History of the Argyllshire Gathering: the 1996 competition

By
John Slavin
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0
1298
•The front row on the March to the Games in 1996: Angus MacColl, Jack Lee, Alan Bevan, Iain Hurst and Michael Gray.

• PART 61 •

BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.

The 1996 Gathering marked the 125th anniversary of the founding and although this was shown on the programme cover there were no special events to mark the occasion.

For the Gold Medal competitors were to offer eight tunes of their own choice. The set tunes for the Senior were The Red Hand in the MacDonald Arms, Mrs MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute, Lament for Lord Breadalbane, Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute, Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon, Donald Gruamach’s March, Craigellachie, the Daughter’s Lament. Four tunes were to be submitted. The set tunes for the Silver Medal were The Marquis of Argyll’s Salute, All the Old Men paid rent but Rory, The Munro’s Salute, MacKinnon’s Lament, Melbank’s Salute, Lament for the Little Supper, Grain in Hides and Corn in Sacks, The MacIntyres’ Salute. Again, four were to be submitted. There were 30 entries for the Gold, 15 for the Senior and 30 for the Silver. The MacGregor Memorial had 14 competitors but the Junior MSR had only five. In the evening the Former Winners MSR had 16 competitors. On Games Day the pipe band of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders played.

Piping Times report

The 1996 Piping Times report was written by Angus J MacLellan: “The 125th Argyllshire Gathering and piping competitions took place at Oban on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd of August 1996. As usual the Gold Medal competition, Senior Piobaireachd, Silver Medal, MacGregor Memorial and Junior March, Strathspey and Reel all took place in various venues on the Wednesday.”

Gold Medal

“The Gold Medal event was held in the Great Western Hotel and with 30 competitors it was a long day for the judges Norman Matheson, William MacDonald (Benbecula) and Neill Mulvie. By all accounts it was an excellent competition with at least ten outstanding performances and it was a local man, Angus MacColl who triumphed, playing The Lament for Patrick Og.“

  1. Angus MacColl
  2. Jack Lee
  3. Alan Bevan
  4. Logan Tannock
    Judges: Norman Matheson, William MacDonald, Neill Mulvie

Senior Piobaireachd

“At the same time the Senior Piobaireachd was being held in the Royal Hotel. In excellent accommodation this was a very good competition much enjoyed by a large audience throughout most of the day. The winner was Mike Cusack from USA playing Craigellachie.”

  1. Michael Cusack
  2. Roderick MacLeod
  3. William McCallum
  4. Dr. Angus MacDonald
    Judges: Malcolm McRae, Angus J. Maclellan, PM Ronald Lawrie

“Just for the record can I state that Mike did not make a mistake in the third line of the Urlar but chose to play the Donald MacDonald setting as described in the notes of the Piobaireachd Society Book. He did play the tune in a bold manner and had a sticky moment with the F but handled this very well and the judges Malcolm McRae, Ronald Lawrie and myself were in complete agreement with our decision. Others who had very good performances were Roddy MacLeod (Lament for Donald Ban), Willie McCallum (Donald Gruamach’s March), Dr Angus MacDonald (he got one of the taorluaths mixed up in line 3 of variation 1 doubling of Lady Margaret MacDonald), Greg Wilson (Donald Gruamach) and William Livingstone (Craigellachie).

Silver Medal

“The Silver Medal was held in the Corran Halls and was another marathon for Finlay MacNeill, Ronald Morrison and Joe Henderson who judged this event. There were a few breakdowns in this competition (was it the set tunes?) but it appears the prize-winners all played well with John Patrick a clear winner.”

  1. John Patrick
  2. Douglas Murray
  3. William Geddes
  4. Ann Gray
  5. Mary Ann MacKinnon
    Judges: Finlay MacNeill, Ronald Morrison, J.M. Henderson

MacGregor Memorial

“The Regent Hotel was the venue for the Junior MSR (Local) and MacGregor Memorial Competition. This is a tough competition for the young competitors as they are required to submit four tunes and have to play two of them, one in the morning session and a different one in the afternoon. This year’s winner was Gregor Speirs from Edinburgh.”

  1. Gregor Speirs
  2. Andrew Wright
  3. David Russell
    Judges: John Allan, James Burnet

Former Winners MSR

“The Former Winners’ March, Strathspey and Reel took place in the Corran Halls beginning at 7pm in the evening. This is of course a very demanding competition with each competitor playing each tune twice through and a number of competitors had niggling little blemishes failing their overall performance.”

  1. Sgt. Gordon Walker
  2. PM Alasdair Gillies
  3. Angus MacColl
  4. William McCallum
    Judges: PM Angus Macdonald, James Young, Walter Drysdale

The Games

“The early morning of Thursday was dull and very overcast but luck was with the good people of Argyll because it stayed dry all day, in fact it was fairly warm with good conditions for piping. The A Grade and the B Grade March, Strathspey and Reel competitions along with the local events all took place in Mossfield Park and the standard ranged from excellent to some really poor performances. It was rather surprising the speed at which some people were playing especially in the Strathspey and Reel competition. No dance rhythm at all.

•The march to the Games in 1996 with Angus MacColl in the pipe major position.

“With 45 entries in the A Grade and 30 in the B Grade it could be suggested that the CPA should take a close look at the grading of competitors.

“Overall two very enjoyable days of piping and meeting old and new friends.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Neil Horne the Games Secretary and his hard working committee for all their kindness and help during both days and a special thank you to Secretary Pauline McKiernan and my good friend Torquil Telfer who is a tower of strength organising and stewarding on both days.”

The results were:

A Grade March

  1. John Patrick
  2. Scott Drummond
  3. Sgt. Donald J. MacIntyre
  4. PM Stuart Samson
  5. Jack Lee
    Judges: Walter Drysdale, John Allan, J.M. Henderson

A Grade Strathspey and Reel

  1. Michael Cusack
  2. Roderick MacLeod
  3. Sgt. Wilson Brown
  4. James Murray
  5. Jack Lee
    Judges: Norman Matheson, Ronald Morrison, Angus J. Maclellan
•John Don MacKenzie with Angus MacDonald and Iain Macey.

B Grade March

  1. Andrew Mathieson
  2. William Geddes
  3. Seumas Coyne
  4. Gordon MacLean
  5. Neil Walker
    Judges: PIM Ronald Lawrie, James Young, William MacDonald

B Grade Strathspey and Reel

  1. Andrew Mathieson
  2. Gordon MacLean
  3. Donald MacInnes
  4. Ann Gray
  5. Paul Ritchie
    Judges: Neill Mulvie, Finlay MacNeill, Malcolm McRae

Jig

  1. Allan MacDonald
  2. Ian K. MacDonald
  3. John Patrick
    Judges: PM Angus Macdonald, James Burnet
•Allan MacDonald playing for judges John Allan, Walter Drysdale and Joe Henderson at the Argyllshire Gathering 1996.

March (Local)

  1. Iain MacIntyre
  2. Pte. David Kelly
  3. Pte. Kristian Clezy

Strathspey and Reel (Local)

  1. Derek Wilson
  2. Iain MacIntyre
  3. L/Cpl. Scott Methven

Junior March, Strathspey and Reel (Local)

  1. Angus Morrison
  2. Judith Morrison
  3. Jean Morrison
•Iain Hurst playing for judges John Allan, Walter Drysdale and Joe Henderson at the Argyllshire Gathering 1996.