Jacobite Queen, Loch Ness, 7 September 2007

Bruce MacGregor.

IT WAS A very merry crew of shipmates that arrived back at Tomnahurich Bridge on the penultimate night of Blas, three hours after setting sail for a musical dinner cruise down the loch to Urquhart Castle.

Marking something of a pilot venture by the festival into higher-priced, added-value events in unusual settings, to complement the main concert programme in local halls, the evening proved a resounding success all round, with a near-sellout audience, largely comprised of tourists, taking away some truly special memories from their night of Highland entertainment.

Given the numbers, the very layout of the Jacobite Queen’s interior, with fixed seating booths overlooking the water, encouraged conviviality from the outset, by dint of the need to share tables.

Despite – or even because of – the habit of British reserve, the buzz of fresh acquaintance was soon happily filling the room, lubricated by the choice of wines accompanying a sumptuous three-course buffet, created by former Orient Express chef Nick Aburrow and his team, from the Red Poppy in Strathpeffer.

Also smiling on the proceedings was a rare hiatus in this summer’s climatic tribulations, as sunlit evening gave way to still, balmy night, furnishing ample opportunity to admire the views from on deck between courses, and observe the intriguing business – for all us landlubbers – of negotiating locks.

It was a shrewd call to hold the music until after dinner, when everyone – including the performers – was well fed and watered. Blazin’ Fiddles founder Bruce MacGregor was the aptest of choices to lead the band, having released an entire album of tunes inspired by Loch Ness a few years back, and was flanked by the equally select talents of accordionist Sandy Brechin, singer/guitarist Brian Ó hEadhra – taking a boatman’s holiday from his role as Blas’s artistic director – and cellist Christine Hanson.

Squeezed as they were onto the tiniest of stages, they delivered a big, full, multi-layered sound, with MacGregor and Brechin forging a powerful frontline partnership, whether diving through the dance sets or throttling sweetly back for the airs and waltzes, over Hanson’s rich, woody, harmonic undertow and Ó hEadhra’s warm-hued chords.

Both the quality of their performance and their warm audience rapport ensured our full attention to both the quieter tunes and Ó hEadhra’s Gaelic songs, before a last blast of reels incited some in the audience to dance off their dinner with a Strip the Willow.

© Sue Wilson, 2007

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