Daughter to perform archive songs of Gaelic 'girl with golden voice' Flora MacNeil
Flora MacNeil was spotted when performing in Edinburgh as a teenager
She was the “girl with the golden voice” from Barra, who became one of Scotland’s finest traditional singers.
Now, songs from the previously unreleased archive of singer Flora MacNeil, are to be performed at a Highlands festival, by her daughter Maggie MacInnes.
The Kalokerinos Tapes, which were recorded by Australian folklorist Dr James Kalokerinos, includes about 180 songs, including many which have rarely been heard, along with some songs Flora made popular, which were recorded from 1955 to 1961 on reel-to-reel tape at MacNeil’s home.
MacNeil, who was born in 1928, worked in the telephone exchange in Edinburgh as a teenager, when she began to perform regularly at concerts and ceilidhs in the city. There, she attracted the attention of folklorists and ethnomusicologists, before having a long career performing around the world.
Over the years to follow, MacNeil performed on global stages, acting as an ambassador for Gaelic Scotland and inspiring many Gaelic singers on the Scottish music scene today. In 1992, she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to Scottish culture and was inducted to the first ever Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
At the time, Hands up for Trad described MacNeil as being “among the finest singers ever to emerge from Scotland” and a “vital force throughout the revival of Gaelic music”.
She recorded two albums, Craobh nan Ubhal in 1976 and Orain Floraidh in 2000.
The organisation added: “Heiress to a vast treasure-trove of ancient ballads and work-songs preserved through generations of her family, she spearheaded the rescue of Gaelic singing from the Victorianised, pseudo-classical straitjacket that was threatening to strangle it, and brought it to the world in all its original, unadorned glory.”
MacInnes, who is an award-winning Gaelic singer and musician herself, will perform original arrangements of songs from the previously unreleased private archive, paying tribute to her mother and to other tradition bearers who passed on the songs to her as she was growing up. Accompanying her will be musicians including Wendy Weatherby, Calum Park, Ailis Sutherland, Dan Brown and Alex Palmer.
Calum Alex Macmillan, chief executive of Fèisean nan Gàidheal, organisers of Blas Festival in Portree, Skye, said: “This show is a remarkable window into Flora MacNeil’s extraordinary repertoire and the rich Gaelic singing tradition she carried with her from Barra to stages around the world.
“It is especially fitting that these recordings are being brought to life by Flora’s daughter Maggie and we are delighted to bring this powerful and deeply personal show to Blas audiences and to celebrate the enduring legacy of one of Gaelic Scotland’s greatest voices.”
MacNeil died after a short illness in 2015, aged 86.
The Blas Festival, which runs from 4 to12 September, is a celebration of Gaelic culture, bringing outstanding performances to venues across the region, from village halls to arts centres.
The Kalokerinos Tapes will be performed on 9 September at Cultarlann Inbhir Nis, Inverness and on 10 September at Las Cinema and Theatre in Portree.
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