeed he refereed the meeting between the two countries at Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday 2 August 1924 in full Highland attire no less. The match was part of the Tailtean Games and Scotland won by two goals to one that day and their squad included three Skye Camanachd players; A MacLean, Hugh Nicolson and Colin Murchison. John Kaid Maclean was killed in January 1932 (aged 46) by a train – the Mallaig to Glasgow Express – at Ardlui while on a stalking expedition with a couple of friends (who were both injured in the incident) in the Loch Sloy forest on Loch Lomonside and he was widely mourned. A large stone cairn near the railway line at Ardlui was erected as a tribute and it marks the spot of his death. A book of his poems was posthumously published. Kaid’s friend William MacIntosh put up the Kaid MacLean Cup in his honour and Oban Celtic beat Glasgow Skye 9-1 to lift the trophy on 1 January 1935. Credit – Much of the information above came from The Great Book of Skye by Norman MacDonald & Cailean MacLean Read much more about John Kaid Maclean, his life and family in The Great Book of Skye. You can purchase a copy at all goof bookshops or visit www.greatbookofskye.com |