Catherine McCaig’s Trust is administered by Governors nominated by the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, by Argyll & Bute Council, the Church of Scotland, An Comunn Gàidhealach and other educational bodies.
Catherine McCaig’s Trust is administered by Governors nominated by the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, by Argyll & Bute Council, the Church of Scotland, An Comunn Gàidhealach and other educational bodies.
The Governors meet three times a year. The December meeting has, as its primary business, the award of McCaig Bursaries to students leaving school and about to enter university education in Gaelic.
Over the years the Governors have included in their number many accomplished Gaelic scholars, writers and poets as well as leading citizens of Oban and Argyll.
The Trust makes annual awards to under-graduate students of Bursaries and Grants as well as Scholarship awards to post-graduate students and Grants to other bodies and persons specifically for activities which will encourage and develop interest in Gaelic.
Bursaries are awarded to students with a SQA Gaelic qualification (either learners or native speakers) who are about to leave school and embark on a Gaelic course at a Scottish University. Appropriately qualified mature students may also be considered for a Bursary award.
Bursaries are promoted through all schools offering Gaelic in its curriculum. Students may apply directly by submitting a Bursary Application Form to the Clerk to the Governors or via their University department once they start their Undergraduate programme.
The Trust supports not only students proceeding to a traditional MA, but also suitably qualified students studying Gaelic education at UG level or studying traditional music and song (with Gaelic) at RSAMD.
A Bursary award is currently £400 per annum.
Grants of an equivalent value to Bursaries, £400 per academic year, are awarded on the recommendation of a student’s Head of Department and may be awarded to students from second year onwards.
Financial support is available to students engaged in post-graduate work in Gaelic studies.
The Trust will make up to 6 awards to a maximum amount of £500 annually to students to support costs associated with conference attendance (where presenting a paper) or fieldwork (e.g. travel and subsistence for library visits, sociolinguistic fieldwork etc.).
The Trust will consider applications for support at each of its meetings during the year.
Catherine McCaig’s Trust supports projects which are wholly or substantially Gaelic in medium and/or relevance, viable and clearly costed.
The types of projects supported include publishing – ranging from children’s books to scholarly journals – and projects which are broadly educational with a strong Gaelic character or component from pre-school upwards and research projects.
Miss Catherine McCaig of Oban was the daughter of Malcolm and Margaret McCaig of Lismore whose better known son, John Stuart McCaig, the Oban banker, designed and commissioned the erection of the classical tower overlooking Oban Bay. Catherine challenged John’s Will which provided for several thousand pounds to be made available each year to enable completion of his project after his death in 1902.
The Court of Session upheld Catherine’s challenge, describing her brother as an “eccentric testator”, and money which would have gone toward the completion of the Tower and the Museum which it was designed to house, subsequently benefitted the Oban community as a whole. On her death in 1913, Catherine’s entire Estate was directed to be used for charitable purposes partly by way of an educational endowment which was formalised by a scheme under the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Act 1928 and known as Catherine McCaig’s Trust Scheme 1932.
The Scheme was updated in 1963 and amended in 1968 and now provides for the annual award of McCaig Bursaries, McCaig Post-Graduate Scholarships and McCaig Grants.
All correspondence should be addressed to:
The Clerk to the Governors of the McCaig Trust
Monteith Solicitors
Park Farm
Nairn
IV12 5RZ
or by email to enquiries@monteithsolicitors.com