• PART 64 •
BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
In 1999 the Gathering was on Wednesday and Thursday 25th and 26th August. On Tuesday evening prior to the Gathering the Oban Pipe Band played outside the station. On Wednesday the Gold Medal began at 9am in the Great Western Hotel. The set tunes were The Battle of Sheriffmuir, Clanranald’s Salute, The Desperate Battle, Finlay’s Lament, Hiharin dro o dro, Lament for the Only Son, My King has landed in Moidart, The Rout of the MacPhees. Four tunes were to be submitted. There were 30 competitors and the judges were Ronald Lawrie, Jimmy Young and Malcolm McRae.
The winner was Major John Cairns from Canada, son of Archie Cairns, formerly head of Canadian Army piping. John went on to make it the double by winning the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting the same year. The other places went to 2. Stuart Shedden, 3. Alan Bevan, 4. Les Hutt, 5. Stuart Liddell.
The Senior Piobaireachd began at 10.30am in the Royal Hotel, with judges Jack Taylor, Iain MacFadyen and Willie MacDonald, Benbecula. There were 14 competitors. The set tunes were Abercairney’s Salute, The Battle of Waterloo, The Daughter’s Lament, The Lament for the Departure of King James, The Laird of Anapool’s Lament, Lament for Hugh, My Dearest on Earth, Give me your Kiss, The Sound of the Waves against the Castle of Duntroon. Four tunes were to be submitted. The result was 1. Willie McCallum, Lament for Hugh; 2. P/Sgt Gordon Walker, The Sound of the Waves against the Castle of Duntroon; 3. Michael Cusack, The Lament for the Departure of King James; 4. Robert Wallace, The Sound of the Waves against the Castle of Duntroon.
The Silver Medal began at 9am in the Corran Halls. The set tunes were Clan Campbell’s Gathering, Corrienessan’ s Salute, Lament for the Castle of Dunyveg, Little Prince – you are my choice, The Men went to Drink, MacCrimmon’s Sweetheart, MacNeill is Lord there, Too Long in this Condition. Four were to be submitted. There were 30 competitors.
The winner was Michael Rogers from Maryland, USA, a pupil of Jimmy McIntosh. He played Too Long in this Condition. The other places were 2. Cpl Donald MacKay, 3. Anne Spalding, 4. John Burnett, 5. Andrew Hayes.
The MacGregor Memorial was in the Regent Hotel at 9am and 2.30pm, with the Junior MSR between the two parts. There were 15 competitors for the MacGregor and the result was 1. John Mulhearn, 2. John MacPhee 3. Ross Cowan, 4. Alistair Brown.
The Junior MSR had 6 competitors. The result was 1. Angus Morrison, 2. Lorne MacDougall, 3. Aidan Finlayson, 4. John Gemmell.
In the evening the Former Winners MSR started at 7pm in the Corran Halls with judges Ian McLellan, John Wilson and Barry Donaldson, all former members of the great Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. There were 17 competitors, each of whom had submitted six marches, six strathspeys and six reels any of which could be selected for them to play twice over. The last piper finished at 10.40pm. The winner was Willie McCallum playing Captain Campbell of Drumavoisk, Lady MacKenzie of Gairloch, The Man from Glengarry. 2. Angus MacColl, Argyllshire Gathering, Cameronian Rant, Charlie’s Welcome. 3. P/Sgt Gordon Walker, Crags of Stirling, Susan MacLeod, John Morrison of Assynt House. 4. Roddy MacLeod, Southall, Shepherd’s Crook, Sandy Cameron. The competition finished at 11pm and the prize giving followed.
Thursday morning started fine for the traditional march to the games field. As always there was a big turnout of the officials and stewards led by the Duke of Argyll, President of the Gathering, but the turnout of pipers was the worst ever. The number of pipers taking part in the march has been declining steadily over the last few years, with many avoiding this duty and going straight to the field. When the Gathering began all the events took place at the field and most pipers would arrive by train. It made sense, therefore, that they should muster outside the station where they would check in with the stewards and receive their tickets, then play together up to the field. At the present day most pipers have cars and park at the games field. They then have to walk down to the station before playing up to the field again. It must therefore be a temptation to stay at the field and miss the march. This year, although there were 67 pipers entered for the open events, only six played in the march to the field. The new Gold Medallist has the honour of being Pipe Major and it must have been a great disappointment to John Cairns that so few turned up to support him; those who did deserve a mention and they were Michael Rogers, USA, the Silver Medal Winner; Greg Wilson, New Zealand; Ed Neigh, Canada; and two Scots, Anne Spalding from Broughty Ferry and Donald MacKay of the Highlanders.
Soon after the parade arrived the rain began and it continued to drizzle all day. The piping events were over by 3.30pm.
The results were: March A Grade: 1. Andrew Mathieson, 2. John Angus Smith, 3. John Cairns, 4.Niall Stewart, 5.Alan Bevan. Judges Ian McLellan, Iain MacFadyen, Ronald Lawrie.
March B Grade: 1.Chris Armstrong, 2.James MacHattie, 3.Brendan Eade, 4.Herve Le Floch, 5.Ann Gray. Judges Malcolm McRae, John Allan, John Wilson.
S&R A Grade: 1. Roddy Macleod, 2.Douglas Murray, 3.John Patrick, 4.Greg Wilson 5. John Cairns. Judges Walter Drysdale, Jimmy Young, Joe Henderson.
S&R B Grade: 1. Margaret Houlihan, 2.Brendan Eade, 3.Chris Armstrong, 4.James MacHatttie, 5. Innes Smith. Judges Willie MacDonald, Ronald Morrison, Neill Mulvie.
Jig: 1.Gordon Walker, 2.Donald MacPhee, 3.Iain Hurst, 4.John Angus Smith. Judges Tom Speirs, Edward Clark, Barry Donaldson.
March (Local): 1. Jean Morrison.
Strathspey & Reel (Local): 1. Jean Morrison, 2. Iain MacIntyre.
