THIS is what I like to see - a dark picture of two men singing, no doubt about drowning fishermen or exiled families they would never see again, as folk listen with rapt attention, a glass of whisky not far away, and no doubt smoke filling the space around them.
This is the Mod An Comunn Gaidhealach when it was in Glasgow in October, 1967. Nowadays press pictures from the Mod are usually happy smiling children’s choirs.
The organisers said they hoped for 100,000 people to attend as there were “70,000 Highlanders” in Glasgow.
Now I’ve been to a Mod press conference. No matter how early in the morning, it always started with a generous half for each reporter. To decline would have been too surprising - like hearing a dog talking - so it never happened.
They were probably expecting 20,000 folk but by the time the press conference was over everyone in the room had probably agreed on the 100,000 figure.
The two singers pictured here at the Albert Ballroom are Archie MacEachern and Donald MacRitchie. Or it might have been. The Herald photographer had made so many attempts at writing their names that it’s anyone guess who they are.
A few of the choirs who normally competed couldn’t afford to travel to Glasgow from the Western Isles, but the organisation felt being in Glasgow created more publicity.
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