Roddy's speech was an original, striking and distinctive exploration of the history of the Gaelic language and its speakers in Edinburgh and the Highlands and Islands. Drawing on a set of rediscovered manuscripts now in the National Library of Scotland, it highlighted the long hiatus in Gaelic scholarship created by their neglect and considered the interplay between the oral and written in the history of the Gaelic language. Roddy spoke movingly of language as an expression of humanity and as the 'heartbeat of the past'. His speech was beautifully written and a pleasure and privilege to hear. All three judges were immensely impressed by Roddy's performance.