Biography

Rona Lightfoot, Rona Eairdsidh Raghnaill was born on the 17th of April 1936, and was raised in Garryhallie, South Uist. It was as a young piper that Rona first came to people's attention, but in later life, she has travelled extensively, teaching Gaelic songs and music in Ireland, America, and throughout the UK, sharing her extensive knowledge of traditional Gaelic music and culture. Anyone who has been in her company will also know that she is a gifted storyteller too.

It is no surprise that Rona is an accomplished singer, piper and storyteller. Scholar Donald Archie MacDonald [15] spoke of Rona's mother, Kate: "She had the good fortune to be born into a family almost incredibly rich in music, in song, in storytelling and in traditional lore of all kinds." The same is to be said about Rona. For example, it will never be known how many songs exactly that Rona's mother knew by heart, but over 200 different songs were recorded from her, many of which were little known. Rona's grandmother, Marion [3469], was one of Angus MacEachan the piper's daughters. Marion married a famous piper, Neil Campbell, Niall mac Catrìona, and they had three children – Angus, another famous piper, Kate [12], Rona's mother, and Mary, the wife of Patrick (Pàdraig an t-Saoir), a woman who was full of songs and folktales too.

Marion was born on the 4th of August, 1867. She never went to school and didn't know a word of English. Nevertheless, she had to go to the mainland for work, and she and Neil lived in Oban after they married, before they came back to Uist. In the School of Scottish Studies, there are over 200 songs and stories that were recorded from Marion, by collectors such as Calum MacLean [273] and Donald Archie MacDonald. Many of their recordings were taken when Marion was over 100 years old. Donald Archie MacDonald wrote:

"Mòr Campbell was one of the most remarkable sources of traditional Gaelic song ever recorded by The School of Scottish Studies and certainly one of the most striking characters I have ever met. Despite her obvious intelligence and her wide-ranging expertise in her native traditional culture, Mrs Campbell never learnt to read or write or to speak more than a few words of English. She came to be known in the family as The Dictionary as she was the ultimate authority in almost all matters of doubt or dispute relating to the words of Gaelic songs. Mòr Campbell died, still singing, in January 1970, at the age of 102."

Marion had four brothers, one of whom Donald Archie described as 'the last traditional storyteller'. That was Aonghas 'Beag' mac Aonghais 'ic Eachainn [3264], and an account of the first 40 years of his life can be read in the book, Saoghal an Treabhaiche. John Lorne Campbell [614] collected the recorded stories from Angus and put them to paper:

"As a traditional Gaelic storyteller his powers of characterisation and of reproducing dialogue give his autobiography a literary quality altogether above any commonplace account of nineteenth century Scottish rural life. In fact when telling these stories Angus MacLellan possessed a very remarkable capacity for acting the various personalities that appeared in them, and in imitating their voices and even their Gaelic dialects."

Angus passed away on the 6th of March, 1966, three years away from his 100th birthday.

Rona also received some of her talents from her father's side, even though her father, Archie (Eairdsidh Raghnaill), was also a piper, he is maybe best known as a teller of stories, news and funny anecdotes.

After finishing school in Uist and Fort William, Rona went to Glasgow to train as a nurse. She married Tony Lightfoot over 50 years ago, and they have one son. Tony worked at sea all his life, and Rona often went on voyages with him, travelling the world with her pipes. Although she competed in many competitions in Uist from a young age, women were largely excluded from piping competitions. Rona defied this, and was the first woman to compete in the well-known competition run by the London Piping Committee, 'The Bratach Ghorm', despite only being allowed to enter once.

Rona lives in Inverness. She has released one CD, and remains a popular singer, piper, teacher and entertaining hostess.