Flora MacNeil

Born: October 6 1928,

Died: May 15 2015.

APPRECIATIONS of this nature are rarely as inadequate as this one will inevitably be for Flora MacNeil, who has died aged 86, is one of the most remarkable individuals ever to grace the stages and platforms of the wider musical world, never mind the halls and ceilidh places she so often frequented.

Arguably the greatest of all Gaelic singers of the modern era, superlatives were surely invented for her. Flora MacNeil was a matchless performer of Gaelic songs and bearer of a timeless tradition inherited from her mother Annie principally and her mother's sister Màiri Gillies. They, too, were but the temporary custodians of a store of all manner of songs - waulking, work, love and spinning, to name a few. Having learned them from her immediate relations, they were to become iconic emblems and anthems of the people and places she represented so faithfully and spectacularly when offered to the wider world. That happened, largely and somewhat fortuitously, in what is surely the Golden Age of Gaelic collecting, the 1950s.

Having left school on her native island of Barra at the age of 14, having been raised between the great conflicts of the age, Flora played a very full part in the life of the island and its social scene, working in the local telephone exchange.

She absorbed everything that came her way and was fortunate enough to come into contact with many of Bara's finest tradition bearers such as the Coddy. Through time, however, in common with most of her generation, the decision to leave became an imperative. Edinburgh beckoned and a new life, new audiences and new experiences.

Edinburgh in the 1950s was a tradition bearer's paradise with the establishment of the School of Scottish Studies, the scholarship and friendship of Somhairle MacLean, Norman McCaig, John MacInnes, Calum Maclean, Fred MacAulay and a host of others. Flora could not have been in a better place.

Scottish Gaelic tradition had found itself as part of the Festival of Britain and through her role in that, she found herself performing on stages in the capital city which were to lead to experiences beyond her wildest dreams and acclaim befitting one of Gaeldom's greatest ever exponents of song - forever associated with classics such as Mo Rùn Geal Ã'g (one of the greatest of the Ã'rain Mòr, the Big Songs).

The American folk collector Alan Lomax played a key role in the "discovery" and propulsion of Flora into a series of events and appearances which became the fruits of what has been described as the "incalculable importance" of the Lomax decision to identify Flora MacNeil as the stellar talent she was.

Worldwide fame and recognition was to follow and in the next six decades and more she was to hold audiences in the palm of her hand, particularly in live settings where her majesty was fully evidenced.

Of all her talents, (including her beauty) apart from the sheer musicality and wonderful personality, perhaps Flora's greatest trait was her aura on the stage and her presence; her ability to command an audience with grace and aplomb. This was no diva, nor prima donna, but someone unmatched in terms of her appreciation of what she held for forthcoming generations.

That she has passed on much of what she inherited to her family and particularly daughter Maggie, herself a musician of some note, is no surprise. Maggie is one of five children from her marriage to Alister whom she married in 1955 (and who went on to become a very successful lawyer in Glasgow) sadly pre-deceasing Flora last year.

Flora MacNeil's legacy to Gaelic can hardly be measured this close to her passing. That assessment can be for another day but there is little doubt but that much of what we have today of the tradition of Barra, its song and its cultural elements, would long since have disappeared had it not been for Flora.

In some ways Flora may well have been more valued beyond these shores, as Sorley Maclean was for many years, with Irleand enjoying a special relationship with both the bard and the songstress. No stage was too great nor too intimidating for Flora MacNeil, no festival too famous not to savour the musicality, charm, style and quiet genius of one of our greatest ever performers.

In 1992 she was appointed MBE for her contribution to Gaelic music and in 2005, she was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

Flora brought a joi de vivre to her performances which was encapsulated in her last public performance, fittingly organised by Maggie at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in 2013.

Few could have commanded such a celebratory departure from the public arena. Even fewer would have been hailed by the outstanding ovation delivered by an audience which recognised the event for what it was - the departure of a remarkable and precious talent.

The real final farewell has now taken place and only those closest to her will know that immeasurable sense of loss that bereavement and the passing of a beloved mother and grandmother brings.

Flora and Alister had five children in all - Kenneth, Cairistiona, Seumas, Maggie and Donald. There are nine grandchildren.

Sìth is fois dha h-anam. Bidh sinn ga h-ionndrainn gu mòr.

HUGH DONALD MACLENNAN