Nova Scotia Author Tours Highlands
Gaelic Scholar and author Effie Rankin from the Province of Nova Scotia will be making a book tour of the Highlands and Islands this month.
The tour which begins on Sunday 9th and ends on 21st October is intended to promote Mrs Rankin's book and to promote literature that strengthens ties between Nova Scotia and Scotland. CBU Press is hopeful that the contacts made will lead to increased export of its books and to future publishing partnerships.
The book, titled “As a'Bhràighe - Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan the Ridge MacDonald” (1794-1868), chronicles the life and works of the poet, who immigrated with his family in 1816 from Lochaber to Nova Scotia.
The book tour will take place at the following venues:
Mrs Rankin and Cape Breton University Press publisher Mike Hunter will visit Glasgow, Lochaber, Fort William, Skye, Inverness and Stornoway, where Effie Rankin will give lectures on Allan the Ridge and his poetry, as well as the tradition of Gaelic poetry and song as experienced in 19th-century Nova Scotia. In Stornoway, the book will be featured in the Gaelic showcase at the Royal National Mod.
The tour is made possible by an industry development grant from the Nova Scotia Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, which will cover much of the costs.
"Mrs. Rankin's book makes an important contribution to our understandings of the lives of Highland Gaels in Nova Scotia," says publisher Mike Hunter.
"Working in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage to develop and promote our literary culture we hope not only to spread the word about this piece of our Gaelic heritage, but to attract attention to Nova Scotia literature in general-Cape Breton in particular."
As a' Bhràighe is the first compilation of the known works of Allan the Ridge, who lived at Mabou Ridge for more than thirty years before moving to Antigonish County. He is considered a ‘seanchaidh’, a tradition-bearer, who had inherited an extraordinary wealth of lore-of language and music, of clan legend and history. It was the rich legacy from the Braes of Lochaber that often inspired and motivated him to assume the role of seanchaidh for his branch of the Keppoch MacDonalds.
"It's particularly appropriate for us to visit the Lochaber area," notes Mr. Hunter. The tour focuses primarily on the Highlands and Islands areas of western Scotland, but "to be able to bring the poems of this great tradition-bearer back to the place of his birth is gratifying."
The connection is also well established by means of a cooperation agreement between the province of Nova Scotia and Highland Council. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two has produced many fruitful relationships.
"Our visit would not have been possible without the wonderful cooperation of the staff of Highland Council," Hunter adds, in addition to the encouragement of officials at Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage.
Councillor Michael Foxley, Vice Convener of The Highland Council said: “This historic book reclaims the powerful links between Mabou and the Braes of Lochaber, through the vitality of their shared Gaelic culture.”
Effie Rankin was born in North Uist of the Western Isles of Scotland-in a village where Gaelic, and remains, the language of choice. She emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1972 as part of a Gaelic programming initiative in Inverness schools. She has been involved in many aspects of teaching: regular school, night classes, summer school, weekend immersions in the United States and other parts of Canada, and also as a member of the Celtic Studies Dept. of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish.
Celebrated Cape Breton writer Alistair MacLeod notes that As a' Bhràighe "deals with the genesis of creativity on both sides of the Atlantic ... a gift to the Gaelic spirit and those who wish to expand their knowledge of things Celtic."
For further details please contact: Morag Anna Macleod 01478 613835
or Mike Hunter 001 902 563 1955.