Na h-Òganaich
A friend from the Isle of Lewis, Donnie MacLean, was working with the BBC and introduced them to recordings of the little-known Melbost Bard, Murdo Macfarlane. Recognising the originality and catchiness of Murdo's songs, the trio took two of them to the Royal National Mòd in Stirling in October 1971, where they won the Folk group competition and created an immediate stir with their professional performance and novel songs.
The following year they performed another of Murdo's songs (Mi le m' Uillinn) and won the New Song competition at the
The group recorded three albums for the Beltona Sword label, a branch of Decca Records - The Great Gaelic Sound of Na h-Òganaich (1972), Gael Force Three (1973) and Scot-Free (1975).
In 1976 Na h-Òganaich were invited to participate in an extended tour of the US. At that time Noel was working as a college lecturer and unable to take part, so Margaret and Donnie proceeded to tour, and later perform back in the UK, as a duo with backing musicians.
The original group has reformed on several occasions since then on a one-off basis, notably at Fèis nan Còisir in