GREY’S NOTES
by Michael Grey.
I was lucky as a kid to have had lessons from that between-the-wars piping master, Edinburgh-born, John Wilson. Among many other good things, he was an ardent letter-writer and regular reporter of things piping – especially when it came to his frequent travels playing and judging.
In his standing “Round the Games” report in the long-gone Piper & Dancer Bulletin he would usually start off with something like, “…the day started with a chill in the air but thanks to Mrs MacDonald’s tasty home-made scones and generous cups of tea I was all set for the task ahead, to judge the day’s professional solo piping …”. I recall he’d often mention things like the quality of the lunch provided and maybe a comment on the woeful cut of some poor piper’s kilt or jacket. He was a character.
With a view to pass along my experience at this past weekend’s Isle of Raasay “Restitution Piping Competition” and so help people know more of the occasion – an event that was the brainchild of piping dynamo, Hamish Moore – I’ll aim to channel a little of John Wilson.
It was in late February this year that I first heard of this event. Just after breakfast – toast, farm-fresh butter with steaming hot coffee – an email landed from Hamish Moore explaining his idea at the highest level: “… this is a newly devised competition with none of the conventional standards or rules applying.”
He continued … “A slow air seann nós style or a piobaireachd song followed by a selection of Dance Music – Strathspeys and Reels to be played with a tempo and rhythm suitable to be danced to by a hard shoe percussive Scottish step dancer. Four judges will invigilate … For the dance music there will be a piper well versed and expert in playing dance music. The other judge will be a step dancer with an expert knowledge and experience of Scottish step dancing.
For the slow air both judges are native Gaelic speakers, both are legendary pipers and one a successful Gaelic singer in her own right …”.
While I hadn’t played in a solo contest in ten years this event rang out with the siren call of adventure. I thought it was far enough away from a mainstream solo event to be fine to have a go (meaning: I have been judging mainline solo piping events and to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds, well, as Bill Livingstone might say, it is just not ideal).
Yet, the whole idea of the thing resonated with me. To play and be judged by a dancer, singer and piper on a remote island, a place that was the home to piping life forces in John Mackay and his brood – all while being challenged to play music far beyond “standard settings”. Well. I was determined to go for it. Even if pipe band life – the Worlds – meant a full month living out of a suitcase (I don’t recall John Wilson ever reporting on his laundry and dwindling supply of clean socks – “etc” – but a dwindling was surely afoot by Raasay).
Anyway. I went for it. And, spoiler alert: I loved every minute of it.
Among those participating in this Raasay celebration of piping – for that is what it was – was my good friend, Duncan Nicholson. He’s surely soaking with the music of the Gael and a kindred spirit in enjoying the island action. We travelled together, with Duncan at the wheel. The English poet, George Herbert, wrote every mile is two in Winter. As Duncan will tell you, especially to anyone not familiar with roads on the west coast of Scotland, every mile is two – at least – when driving winding roads beset by nervous camper van skippers.
Hamish Moore mightily managed to engage the Isle of Raasay Distillery, along with The Gordon Duncan Trust to be joint-sponsors of the event. And to get to Raasay – and the distillery – is no easy jaunt. You’ll know Raasay is off the coast of the Isle of Skye – so an island-from-an-island. The decision was made to take the bridge to Skye from Kyle instead of the the 45-minute Mallaig ferry to Armadale on the Sleat peninsula. With stops we clocked in around five hours from Glasgow to Kyle of Lochalsh, home, by the way, to legendary piper, Iain MacFadyen (who will figure at the end of this story). Once in Kyle we met up with another piper, Max Gillespie, who was travelling the north and west on business.
When travelling at any time – let alone in rural places and isles that can only be reached by ferry or hearty wild swimmers – the place of your next meal needs good consideration. When Mrs MacDonald and her reliably tasty scones are not likely to be on offer and there is no place open for food at your final port of call (Raasay!), what to do? Well, you find your way to the Co-op for a stash of factory-made sandwiches before heading off, like a bird on the wing to, well you know. And once at the Kyle Co-op we all knew we were in for a fine weekend as we happened across up-and-coming piper, Hector Finlayson, hard at work near the pakora snack packs – surely meeting kismet.
The three of us made it to the Sconser, Skye ferry terminal with plenty of minutes to spare (also known as time for “hydration”, as my band guys might say). So, to the Sconser Lodge we walked. The Sconser Lodge is a both a fine Victorian edifice and public bar. We arrived to a deserted house. Happily a chap at the kitchen door roused the publican and we were duly set-up for sailing to Raasay.
The journey from Sconser to Raasay is an unhurried 25 minutes or so. On this late afternoon the scenery was simply cinematic. There is no doubt in my mind that the geography and landscape of Scotland has often been at the forefront of inspiration when it comes to the composition of the music of the Great Highland Bagpipe.
Once on Raasay we booked in to our digs that was the stunningly beautiful home of Ronnie and Anda Nicolson. I mention this, especially, as their home is the first place – the first “B&B” – I have ever stayed at in Scotland – in my life – where bagpipes were both welcomed and enjoyed, “Och, you can play no problem. We’ll enjoy it”, said Anda. And so we did – but only after running off to hike the midgey, boggy ground to Taigh a’ Phìobaire, the Piper’s House, once the home to John Mackay and his gifted family – and – venture 12 miles to the north of the island and experience “Calum’s Road”. What an unforgettable and inspiring few hours.
We arrived back to Ronnie and Anda’s just after dark. Duncan and I both had a tune, filling the house with the sound of the pipes to at least 11pm and Ronnie and Anda poured on the hospitality – and I do mean poured. People surely make the place.
The contest was meant to start just after 10am. Certainly we were all set to go – but the realties of weather and the bane of island life, damned ferry schedules, got in the way. Fog had set in quite heavily and the whole of the event’s participants – bar me and Duncan – were in Sconser, waiting on a fog-bound ferry. Had the two of us not been on Raasay there might’ve been a Skye version of the event – who knows. Happily, fog cleared and the day kicked off with only a little delay.
Hamish Moore’s stated aim in creating this event was to “reconnect piping with its Gaelic heart and soul”. For me, this event went a long way in doing just that.
- Audience: Certainly, the Raasay Community Hall was packed. It was standing room only with over 100 people in attendance – for the duration of the event! (know that the population of Raasay is 160 souls). I can’t remember when I saw such a crowd for any piobaireachd contest at our big meetings.
- Format: I must admit, I found some irony in an event that aimed to connect music to a cultural genesis while basing its presentation in a competition format. I talked to one learned participant who talked about a sort of natural predisposition of the Gael to competition. Whatever the case, I do have a sense that Hamish Moore was canny in leaning in to the contest format: recitals just do not fire up audiences of piping the same way competitions do.
- Music: Participants (I hesitate using the word “competitors”) were given a very broad set of guidelines in presenting their tunes. The slow section, the “seann nós style or a piobaireachd song” showed a very wide range of interpretation, from Allan MacDonald’s takes, to tributes, to well-kent Gaelic songs. For me, I looked to brothers John and Archibald Campbell of Kilberry and their 1908 book. I played – and extrapolated – “Cumha Fhinn” (and thanks to the shiny man from the Northern Meeting, Nick Hudson, for the inspiration). Of the three required selections, my sense from talking to pipers is that this element created the most musical reflection.
Still, I think, it might’ve been in the jig styles presented to the audience that offered up the most diversity in phrasing, tempo and rhythm. I heard about five or six players and so heard a corresponding number of different styles. From rolling open triplets to what might be played in a mainstream solo competition. The music was all there but a tricky one, maybe, to compare, or assess these apples to oranges approaches. Of course, this is where the perceived danceability of the tune came into play. Cue, especially, the input of the dancing judge.
Its a long and expensive way to Raasay and I wonder if in future there might be merit in providing participants a more comprehensive prescription of what is sought for each category. As I write this it strikes me, too, its likely this very thing – a “comprehensive prescription” – Hamish Moore and company are seeking to avoid; that is, to have a competition beat the soul out of the music. And yet, well, it’s a competition: live by the sword…
In my journey to Raasay I was reminded of at least a few things: that one determined person with a good idea can make great things happen and so a big “well done” and thank-you to Hamish Moore; most people love the music of the pipes – we need to continue to take advantage of this truth through creative events like the Raasay Restitution and that a ten-year absence from the solo boards is not ideal groundwork for the tidy performance of 160 beats per minute strathspeys.
A shout-out to Angus Nicolson who played beautifully to haul home the cask of Isle of Raasay Distillery whisky. His teacher, Iain MacFadyen, will be both proud and, I’d wager, very interested in the tasting notes of his prize.
For me, the whole Raasay experience was extraordinary: the people, the piping, the place. Those many who cleared out on the ferry after the Saturday contest don’t know the magic they missed on the island that night. Yes, Mrs MacDonald’s tasty scones – and so much more.
Slàinte mhath!
Mike Grey is the pipe major of 78th Fraser Highlanders since September 2023, and he teaches, judges, writes and publishes bagpipe music. His Grey’s Notes series ran in Piping Today magazine for ten years. His Grey’s Notes book is available here.