FÀILTE - WELCOME

Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh @ Bella 2011

Mackay Country: Get North

Eddrachilles, Durness, Tongue & Farr

In the new & rather lovely UHI Walled Garden - 1130 till 2300

Make Your Own Bella Heart or Tinkin Tree Charm Anytime

 Tinsmithing with Arthur Dutch – Stories with Traveller Essie Stewart

And a whole lot of nonsense with Family MacBough & Friends. Never mind yer Cloutie Wells - Visit The Magic Tinkin Tree.  Make a wish …etch out a word or symbol – hang it on the tree & collect your charm on Sat at the Grand Prize Draw during our mini Club Mhic Aoidh set with Sketch.  

 The Tinkin Tree holds the Grand Prize Draw goodies – exquisite Bella Heart metalwork by Arthur Dutch; the new Sketch EP on CD exclusively at Bella; the odd bottle of malt; dinners at fine local hotels & more & more….. Raffle tickets £2.

 1200 till 2100 Everyday: Make Your Own Bella Heart or Tinkin Tree Charm.

All ages - £4 adults; £3 conc/ kids – special tuition & demos detailed below too.

Price includes beautiful Copper Bella Heart necklace or charm & a badge.  Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.  All activities free.  Prices just cover the cost of the beautiful copper.

Thursday

1600 Be the first to Make Your Tinkin Tree Charm with Arthur Dutch

1700 Ossian Tales with Traveller Essie Stewart (Gaelic & English)

2100 – 2300 Bough Tent Back Yard Ceilidh

Catriona Macleod on the box & Rhona Sutherland on fiddle.  And a few songs too.  Spine chilling tales in Gaelic and English from Essie Stewart and Arthur Dutch.  Bring your instruments & your listening ears.  

Friday

1200 till 2100 Make Your Own Bella Heart or Tinkin Tree Charm

All ages £4 adults; £3 conc/ kids

 1130 Make Your Own Bella Heart: Tinsmithing for Children

£3 each – Price includes beautiful Copper Bella Heart necklace or charm & a badge.  Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 1230 Gaelic in Half an Hour with Essie Stewart

1400 The Joy of Tinsmithing – Demonstration by Mastercraftsman Arthur Dutch

1500 Postcards from the Edge & Bella Hearts for Big People - Made in Copper by You – Tuition by Mastercraftsman Arthur Dutch.  £10 postcards; £4 hearts & charms

 1600 ‘The Roads We Often Travelled’ – Travelling Memories with Essie Stewart (Gaelic & English)

 2000 – 2100 Bough Tent Jam - with trad scene faces unkent and kented.  Essie Stewart with Catriona, Rhona & friends.  

 And the Tinkin Tree hearts & charms go on.

 Saturday

1130 Make Your Own Bella Heart: Tinsmithing for Children £3 each – includes heart necklace; a badge.  Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian

1130 Mackay Mini Feis for Wee Folk – with Essie Stewart, Catriona & Rhona

 1230 Srupag with Essie – Tea and Chat in the Tent

 1400 The Unbearable Lightness of Tinsmithing – Demonstration by Mastercraftsman Arthur Dutch

 1500 Made @ Bella Fae Copper: Postcards, Bellahearts & Tinkin Tree Charms Made by You Tuition by Mastercraftsman Arthur Dutch. Postcards £10; Hearts & Charms £4

1600 Roads Less Travelled with Traveller Essie Stewart (Gaelic & English)

2000 – 2130 Club Mhic Aoidh Mini-Sesh and Grand Raffle Draw

Dance, Trance, Light – sounds by Iain Copeland & friends from The Sketch repertoire; Two Bens on Decks; Gavin on Light… plus guests….  

 Grand Prize Draw Aff The Tinkin Tree @ 2100. Raffle Tickets £2 all wee 

The May edition of Discover My Past Scotland features Mackay Country, UHI Centre for History, Brough Bay, Castletown Heritage - and makes mention of the many other wonderful and eccentric history groups active across Caithness and Sutherland.  for the full editions of this publication: http://www.discovermypast.co.uk/scotland.php

Click here to download the article Oral history in Scotland

Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh is the Gaelic for the “Country of Mackay”, a reference to the dominant historical clan of the country north of Kylesku incorporating the parishes of Eddrachilles, Durness, Tongue and Farr

"We value and respect our past as much as we strive to make our present and future secure and vibrant."

“We are on the edge, and what a beautiful edge we are on!”

Mackay Country, the area known from at least the 11th century onwards as the Province of Strathnaver, was absorbed into what is now known as the County of Sutherland in the 19th century. It was the traditional homeland of the Mackay clan, and the name is still very common in the area today.

Although the Mackay clan was important in the area, Mackay Country is intended today to be inclusive, encompassing all the inhabitants of the area and their descendants throughout the world. The people of Mackay Country have a distinctive history and a strong sense of identity and pride.