Rona Lightfoot
Chaidh a ràdh mu Rona gur e cèilidh a th’ innte fhèin. ’S e sàr phìobaire a th’ innte, seinneadair air leth tàlantach, agus tha stòras òrain Ghàidhlig thraidiseanta aice. A bharrachd air sin, tha Rona math air stòiridhean innse le àbhachd agus gàire a bheireadh gàire air duine sam bith.
’S i a tha math air a’ phìob – gu dearbh, le boireannach no dhà eile, sheall Rona an t-slighe do bhoireannaich a thaobh a bhith farpaisich aig an ìre as àirde, agus ’s i fhèin a’ chiad bhoireannach a ghlèidh aon de na co-fharpaisean mòra pìobaireachd.
A’ bruidhinn air a tàlant, cha b’ e cheannach a rinn i – fhuair i iad bhon iomadach sàr phìobaire, seinneadair is sgeulaiche a nochd san teaghlach aice tro na ginealaich. Am measg nan daoine as fhaisge oirre a thug buaidh air a’ cheòl aice bha a màthair Ceit, a bha air aon de na seinneadairean is seanchaidhean as sònraichte den ghinealach sin agus Eardsaidh Raghnaill, a h-athair, pìobaire agus seanchaidh aig an robh cliù mòr.
Bha spèis aig teaghlach Rona do na h-ealain thraidiseanta Ghàidhlig agus bha iad gu mòr airson gum maireadh iad, agus nuair a tha Rona a’ cluich no a’ seinn tha i a’ taisbeanadh na dìleib dualchasaich a fhuair i. Chan e a-mhàin gu bheil Rona a’ toirt toileachas do dhaoine le bhith seinn is cluich, ach tha i a’ gleidheadh dìleab gus a thoirt do ghinealach ùr sheinneadairean is phìobairean.
Tha Rona a-nis a’ fuireach ann an Inbhir Nis agus tha iarrtas mòr ann airson i a bhith nochdadh aig Fèisean agus Ceòlas, tha i air ceòl a theagasg air feadh na Gàidhealtachd agus sna Stàitean Aonaichte agus ann an Canada.
Rona has been described as a cèilidh personified. She is a great piper, a hugely talented singer, and a veritable treasury of traditional Gaelic songs. What's more, Rona is a terrific raconteur with a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh. She is an accomplished piper - in fact, with one or two others, Rona blazed the trail for women competing at the highest level and is credited with being the first of the fairer sex to win a major piping competition.
As the saying goes in Gaelic, Rona did not have ‘to buy’ her talents – they came down to her through the many generations of celebrated pipers, singers and storytellers which adorn her family tree. Rona’s most immediate musical influences were her mother Kate, who was one of the most remarkable singers and tradition bearers of her age and Eardsaidh Ràghnaill, her father, a piper and seanchaidh (story teller) of renown.
Rona’s was a family and a household which cherished and fostered Gaelic traditional arts and her live performance is a distillation of the cultural legacy which she inherited. These performances are not only a delight but also an important part of the bequest which Rona is passing on to a new generation of singers and pipers.
Rona now lives in Inverness and is much in demand at Fèisean and Ceòlas, and has taught her music throughout the Highlands of Scotland as well as in the United States of America and Canada.
