Fiosrachadh Cudromach | Important Information
Useful definitions:
Royal National Mòd – The Royal National Mòd is organised by An Comunn Gàidhealach (The Highland Association) which was founded in Oban in 1891. The National Mòd is Scotland’s premier Gaelic festival and provides opportunities for people of all ages to perform across a range of competitive disciplines including Gaelic music and song, dancing, instrumental, drama, sport and literature. The National Mòd takes place over a week each October, and has a different host town each year. An Comunn Gàidhealach - Royal National Mod : Contact Us
Edinburgh Local Mòd – Edinburgh Local Mòd is one of a number of provincial Mòds that take place all over Scotland throughout the year. It has returned to being a large, in-person event, that brings together family, friends, and the local Gaelic community. Competitions are organised over a wide range of categories. The Local Mòd is organised by an entirely voluntary committee. The event is part funded through grant support from An Comunn Gàidhealach.
Action Songs – Action Songs are songs which are learned and performed by younger children, who are not ready for the main Mòd competitions. These are non-competitive performances, which are organised by the primary school and nursery / Òganan. If your child is participating in the Action Songs performances, please do not complete an entry form. A registration form will be provided separately.
Adjudicator – Adjudicators are invited by the committee to judge competitor performance at each competition. Each competition will have at least one adjudicator, though where appropriate, two adjudicators may judge – one concentrating on music, the other on aspects of Gaelic language such as pronunciation.
Adjudication sheet – Adjudicators use these sheets to comment on performance, and in the case of the Royal National Mòd, allocate marks. The sheets will be available for competitors to take home.
Bàrdachd – Poetry.
Chairperson – Each competition will be hosted by a chairperson. They will keep track of competitors and pass on important information to adjudicators and the audience. The chairperson may decide to delay a competition if competitors are running late, or they may decide that competitors will perform in a different order from that in the programme.
Entry fees – Small entry fees are necessary for each competition entry to help us to cover expenses such as venue rental, payment of adjudicators, and administrative costs such as Mòd badges. The costs of venue hire have increased significantly in recent years, and we rely on funds raised in our Mòd café in order to break even.
Mòd Office – the volunteers in the Mòd office are there to help you with queries throughout the day.
Prescribed Pieces – Many competitions at the Royal National Mòd have prescribed pieces such as music or poetry which must be used for entry to that competition. These are set by the National Mòd committee (An Comunn Gàidhealach) and are available for purchase from their website. Schools and instrumental teachers will often teach these pieces for performance at the Local and National Mòd. The Edinburgh Local Mòd has no prescribed pieces, but the National Mòd’s prescribed pieces may of course be used as an own choice piece.
Seann Nòs – Seann Nòs is the traditional style of Gaelic singing. These songs are different from the Gaelic songs usually taught in school for the Mòd. Please make sure that you have entered the correct singing competition, and only enter the Seann Nòs if your song is traditional.
Steward – Stewards are volunteers who help to run the competition rooms. They make sure that audience members only enter the room at appropriate breaks in the competition, and can aid and advise all attendees. Please always follow the instructions of stewards.
Syllabus – The syllabus is a list of all competition categories including competition number and age guidelines. Please note that the Local Mòd syllabus is different from that of the National Mòd, and the competitions all have different codes. If your child is learning a song or poem from a printed sheet with a National Mòd code, you will need to check which is the corresponding competition at the Local Mòd.
Volunteers – The Local Mòd is entirely organised by volunteers. We are always in need of additional helpers, particularly on the Mòd Saturday, when many stewards will be required. You could also volunteer by donating home baking to our café. Please get in touch if you could offer us some help.