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CHRISTMAS ISSUE of the ULLAPOOL NEWS
Advance Warning!
The Christmas Issue of the Ullapool News and the last for 2021 will be on sale on Friday 17 December.
Please email: advertising@theullapoolnews.co.uk to reserve space for your Christmas adverts.
Full details for sending in Christmas Greetings etc will follow.
PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Ullapool News for 2 weeks after this date, the first issue of the new year will be on sale on Friday 7 January 2022.

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Bitten by the Bookbug

High Life Highland libraries has welcomed back scores of parents and their young children to libraries for the return of Bookbug.

The early years programme aims to inspire a love of stories, songs and rhymes from birth, supporting children’s language, learning and social skills.

HLH Principal Libraries Manager Julie Corcoran said: “Over the course of the last 18 months, our library staff have continued to sing songs, say rhymes and read stories to young children online – so being able to once again hold these sessions in person in our libraries has been fantastic.

“Bookbug isn’t just about books, it’s about relationships and trust, supporting the development of rhythm, and to attune the ear to rhyme which contributes to language development and musicality.

“In these times, there is nothing more valuable than spending 30 minutes with your wee one, sitting down, cuddled up, sharing books and singing.”

High Life Highland libraries are free to join, giving you access to not just physical books, magazines, newspapers and computers, but thousands of titles through its online service too.

Bookbug takes place in Ullapool library on Mondays at 10:30am and is suitable for babies and toddlers. 

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CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GIVING TREE

The Church of Scotland knows, through no fault of your own, that this year is going to be tough for so many individuals & families in our area once again, with the impact of the pandemic still pushing people who were previously managing into poverty.   For some children, young adults, and the elderly Christmas can be just like any other day, but we want to make sure it’s different and as special as possible this year.   We will be offering the Giving Tree again this year but in a slightly different way!  We want to really help those who could use a wee boost even if it’s in a small way! This pandemic has affected local groups and our wee church as well so our resources may be limited this year but, with your help, we can hopefully bring some Christmas Cheer to several in the village! This could be in the way of paying a fuel bill, providing one gift per child in the family, or a Christmas Food parcel.

How can you help?!

1. You can apply if you need help. Simply put your name, address and how we can possibly help on a piece of paper, ie help with a bill or a gift for my children or a Christmas food hamper.  Then pop your message into the locked prayer boxes (at the Parish Hub, or the Hardware) or a box at the New Broom.
2. You can nominate someone you know who could use a wee Christmas boost and again, tell us on a piece of paper how we can help.  Then pop the note into the locked prayer boxes (at the church, or the Hardware) or a box at the New Broom
3. You can put a donation into the locked prayer boxes or a box at the New Broom. These monies will go towards fuel vouchers.
4. You can grab a tag off the Giving Tree at the Kirk from (Dec 5th) this will have a gender and age. Bring your unwrapped parcel to the New Broom or The Kirk by December 18^th.

Any questions get in touch with Rev. Heidi Jones Hercus 07506031018 or email hhercus@churchofscotland,org.uk

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COIGACH AND ASSYNT COLLECTION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

In 2015, the project Music & Tales of Coigach & Assynt was proposed by Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape partly as an attempt to gather some of these tunes and stories – to write them down before they are lost – and partly also to make new music, inspired by the landscape and its people. The opportunity was there to preserve some of our heritage and share it with a wider audience.

In 2019, journalist Lorraine Kelly interviewed ten people from Coigach and Assynt: some of the interviewees were prominent figures in the music and art world of Scotland; some, highly-respected grassroots tradition-bearers. In early 2020, we tasked the designer and musician Ronan Martin with distilling the contents of those fascinating interviews and shaping them into a book, to be illustrated with archive photographs. The Coigach & Assynt Collection is the first collection of tunes and songs of this remote corner of rural Scotland.

 

REVIEW

The Coigach & Assynt Collection is a beautifully presented, absorbing and moving celebration in music, words and pictures of the people, past and present, of this remote corner of Scotland.  It is a marvellous record of how the landscape, its ownership, its treatment and its stewardship have influenced and shaped people’s lives. The research is thorough and detailed; the presentation invigorates stories, injecting life and creativity to the tales and tunes which are passed through the generations.

The geographical significance of the songs, tunes, words and stories in The Coigach & Assynt Collection is significant and fascinating.  Most people are familiar with stories of emigrants from the Highlands, but the connections described here give an insight into their lives and their contribution to their new found lands. There is a wonderfully vivid picture in my mind when I hear of Coigach men meeting in Montana, California or South Africa, speaking Gaelic, singing songs, forming pipe bands…

It’s a striking feature of this collection that a fair number of songs and tunes have been written – or should I say, ‘made’ – in recent decades.  I love this idea of ‘making’ a tune or song, as each is influenced in its composition by its performer and their own ideas and skills.   And, again, it emphasises that written music can only ever be a guide to the essence of the music itself.  That our young people, significantly Mairearad Green, Rachel Newton, Rory Matheson, Joseph Peach, three generations of the Mackenzie family, and others, are showing such confidence and strength in their own compositions, is down to the abundance, richness and health of the musical environment in which they have been nurtured.  Ali ‘Beag’ MacLeod, Kenny and Rod Mackenzie, Joan Hutchison, Al Fraser, Kevin Macleod and their band-mates and colleagues have given tireless encouragement to all. How pleased Maggie West and Kitty Alice would have been had they known how the generations would flourish, taking their place in the tradition, adding their own contribution and carrying it on.  And carrying it beyond our boundaries.  Through them the world is waking up to the richness and depth of their culture: it is priceless and enduring, summed up, for me, in Mairearad Green’s musical response to Ali ‘Beag’s’ wonderful story You Can’t Play a House!  It has been a real privilege to share in this journey with these musicians and tradition-bearers.

Valerie Bryan