‘God is close to us no matter where we are’

Jackie Macadam learns about Anna Mackinnon’s upbringing on Lewis, and her work to preserve the island’s Gaelic language and heritage

“I DIDN’T think I was doing anything special, just getting on with doing stuff that needed doing.”

Anna Mackinnon is a member of Uig Church of Scotland on the Isle of Lewis, and was a recent recipient of a Scarr-Hall Memorial Award for her voluntary work in the community.

“I had no idea I’d been suggested for the award,” she says. “I heard nothing until I was told I was to receive it. I was flabbergasted.”

But Anna is too modest. Through her voluntary work, she’s been very influential in helping to keep Gaelic alive in the islands where she was born.

“I was born in Lewis Hospital in Stornoway,” she says. “My earliest memories are of building daisy chains in the early summer sunshine, running around barefoot on the beautiful sands and splashing in the sea.

“But it was the post-war years, and some of my memories are darker. The smelly gas masks hanging up in the lobby and the sound of planes passing over the island at night.

“In many ways it was an idyll. Our home was right beside one of the largest and most beautiful of the Western Isle beaches, Uig Sands. It’s Gaelic name is ‘An Traigh Mhor’ which means the Big Sand – and at two miles in length and one across, it certainly is that!

“I guess I’ve always been bilingual,” she says. “My family all spoke Gaelic and English at home, but it was Gaelic that was most used.

“It wasn’t just my family that spoke both Gaelic and English, but our whole community. That was around 500 people.”

In a reversal to the mainland norms, there were only around ten people in the area that didn’t speak Gaelic.

“It was the daily and Sunday language,”

Anna says. “As children, we felt a bit sorry for those among us who didn’t speak Gaelic, and didn’t really seem to understand what was being said around them.”

School was a happy place for Anna.

“My primary school was small. The pupils there were really just neighbours’ children and my friends already. Being an only child, I really revelled in having the company of other children. My mother was the teacher/headmistress.

“However, all the lessons were taught in English. Gaelic was only taught once a week, and that was only as a ‘reading Gaelic’ lesson.

“With such a small school, all seven levels were taught in the same room, so you were aware of all the lessons.

Sometimes I found myself so absorbed in the lessons the older children were being taught that I forgot what I should have been doing! There were some really bright spots when travelling teachers arrived and taught us things like music, art and gym.

The mobile library was also brilliant. You could take as many books as you wanted and occasionally even a mobile cinema visited! The school was used a lot in the evenings too, for all kinds of community clubs and concerts – even the occasional political meeting.”

Secondary school was a different kettle of fish – but the opportunities that it brought were to move Anna in new directions.

“On the island there wasn’t a secondary school so we had an entrance exam to sit to see if we would qualify to move on to attend the renowned Nicolson Institute in Lewis. Unfortunately, attending the Nicolson Institute would mean leaving home at age 12 and going to live in the hostel associated with the school with other children.

“With the exception of the school holidays, we were only allowed home to visit one weekend a term.

“For children who were used to living a relatively free life around their homes, it was an incredible difference.

“The hostel housed girls only in dorms that housed from three to six of us at a time. It was pretty austere. The staff were a bit, shall I say ‘aloof’, and we girls were left to cope to a large extent by ourselves.

We had to become fairly self-sufficient, whether it was a shoe repair needing done, no clean clothes available, or horror of horrors – nits! All six of us in my dorm caught mumps the first few weeks we were there and were quarantined in our dorm for a fortnight! I was so glad to get a parcel from home. I would say I wasn’t homesick, because I saw it as a great adventure, but I was bewildered and I didn’t find it easy to conform to the many rules.

“Life in the hostel was strict. We had school all day, then back to the hostel by 5pm every day. There were supervised studies from 6pm until 7.30 daily and a whole hour and a half of freedom before supper at 9pm. Then it was bed by 10pm.

“I had no idea I’d been suggested for the award, I heard nothing until I was told I was to receive it. I was flabbergasted.

There was one radio between 36 of us and then there was really nothing else to do.

We were pretty bored.

“I’d say, at best, the food was adequate.

There certainly wasn’t too much of it.

There were occasional late-night escapes out of the window as someone would sneak out to go to the chip shop down the road.” She laughs. “The chip shop food gave out the most tantalising aroma, but goodness me – you didn’t want to get caught! It would be detention for a week if you were! I did my share of sneaking out but fortunately wasn’t caught. I did get told off often for being late or being untidy or making too much noise!

“By the time I was 16, I have to admit, I was desperate to get out of the hostel.

“The only saving grace I suppose, was the company of girls around me. We were all there for each other, firm friends and a source of support. Many lifelong friendships that stood the test of time were created there.”

Church played an enormous part in Anna’s early life too.

“When I was at home almost everyone attended twice a day on Sundays and we also went to the mid-week meeting.

I didn’t go to Sunday School at all, or even the Bible Class, because, quite honestly, we lived too far away from the church.

My mum and granny saw to that side of things at home.

“In the hostel though, church was a duty. We had church parade every Sunday where all the hostel children walked to the church and back again afterwards and once church was over, Sundays tended to be long and boring. There was no escape.”

Anna was determined to get away though.

“I was truly spurred on by determination to get away from hostel life as early as possible. I worked so hard! I managed to do well and had my university requirements secured by the end of fifth year!

“Despite advice from the school and my parents who wanted me to stay on for sixth year, I left the islands at 17 and started an Arts degree course at Glasgow University. That’s where I met my husband, Ewan, though, sadly, I’ve been a widow for five years now.”

After university, Anna faced new choices and opportunities.

“After graduating, there were several career choices to look at. I could have gone into Gaelic journalism, which at the time was not well supported and had very limited chances.

“On the island the numbers were smaller, the children were interested and to a large extent, you are able to just get on and teach!

“Archaeology was another possibility but oh, as a crofter’s daughter, the idea of grubbing about on wet hillsides in mud just didn’t hold much appeal.

“The other option at the time was teaching. This time I DID take my mother’s advice to get my teaching qualification under my belt right away. She felt that it would stand me in good stead in whatever I chose to do in life. She was right.”

I wondered if Anna was a home-biddy, always wanting to go back to the islands, where she came from. She shakes her head.

“No, I didn’t. In fact, once I finished my probationary period, I’d planned to head to Canada on a teaching exchange scheme, but things on the island were not going well.

“My father’s health was declining, and being an only child, I felt I needed to be closer to him and my mum. I applied for, and got, a teaching position on Lewis so I headed back home.”

Anna noticed that teaching on the islands was quite different from teaching on the mainland.

“The biggest thing I guess was that you just didn’t get the social problems of the big cities. It can be very dispiriting trying to teach while all the time fighting against the social problems like poverty and overcrowding that the pupils are having to deal with in their daily lives. On the island the numbers were smaller, the children were interested and to a large extent, you are able to just get on and teach!”

Gaelic was still an important part of her life though, and as time went on, it began to play a bigger and bigger role.

“Gaelic began to take on something of an upswing on the mainland. Folk in the cities started to want to learn it; Gaelic television received funding from the Scottish Government and improved enormously, stimulating more interest.

“I was delighted by it and in general it was a very positive movement. But on the other hand, the language and its associated traditions were dying out fast in the rural areas which is where the heartland of Gaelic lies.

“Young people were leaving the islands and being replaced by monoglot people coming in to live in the idyll of the quieter pace of life, but the language was being lost, as well as so many of the traditions of Gaelic life.”

That’s when Anna, the teacher, took the reins into her own hands and became Anna, Gaelic champion.

“I realised that there was still an interest in Gaelic, even among the people who came to live here, so I started teaching adult classes in the evenings in the community and then, as Gaelic Medium Education became better known, I changed from teaching through English and spent the last ten years of my career in Gaelic Medium Education which I have to say, I found very rewarding.”

It was her volunteering efforts on behalf of the Gaelic language and culture that brought her to the attention of the Scarr-Hall Trust and she was put forward for one of their awards.

“I was absolutely blown away to receive the award,” she says. “It was completely unexpected. I received it during lockdown, so it wasn’t really a ceremony but pretty low-key. Mr Scarr-Hall, the donor, and our minister, the Rev Hugh Stewart, came to the house and met me and the family.

“Mr Scarr-Hall said a few words about the award and why I was receiving it and handed me the envelope. It was a cash award. I’m so pleased because that money will help me to be more generous than usual to the charities I support.”

Anna is a good friend of Hugh Stewart, and is a regular at the church.

“I go regularly,” she says. “Often twice on Sundays and attending any events held during the week. I serve as the congregation’s safeguarding co-ordinator and taught Sunday School for many years.

I also help out with the Baby Bank by preparing clothes for distribution to families that need help on the islands.

“My husband was the Session Clerk and a lay preacher in both English and Gaelic in his own right. He gave a lot of time to the church, and contributed to it enormously, in spite of being ill for the last seven years of his life. and I’m happy to say that my eldest son is an office bearer and congregational treasurer.

“I have four grown up children and I’m happy to say they are all speakers of both Gaelic and English!”

Anna’s beliefs are rooted in her faith.

“I believe that God is close to us no matter where we are”. She says. “We just need to be open to Him.

“God was very close to me during my husband’s final illness and during my subsequent bereavement. I felt I was dependent on God to get me through each day. The words, ‘Rock of Ages, cleft for me’ were constantly on my mind during the most difficult times. It helped me enormously.”