Tobar an Dualchais / Kist O Riches (TAD) is celebrating ten years since the launch of its oral heritage website. There were 10,000 recordings available on the site when it was officially launched in Edinburgh on 8 December 2010 and this number has now risen to almost 50,000.
In addition to a significant number of items being added to the website, TAD has developed other projects and resources to engage with people across Scotland and beyond. Highlights over the last decade include: sharing recordings with many of the communities from which the recordings originated; the curation and production of CDs; the development of resources for schools and Higher Education; a collaborative project with Faclair na Gàidhlig; and the production of radio programmes in collaboration with Radio nan Gàidheal and Cuillin FM.
The TAD website has become increasingly more relevant to a broad spectrum of users since its launch and these includes musicians, historians, teachers, artists and environmental campaigners. Flòraidh Forrest, TAD Director, stated: “We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone and would like to thank our project partners and all the other organisations which have supported us financially and in-kind over the last decade. At the moment we’re redesigning the website to make it more user-friendly and engaging. New features will also include school resources and transcriptions of some of the Gaelic material to make the recordings more accessible to users, in particular, Gaelic learners who may not be familiar with some of the dialects and terminology. There will also be photographs and profiles of some of the contributors and fieldworkers, and we will be adding to these on a regular basis. These profiles will ensure that information is preserved about them before their connections with their communities lessen with each passing generation. The new website will be launched in Spring 2021.”
The material on the website includes songs, stories, customs, traditions and beliefs in Gaelic, Scots and English. As part of the tenth anniversary celebrations, there was a special feature about TAD on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal in December, and TAD has also been highlighting some of the contributors and fieldworkers who have played a crucial role in the preservation and sharing of Scotland’s traditions on social media. If you would like a daily dose of oral heritage, be sure to follow Tobar an Dualchais on Facebook and Twitter.
www.tobarandualchais.co.uk