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Welcome to the home page of Atomic Pìseag (or Atòmaig Pìseag or Pìseagan Atòmaig, if you don't get the joke!), the Argyll Ladies' Centennial Gaelic Choir.

 

'Pìseag' is Scots Gaelic for 'kitten' but on formal occasions, (we try to avoid those), we are known as the Argyll Ladies' Centennial Gaelic Choir because we were first formed to compete at the 100th Royal National Mod in Oban in 2003. We enjoyed the experience so much, we decided to keep going.

 

Amongst the 23 members, there are  many individual and duet prizewinners, including three Gold Medallists (fluent Gaelic speakers' competition) and three Silver Pendant winners (Gaelic learners' competition). They come from all over Argyll, Scotland and beyond to attend rehearsals once a month. Dedicated singers come from Campbeltown, Tarbert Loch Fyne, Lochgilphead, Dunoon, Taynuilt, Barcaldine, Oban, Isle of Mull and Carnoustie but none is so far traveled as our bold conductor, Raymond Bremner, who hails from Thrumster, (or Lobster or Hamster or something) in Caithness, a round trip of eight hours each month! He loves us, really.

Raymond won the men's Gold Medal for solo singing at the Royal National Mod in Fort William in 1999 and still treats us to his glorious baritone voice at the odd concert and aprés-ski ceilidh.

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His inspired conducting and Janet MacDonald's painstaking Gaelic tuition resulted in us taking third place amongst the best ladies' Gaelic choirs in the country at the Royal National Mod in Oban in 2003 and again in 2004 at Perth, where we also won the Angus Johnstone Trophy for the highest marks in music (in the world, ever...................well, probably).

In April 2005, our first foray overseas saw us win the Ladies' Choirs competition at the Pan-Celtic Festival in Tralee, Co. Kerry in Eire, where the height of our happiness was only exceeded by the warmth of the welcome we received. Full marks to the Pan-Celtic for the mightiness of the craic! We were doubly delighted to win again in Letterkenny in 2006.

At the Royal National Mod in Stornoway in October 2005, we won the Ladies' Choir competition for area choirs, winning the Esme Smythe trophy. Our own choice piece was an exciting, contemporary Neil Houston arrangement of Runrig's 'Rubh nan Cudaigean'. We also took home the Angus Johnston trophy for highest music marks for the second time. It made for a very happy ending for our documentary, 'Na Piseagan', filmed by MacTV who had been following our preparations in the run-up to the Mod.

 So far, so good, then. We all love singing together and work extremely hard at our music. However, we also enjoy the 'craic' - not for nothing are we known as the 'Party Piseags' .

Na Pìseagan are :-

First Sopranos	Second Sopranos	Altos
Jane Basford (Strachur)	Elma Davidson (Barcaldine)	Margaret Anderson (C'town)
Josie Campbell (Lochgilphead)	Morvern MacLeod (Oban)	Kathie Ferrie (Dunoon)
Joy Dunlop (Connel)	Islay Macnab (Taynuilt)	Elizabeth Jack (Mull)
Christine Johnston (Lochgilphead)	Fiona Munro (Ardrishaig) Silver Pendant	Jennifer Jack (Mull)
Carol MacLean (Mull)	Audrey MacLeod Paterson (Taynuilt) Silver Pendant	Carolyn MacDonald (Tarbert)
Nicola Pearson  (Carnoustie) Silver Pendant	Mhairi Renton (Campbeltown)	Janet MacDonald (Mull) Gold Medal
Riona Whyte (Mull) Gold Medal	Maggie Thomson (Campbeltown)	Sheena McTighe (Taynuilt)
		Millicent Reid (Tarbert)
		Moira Young (Tarbert)

Conductor - Raymond Bremner (Thrumster) Gold Medal

 

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