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Còmhradh air crìonadh nan cladaichean
In our second community recording for Aire air Sunnd there are two new features. Firstly we’re very grateful to the Tobar an Dualchais project, and of course to the next-of-kin, for making a recording of Ruairidh na Càrnaich available for discussion in the same manner we used for “Còmhradh air Blàr Chàirinis“. This was a suggestion and request that came from the Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath Gaelic group themselves, to which Flòraidh Forrest at Tobar an Dualchais responded immediately and most helpfully, going the “extra mile” to additionally commission a transcription of the recording, which has also been a great help in creating a Clilstore unit for the full YouTube clip. It was Ùisdean’s idea to pick this particular clip, in which Ruairidh talks about historical coastal erosion in North Uist, in a recording made in 1958. With climate change now such a “hot topic” it makes particularly interesting listening to hear how it was thought about and discussed in times gone by.
Secondly, we also experimented with a “hybrid” format for the meeting, with most of the participants meeting together in Sgoil Chàirinis, while a couple of others joined in on Zoom. Obviously, it’s easier to hold a conversation with people all in the same room together, though that does pose recording challenges, particularly when folk are quite naturally more likely to all talk at once, and you’re trying to use the ordinary everyday recording equipment we all now have to hand in our phones or laptop computers. So it was interesting to see how that would work with some people also joining in remotely. We’ve done some editing with the final recording to select “best bits” where the recorded conversation is clearest. So we have missed some parts out, but hopefully viewers will still get a good idea of how the discussion went, after listening to Ruairidh’s high quality audio recording in full.
We have again added Closed Caption subtitles as an optional extra, and these can be auto-translated into a wide range of languages, including English, from the original Gaelic, using the YouTube settings wheel. It may be worth bringing to the attention of Gaelic learners that you can also slow down the playback speed of the clip (without altering the pitch!) if there are any parts that you struggle to follow in real time.
Members and supporters of Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, the North Uist Historical Society, listen to and talk about Ruairidh na Càrnaich’s Gaelic discussion of Uist coastal erosion with John MacInnes, as presented on the Tobar an Dualchais website. Part of the Ideas Fund “Aire air Sunnd” project, in which the Universities of Aberdeen, St Andrews, and the Highlands and Islands team up with Island Voices to provide research support for well-being initiatives on the island.
The full details of the recording of Ruairidh na Càrnaich are as follows: Cunntas Air Crionadh Nan Cladaichean Ann An Uibhist A Tuath, Roderick MacDonald, (contributor), John MacInnes, (fieldworker), ref: SA1958.171.B4, the School of Scottish Studies Archives, the University of Edinburgh. Permission, which is gratefully acknowledged, has been granted for this use only.
The full transcript is also available as a Wordlinked Clilstore unit here – http://multidict.net/cs/11280 – and here – https://clilstore.eu/cs/11280.
Karaoke sa Ghàidhlig
Roll over, Beethoven!
Irish-speaker Seán Ó Muiris has announced a new voluntary and non-profit initiative to replicate his work in producing an Irish language karaoke repertoire with a parallel Scottish Gaelic stream. First fruits can be tasted in the YouTube link above, with his rendition of Runrig’s classic “Alba”.
Scottish Gaelic enthusiasts “of a certain age” may recall a previous venture in the karaoke genre, spearheaded by Comann an Luchd-Ionnsachaidh, nach maireann, in collaboration with Clydebank College (also no longer with us in the shape pictured here).
As Gordon Wells’s notes to that pioneering production point out, “Scottish Gaels had of course … developed their own (pre-electronic) means of musical entertainment without instrumental backing, in the shape of puirt-à-beul…”. He also remarked that “Singing can be very helpful for the language learner. It allows you to concentrate on your pronunciation, and helps to fix unfamiliar vocabulary in your memory.” So, given that the original cassette-based package may not have fully withstood the test of time, this new venture in the world of Gaelic karaoke could well be overdue!
Seán makes the point strongly that his innovative approach is undertaken in a completely voluntary capacity, without any institutional backing, for the benefit of the Gaelic languages. You can hear him talking about it in detail in this interview in Irish for RTE. With over 100 karaoke versions of Irish songs on his YouTube channel he now wishes to start something similar for Scottish Gaelic and is offering to run free training seminars for anyone who might be interested in helping out.
His graphic below gives more detail:
Same-time Sub-titles
Archie Campbell’s peatcutting skills and lore – well-known to Island Voices followers – were given a sparkling fresh polish in the progress report from the Gaelic Automatic Speech Recognition project being led by Will Lamb – another Island Voices veteran.
While the overall aim of the project is more ambitious still, the new Gaelic audio alignment tool was unveiled as a step along the way, using videos from our Series 2 collections, particularly featuring the ever-popular Peatcutting documentary plus the talking head interview clips of Archie talking about the work and associated social customs.
Will’s tweet shows a short sample clip.
But you can see the videos in full (plus another documentary sample looking at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig) by following this link. (Clips 724-726 for the peatcutting, 746 for SMO.)
This raises an interesting question for Island Voices, going forward. We’ve generally avoided adding sub-titles to our videos – with some specific exceptions – though we have made a point of supplying scrollable read-along Clilstore transcripts in almost all cases. This latest innovation suggests on-screen same-time sub-titles may be about to become an additional option – for our Gaelic films at least. What do our followers think of that?
Gaelic Speech Recognition
Island Voices have made a significant contribution to this fascinating project led by Will Lamb, formally of Colaisde Bheinn na Faoghla and now at Edinburgh University.
Follow the tweet, or this link, not just for a full techie description that is clearly laid out, but also to see how the transcribed videos created by the Guthan nan Eilean project have been visually enhanced by Quorate‘s text aligner to automatically produce same-language Gaelic subtitles.
It’s dazzling stuff! And this is still the beginning, thanks to the seed funding from Soillse for collaborative work. Next stages promise to bring in additional partners and much wider applications. Watch this space!
Locks, Links, and Languages
It’s April 2020 and the global lockdown continues, whether you’re on the West coast of Scotland or in West Bengal. We’re largely “confined to quarters” in the international bids to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet has many faults, but now offers the potential to afford mental release in times of physical restriction, at least to those fortunate to have access to it. Here’s an example.
Animesh Biswas is from Nadia, West Bengal, India. Graduating from the Department of English at the University of Kalyani, he is an independent reasearcher working on Bangla folk songs. He has no training in music, but is learning from the folk singers he meets during his research work.
Attending the North-Eastern Hill University International Language Fest in October 2019, he made acquaintance with Gordon Wells (who was speaking about Island Voices, and its potential as a model for other language communities) and they’ve maintained contact through Facebook since. Having heard him sing in Shillong, Gordon was delighted just a few days ago to receive a recording from Animesh over Facebook Messenger, made in his home in Nadia. Followed by snaps from his camera, and some toing and froing over recording revisions, the ingredients were quickly all present for a new video and Clilstore unit, presenting a Bengali song in the Baul tradition with wordlinked transcript. Ta da!
For the full wordlinked transcript, follow this Clilstore link: http://multidict.net/cs/8515
In addition, Animesh provided this English translation of the lyrics of the song:
You wish to chain my hands and my feet. How will you chain my mind?
You may shut my eyes and my mouth. How will you bind my spirit?
I couldn’t go to the banks of the Jamuna to fetch water. Nor, Sakhi, could I get a glimpse of him who stirs my passion.
You may refuse my wishes and deny my caress. How will you confine my passion?
I bring no shame to my family, nor stigma. What’s wrong with making him a garland round my body?
You may lock me in a room, block my way. How will you alter the cosmic design?
How?
Animesh describes the Baul tradition as being at the confluence of Vaishnavism, Sufism, and Tantric Buddhism. Devotion to the Almighty is the essential component, here expressed through the love of the devotee Radha for Krishna.
Speaking of this song, he says “I think in a way it conveys how pent-up we are in today’s world. Even though in literature we get to visit our dreamland vividly, in actual life it is a distant possibility.”
Perhaps we may also take inspiration from Radha’s spirit of defiance and determination to transcend earthly shackles in a period of physical privation?
“An Èisteachd nam Bàrd”
Maggie Smith has been quietly putting a series of fascinating poetry podcasts she’s made on her website over the past few months. With the recent addition of the fourth and final one, the series is now complete. The table below will give you quick links to this full series of poetic Lewis voices. Follow the “Blogpost” link to get to Maggie’s introduction, or go straight to the podcast via “Soundcloud”.
We’ve added it to our dedicated Magaidh Smith page too, where you can also find links to her collections of stories and dramas. Happy listening!
| Podcast | Links |
| 1. Domhnall Greumach, Tolstadh Bho Thuath, Eilean Leòdhais | Blogpost Soundcloud |
| 2. Criosaidh NicIomhair, Breascleit, Eilean Leòdhais | Blogpost Soundcloud |
| 3. Tormod MacLeoid Siadar a’ Chladaich, Eilean Leòdhais | Blogpost Soundcloud |
| 4. Uilleam MacMhathain, Na Fleasarain, An Rubha, Eilean Leòdhais | Blogpost Soundcloud |
End of Ipadio
Well, this is sad news, if not unexpected.
“Dear friends, loyal broadcasters, educators, explorers, adventurers, fund-raisers, commentators, reporters and all round great people.
Sadly, ipadio will soon be shutting down :(. As a free service that has never wanted to spoil your fun with adverts there is only so long we can keep it going and the time has come for us to say farewell.
We are immensely proud of all the great things you, our community, have done with the technology we created and our lives are richer for sharing in all your stories. So a huge thank you to you all!
We are now closed to new registrations but the broadcasting platform, the apps and the management daashboard will remain up and working until the 3rd June 2019.
So sorry we can’t continue to support all your fascinating and inspiring channels.
Thanks Again & Goodbye
The ipadio Team”
Island Voices has put a good number of audio recordings online using Ipadio, so we’ll have to migrate these to a different platform now. This may take some time. Please bear with us…
Dramatic Recordings!
Magaidh Smith has been busy since her conversation with Gordon Wells in February! In the latest post on her website she introduces a new series of Gaelic recordings consisting of a collection of dramas conceived and produced on Lewis. As she explains, these formed a part of the work of the community group Cabraich. Originating in 2007 the works have seen various adaptations and translations since then, and they’re now available as open access audio files online.
But that’s not all! The Guthan nan Eilean project was pleased to introduce Magaidh to the Clilstore platform, which enables anyone to place an online transcript beside a media file (video or audio), so that you can listen and read at the same time – an invaluable aid for someone who’s learning the language, especially as the text is “wordlinked”. This means you can check any new vocabulary with a single click as you go.
Here’s the table of Magaidh’s new recordings.
| Drama | Credits | Links |
| An Cèilidhiche
|
Sgrìobhaiche: Eric I Dòmhnallach Cleasachd: Magaidh Nic a Ghobhainn, Alasdair Mac Ill Fhinnein Clàradh: Dòmhnall Saunders |
Soundcloud Clilstore |
| Fo Sgàile Shuaineabhail
|
Sgrìobhaiche: Eric I Dòmhnallach Cleasachd: Magaidh Nic a Ghobhainn Clàradh: Keith Stringer, Uig Media |
Soundcloud Clilstore |
| Coinneach Tormod Mo Dhuine
|
Sgrìobhaiche: Alasdair Caimbeul Cleasachd: Magaidh Nic a Ghobhainn Clàradh:Keith Stringer, Uig Media |
Soundcloud Clilstore |
| Os Mo Chionn Sheinn an Uiseag
|
Sgrìobhaiche: Eric I Dòmhnallach Cleasachd: Magaidh Nic a Ghobhainn Clàradh:Dòmhnall Saunders |
Soundcloud Clilstore |
We’ve also created a new Magaidh Smith Island Voices page which brings together all her recordings – all now also available through Clilstore.
Shantiniketan Presentations
Island Voices co-ordinator Gordon Wells’s “lightning tour” of India concluded with a session in the Bhasha Bhavana (Languages Building) of the world-famous Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan. Wearing hats from both Guthan nan Eilean and Soillse (for which he is the project manager), Gordon Wells delivered a summary of the overall Island Voices project while highlighting the partnership with Soillse, particularly in relation to Saoghal Thormoid.
Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s talk. (Click to enlarge.)
CFEL publications. (Click to enlarge.)
Like the previously visited Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Shantiniketan also hosts a Centre for Endangered Languages, another link in a chain that connects many different parts of India. Soillse Director, Conchúr Ó Giollagáin, who also spoke in all three venues on the tour, is keen to develop dialogue and links between Irish and Scottish Gaelic interests and Indian efforts and initiatives to protect and promote linguistic diversity. In his talks on Irish and Scottish Gaelic culture and demography he noted in particular the striking disparity in international academic attention and resources devoted to India, with its rich mix of languages and cultures, in comparison with, for example, Western Europe which has far less linguistic variety.
The speakers, hosted by Profs Kailash Pattanaik and Abhijit Sen. (Click to enlarge.)
Both visitors certainly found Shantiniketan an inspiring venue to complete their tour, where they were warmly received by faculty members, research scholars, and students, and treated to a fascinating tour of the campus, as well as Rabindra Bhavan, which houses the Rabindranath Tagore museum.
Rabindranath Tagore’s house. (Click to enlarge.)
A PDF of Gordon’s presentation with live links can be viewed here.
Talking with Magaidh Smith
Facebook turns up gems sometimes! A reply to a post in the “Scottish Gaelic Speakers Unite!” group led Gordon Wells to uncover a new (to him) Gaelic treasure trove – the online world of Magaidh Smith. Old classmates from the early days of Ceòlas, they met again this week, this time in Glasgow, when Gordon was able to quiz Magaidh on what she’s been up to in more recent years, including traditional tales, drama, poetry and local history. She’s not been idle!
Clearly, Magaidh’s work chimes nicely with the Guthan nan Eilean orientation towards capturing local voices and providing them with a wider platform. We’ll be watching this space closely!
http://www.magaidhsmith.co.uk/
In the meantime here’s a table of Magaidh’s Soundcloud recordings of stories from local Lewis tradition.
| Story | Description | Links |
| S daor a cheannaich mi fiadhachd | MacAulay men at Loch Langabhat and the landmark Clach Bhess | Magaidh’s blog post Soundcloud |
| An Seann Fhiadh | Deer hunting at Loch Langabhat on the border of Lewis and Harris in days gone by. Who was the wee wizen man? | Soundcloud |
| Fir Mhealista | Mealista men who went to gather a cargo of wood for roof timbers. A love story and what is extant of a dream song. | Soundcloud |
| Sabaist Mhor Wick | Circa 1870 when the herring fishing was booming a large number of fishing boats were in Wick Harbour when a fight broke out. This account includes details of men from Lochs who were in the fracas. | Soundcloud |
| Ishbal Nighean Dhomhaill Ban | The love Story of Ishbal nighean Dhomhnaill Ban an t-Struim who herded the cattle in Uig and Calum MacAmhlaigh from Harris. | Magaidh’s blog post Soundcloud |
STOP PRESS UPDATE – 15/04/19. Island Voices now has a Magaidh Smith page with a full collection of her online recordings, all supplemented with Clilstore transcripts. Check it out!
Island Voices Videos
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Island Voices - Guthan nan Eilean 