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Remembering Festubert ………….. 4 Days To Go! | |
11 May 2015 The “An Ionndrainn: Remembering Festubert” concert is sure to be one of the most interesting aspects of the Festubert Commemoration weekend in Portree which starts on Friday 15 May 2015. A weekend of special commemoration events take place to mark the centenary of the Battle of Festubert, one of the earliest and most appalling of all the battles in World War 1, and shinty will play a major part in over the three days. Many lives were lost, including in the shinty playing communities of Portree and Kingussie and the clubs have come together to remember the fallen. The concert takes place at the Fingal Centre, Portree on the evening of Friday 15 May 2015. “An Ionndrainn: Remembering Festubert” is a unique show, comprising music, poetry, readings and visual images. The stellar cast will pay tribute to shinty’s heroes, many of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice. The commemoration is a development of work previously staged over the last two years marking events in World War 1. Presented by shinty commentator and historian Hugh Dan MacLennan, with musical direction by Gary Innes, the centenary of the battle of Festubert is the fixed point being used to contextualise the massive impact the War itself, but in particular this battle, had on Highland communities. Hugh Dan MacLennan said, “The Battle of Festubert saw nearly 20,000 men slaughtered in a ten-day period. It is our focus because it was one of the first great killing battles, which saw death on an industrial scale. Not only that but its impact on Highland communities is beyond belief. Skye lost nearly 600 men in the First World War. Twenty-eight left Portree alone and only 8 came back alive. At least 60 men from Kingussie were killed in the Great War and half of them perished at Festubert. All this from a town with a population of 1,000 at the time.” One of the most poignant moments of the show is when Duncan MacGillivray of Easter Ross plays a set of bag-pipes retrieved from the trenches at Festubert, with a tune called “The Beauly Shinty Club” composed by one of two Paterson brothers who perished there, having captained Beauly in the Camanachd Cup Final of 1913. Former Scotland shinty captain Gary Innes of the group Mànran will lead the musical performance. Amongst the stellar list of guests are Skye’s Donnie Munro, Arthur Cormack, Duncan MacGillivray from Easter Ross, Allan Henderson and Iain McFarlane from Lochaber and singer Linda MacLeod from North Uist. Iain Anderson of the BBC will be assisting with the narration, with Somhairle MacDonald to read his grandfather Sorley Maclean’s poem in memory of Festubert. Representatives of SCOTS Camanachd, including Padre Hector MacKenzie of Skye who will be piping, will take part, as well as play in the shinty matches on Saturday. The soldiers will include one of the most famous piing and military names in Skye history, with Captain Robert Stoddart helping to organise the military contribution. Tickets for the Friday night show are selling quickly. Get yours from www.SkyeRemembersFestubert.com and Fraser MacIntyre Newsagent in Portree and Top Shop, Broadford.
Click on the following links for more information Skye & Lochalsh Remembering WW1 & Festubert and Skye & Lochalsh Remembering WW1 & Festubert |