A song written in protest at a Scottish Government fishing policy has won original work of the year at the Scots Trad Music Awards.
Skipinnish wrote The Clearances Again following the launch of plans by the Scottish Government to limit human activity in at least 10% of Scottish waters with the creation of highly protected marine areas (HPMAs).
Following a consultation on the issue, which garnered widespread opposition, including among SNP MSPs, the plan was eventually dropped.
Written from the perspective of Vatersay fisherman Donald Francis MacNeil - a friend of Skipinnish co-founder Angus MacPhail - the song compared the proposed policy to the Highland clearances, which saw the forced eviction of Scots across the Highlands and Islands.
It reached number four in the UK download charts and a new new version, translated into Gaelic and featuring singers including Karen Matheson was released last month.
READ MORE: 'They can't be trusted - their approach was basically through the back door'
After winning the award at the ceremony at Dundee's Caird Hall, Mr MacPhail said:
"We set out to write and record a song that would send a message to politicians, loud and clear, that HPMAs would devastate our coastal communities, their economies and their way of life.
"We know that message was heard and the Government took action.
"I have known (Donald Francis) for many years and understand what fishing means to him, his family and his community.
"Therefore, it was an honour to present The Clearances Again from his perspective, telling his story to illustrate what was at stake so listeners could understand the depth of feeling and dismay at what was being proposed.
"We are delighted the song resonated with so many people across Scotland and beyond."
READ MORE: SNP confirms that controversial fishing plan will be dropped
Mr MacNeil said: "This has been an amazing journey and I'm delighted to have contributed to a piece of work that secured this award.
"It's a worthy winner. Angus wrote a beautifully powerful song that made a real difference in securing my way of life and that of my children and grandchildren.
"The Clearances Again expertly illustrated the real-life implications of Holyrood policy on our communities and I believe the powerful writing and beautiful music meant the song spurred on many who wanted to join our fight."
Elsewhere at the awards, Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis was named musician of the year while Iona Fyfe won Scots singer of the year, fiddler Duncan Chisholm won album of the year and Eilidh Cormack was presented with the award for Gaelic singer of the year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here