Eight-year-old is hailed a Highland dancing sensation

AN eight-year-old from Helensburgh is celebrating winning seven Highland dancing championships in the space of just 17 days.

Successful Highland dancer Eilidh Gammons. Picture: Contributed

Eilidh Gammons won her most recent title at the Cowall Highland Gathering, the largest games in the world.

She beat off stiff international competition against some dancers four years older than her.

The youngster started dancing at the age of two after watching older sister Catriona compete in competitions.

She won her first championship last August and has since won a total of 17 championships, with many more on the horizon.

The eight-year-old, who wants to become a dance teacher when older, said after her most recent Cowall wins that she was “happy to have defended” her titles.

Her teacher Margaret MacInnes claims the youngster is one of the most successful dancers at the Helensburgh-based Margaret Rose School Of Dance.

She said: “She is absolutely amazing for an eight-year-old. She has got absolutely endless energy and amazing strength. She can jump and leap like you need to do for Highland dancing.

“She has definitely got it. For somebody to be so small and so focused. I’m very proud.”

Mum Lynn Hendry said: “She used to come along to competitions with myself and Catriona and always dance around at them, but you had to turn four before you can start competing at Highland.

“So the minute she turned four, she did her first competition.”

She added: “She has been first, second or third in practically every championship she has gone to since she won her first championship.

“We already had a lot of trophies from her sister and we’ve got significantly more now.”

Eilidh has have five more competitions in the next couple of months before the season comes to an end.

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