Highland Dancing

I came from a dancing family myself, three of my brothers were pipers and I started dancing when I was seven years old. I started teaching Highland dancing on Coll about thirty years ago and my very first pupil Margaret McKinnon - was also my 'star turn'. There have been many other good dancers from Coll over the years though, children from the McLellan, MacQuarrie, Stewart, Macdonald, Oliphant and Galbraith families for instance. And in recent years Fay Anderson has set a new record by dancing with her children at the Coll Show, where a display is always held. Agnes MacQuarrie was the youngest of all Coll dancers, starting at four years old and bringing back the third prize from Tobermory when she was only five. Katrina Brodie was the first girl to bring back a winner's cup from Tobermory.

Going to the Tobermory Games was a great day out for Coll families (the boat would call to pick us up in the old days) and we usually had a strong team of about ten dancers. There was always a prize cup shared among the Collachs and winners received a medal, which thrilled them more than the actual prize money. It was a case of practise making perfect - or almost! - for there used to be a dancing class held every Saturday throughout the year (sixpence for juice and biscuits) and it was very popular. In the past, I remember, the Gordons came to it on ponies and other children from the West End arrived by tractor and trailer.

C. MacKinnon