Monday 17/10/05 - Royal National Mod (Day 2)

Today sees the start of the main children's competitions. Mrs B's granddaughter is off bright and early to take part in two competitions: singing, at An Lanntair, at 9 a.m.. Mrs B and myself join her at 10.30 in the Old Gym at the Nicolson Institue for a recitation. I know the poem almost as well as the lass. It's about a dog who carries a big bone. When he comes to a river, he looks in and sees another big dog with a bone. he drops his bone and jumps at the other dog. Splash! Afterwards, we wend our way towards the Sports Centre across the road. The Old Gym was a bit delapidated, but the Sports Centre is nice and new.

The big games hall has been filled with hundreds of seats, staging, banners for the Mod and its sponsorts. As well as 4 BBC TV cameras. Before we go in, we meet up with one of mrs B's nephews. Two of his daughters are singing in a duet. We sit beside the windows screening the swimming pool. Then we head into the hall to listen to the duets. I record two of them on my MP3-player. Having done that, we all head back to Newton for lunch. The lassie is disappointed she did not win anything. She had won in the local Glasgow Mod earlier in the year. As compensation, she is allowed to go and stay with her cousins in the family caravan at Reef, Uig. After dinner, I take mrs B up to hear the prize winners' concert in the Sports Centre. As we go out the strains of the pipe band waft on the evening wind, but we can't place it. Turns out they're right outside the sports centre. We go into the packed hall to listen to some remarkable performances by youngsters as young as 5. One little boy goes wildly off key as he has to reach an upper G four times. Some very creditable instrumentalists, such as accordion, melodeon, piano and piper. A 16-year old lad, a cousin of mrs B's, pipes the concert open. He sweeps the board every time he takes part in a competition. One girl of 5 can barely be heard as she goes through her song, but everybody keeps completely quiet. Concert finishes at 9.15. As we head back down Island Road, I have to catch mrs B as she stumbles over an unevenness in the road. No damage done.