Biography

This group takes its name from its association with the highly-regarded St Columba Gaelic Church Choir in Glasgow (see below). Two of the quartet had lived in Glasgow in their youths: Mary Lamont [11298] was born in Possilpark, and was not only a member of the choir but also the 1913 Mod gold medallist; Isabella Morrison [11379] was originally from Inverness, but had joined the choir when she moved to the city after getting married in 1915. The gentlemen of the quartet, Alexander MacAulay [11378] and Neil A. Ross [11380], had no known assocition with either Glasgow or the choir, being natives of Dingwall and Inverness, respectively. However, they had certainly known Isabella through their shared Inverness background, and Mary had herself moved to the Inverness area after her own marriage in 1916. It appears these natural connections were behind the establishment of the Quartet in direct response to an invitation made to one or more of the group to journey to Dublin to record a number of Gaelic songs.

In 1931, the Columbia record label (which would shortly become EMI) were hired to produce a series of recordings of hymns for worshippers to use during the 1932 Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. At the same time, the Irish government were keen to highlight the shared heritage of the Irish and Scottish Gàidhealtachds, and invited a number of Gaelic singers and scholars from Scotland to participate. The St Columba Gaelic Quartet recorded a disc of two songs: Cruachan Beann and An Gaidheal 's a Leannan (Columbia DB586), and also appeared as headline guests in a live radio broadcast alongside Kenneth MacLeod [11256], a number of Irish folk musicians and scholars, and Irish president Éamon de Valera. The quartet members later reunited in Glasgow in 1934 to record three discs of Psalms for the Parlophone label (414-416), with Alexander precenting, although they are credited as individuals rather than a named quartet. On the same occasion, Mary herself recorded a single disc with the two songs Is Toigh Leam An Ciobair and Hi Horo 's Na Horo Eile (Parlophone 417). They do not appear to have been active as a quartet after this time.

St Columba Church and its Choir

The St Columba Church has a special place in the history of Glasgow Gaels. As Finlay J. MacDonald [6929] explained in a program about the church he made for the BBC on 17/11/1977 : “This is the church from which most of the societies and organisations that shaped, strengthened and sustained the Gaelic world in its day first took root and grew - some of them now petered out, some of them still with us.” The church itself grew out of a particular society: The Glasgow Highland Society was founded in 1727, at a time when the city had only a little over twenty thousand inhabitants, among them a number of Gaels. The aim of the Society was that those who were better off would help people who were poor and suffering hardship because of it. They also began to run small schools around the city, teaching English and instructing people in the gospel.

After the Jacobite Rebellion, the number of Gaels in the city grew considerably. The Highland society, their schools and the Gaelic Chapel Society, founded in 1768, were very important during this time. There were over 20,000 Gaels in the city, many of whom could only understand the Gospel in Gaelic. With time, places of worship were built for the people, the biggest was St Columba’s Church on the edge of the town, where Ingram Street is today. This was the 'grandmother' of St Columba's Church and it opened in 1770. Hugh MacDiarmid was the first minister on a salary of £200 a year. Shops and a school were built around the church by the the Highland Society and the Gaelic Chapel Society. Despite the church being able to seat more than 1000, it was still too small.

As the city was growing and expanding, the land on and around Ingram Street had become more valuable. In 1838, they decided to sell all the properties to the British Linen Bank for £12,000. They committed to build a new church in the middle of the city, on Hope Street, where Central Station is today. They called on a minister who was in Campsie at the time, the Reverend Norman MacLeod (1783-1862) [11241], or Caraid nan Gàidheal as he was also known, if he would be the minister there. It was he who came up with the moto for the church: 'Taigh mo Chridhe, Taigh mo Ghràidh' (Home of my Heart, Home of my Love). MacLeod was an able man, and the congregation was greatly strengthened under his ministry. He did a lot of admirable work on behalf of the people of the Highlands during the years of the famine and his work gave a new status to Gaels in the city.

Among the well-known ministers that presided over St Columba's Church was the Reverend Robert Blair, who was born in Dunoon but raised on Islay. He came to the church in 1869. He translated the Bible, wrote hymns and was a very powerful preacher. He and his congregation played a role in founding the Glasgow Highland Society, which aimed to assist the Gaels living in extreme poverty in the city. As a result there were over 600 pupils in the Sunday school, with 70 teachers, and the church was busy every night of the week with debate and music groups. Robert Blair brought the ‘Penny Readings’, a type of gathering common at the time, under the direction of the church to keep them orderly. It was from these 'Penny Readings' and the ceilidhs that were being organised by the Glasgow Highland Society and the St Columba Church Society that the regional associations, like The Skye Association and The Lewis and Harris Association, arose, which continue in the city to this day.

St Columba’s Church was also where choir singing in Gaelic began. Cruachan Beann was the first Gaelic song put to a four voice harmony, and was prepared for the new St Columba Church Gaelic Choir, around the year 1872. The choir itself was established about a year before that, with the encouragement of the minister, Robert Blair, who was of the opinion that church singing should be as beautiful as possible. John MacIntyre was the choir’s conductor for the first 10 years, although it was Donald Ferguson, who was the church’s presenter, who put the choir together. It was Donald’s brother, Archibald Ferguson, who elevated the choir and put the famous book A’ Chòisir Chiùil together. St Comlumba Church Gaelic Choir earned a formidible reputation for itself at a time when people were dispariging of the language and of Gaelic singing. The choir was taken to Oban in 1891 to encourage those who were trying to establish the Mod, and it was they who won the first choir competition at the first three National Mods. Sadly, there are no recordings of the full choir.

St Columba’s Church was on Hope Street for over 60 years. The railways were continually expanding and Glasgow became the second biggest city in the United Kingdom. In 1900, St Columba’s Church was bought so that Central Station could be built on the site. For four years the congregation worshiped in Waterloo Rooms until a new church was ready for them on St Vincent Street, where it remains to this day. The new church cost £32,000 to build and the organ alone cost £1,300. The church was consecrated in 1904, and at the time they moved in, although some members of the congregation had left during the four years they were without a church, the minister, Professor John MacLean from Tiree, had 1,200 communicants and 50 elders in the church.