Big voices take the prizes in the island songs

Next up was the Skye or Sutherland Open Mixed, which saw a much longer list of competitors and allowed a choice of song relating to either area. 

The selection was broad and varied, with some songs even the judges were unfamiliar with. Decisions were so tight that the judges were left “splitting hairs” to decide the podium places.

But with only one prize on offer, the The John D. Gillies Memorial Trophy, it went to the performer who stood out amongst them all, Mikie MacEanraig from Gallaibh (Caithness).

Second was Hannah Russell from Àrdruigh (Airdrie) and third was Fergus Reoch from Lunnainn (London). 

This was Mikie’s big return to the Mòd after a six-year hiatus. A musical man, he continued to practice regardless of his absence - and it paid off handsomely. 

He performed Eilean a’ Cheò, a statement song about a woman leaving Skye amid the clearances to work in the city and marry a husband who makes her life a misery.

It’s a song that doesn’t hold back and Mikie embodied that with a powerful but controlled performance. 

He said: “In 2018 I won the silver pendant, but I unfortunately couldn’t make the Mòd in 2019 and then obviously Covid happened.

“During the pandemic, I ended up getting a new career and working a lot in the south of England, so the last couple of years I’ve not made the Mòd. When I saw it on the TV last year I said ‘next year, no matter what, I’m going back’.

“I’m delighted to have won the Skye and Sutherland. It’s a prestigious competition that a lot of people enter, so it’s a hard one to come out on top of.

“Before there was so much pressure to work towards the silver pendant, but I actually just enjoyed getting up there and singing without any expectation.”

Mikie is heavily involved in music, with a studio in Bristol. He also does a lot of work at his home in Caithness and says that has really helped him maintain his vocal talents during his Mòd break.