• PART 65 •
BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
The Gathering in 2000 was on the 23rd and 24th August. Jeannie Campbell reported on the events of both days: “In 2000 the sun shone for the two days of the Argyllshire Gathering. Good weather is a must for an enjoyable day at the games, but is not quite so vital for the first day when all the piping is indoors. However, as the four venues used on the first day are spread around the town, good weather on that day too is an advantage.
“The events on Wednesday 23rd August began with the Gold Medal at 9am in the Great Western Hotel. The prizes were The Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal and Money Prizes presented by the Piobaireachd Society: 1st Prize £115; 2nd Prize £65; 3rd Prize £45; 4th Prize £35; 5th Prize £25; (to be awarded only at the discretion of the Judges).
“The rules stated ‘Previous winners of the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering are not eligible. Entry is restricted to those already notified of their eligibility to compete by the Joint Committee of the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting in the year of the competitions. Competitors should choose six tunes from the list below, one of which they will be asked to play. The Blind Piper’s Obstinacy, Sobieski’s Salute, The Pride of Barra, The King’s Taxes, The Vaunting, Lord Lovat’s Lament, The Macraes’ March, Lament for the Dead.’ The venue was the basement hall of the Hotel. This is not an ideal location as the ceiling is low and the atmosphere was rather hot and claustrophobic. A large audience gathered for the start of the event, but for several it was a temporary stay as they left in time for the start of the Senior Piobaireachd at 10.30 in the Royal Hotel. There were thirty competitors for the Gold this year, split half and half between Scotland and the rest of the world. After the last player finished, the judges, Jack Taylor, Iain MacFadyen and John Wilson, retired to deliberate and there was a delay of about 40 minutes before the result was announced at 6.40pm.
“The winner was Michael Rogers from Maryland. Michael won the Silver Medal last year so this was his first attempt at Gold. However, he is not the first to win Silver and Gold in consecutive years as Gavin Stoddart did this in 1980 and 1981. Runner-up was Iain Speirs from Edinburgh, third was Herve Lefloc’h from Brittany, fourth Stuart Shedden from Glasgow and fifth Greg Wilson from New Zealand. Stuart and Greg both played in the Senior as well as the Medal so had the difficult task of preparing 10 tunes.
Dugald MacNeill reported on the playing in the Gold Medal contest
‘I was one of the few, apart from the judges, who sat throughout the Gold Medal competition in Oban. The judges I refer to are Iain MacFadyen, Kyle, John Wilson, Strathclyde Police and Dr Jack Taylor, Aboyne. The Piobaireachd Society had set eight tunes, six of which were to be submitted by each of the 30 competitors. Twenty nine actually played and the judges were careful to spread their selection of the tunes as evenly as possible. There were some players who were not sure enough of the tune they played and they made errors that would rule them out of contention. There were others who did get through their tunes with note accuracy but played as though they had only just managed to that stage and had yet to study and play the tune effectively. The bagpipes were mostly well set and tuned so that the few exceptions were obvious.
‘Of the four who played The Vaunting only Bruce Gandy got near, but not quite near enough, to evoking the boasting arrogant nature of this composition. The Pride of Barra with a trebling of taorluath and crunluath and then a crunluath a mach, was perhaps the most demanding on both fingers and memory. Jack Lee was the only one to complete this tune without blemish and he played the variations rather well too. Perhaps he was a little timid up until then, but he certainly would have been in my prize list.
‘The Lament for the Dead was played briskly by Stuart Samson, and with more feeling but with minor errors, by Donald MacPhee. Iain Macey also played this tune and as usual he played a beautiful ground. Some errors in the crunluath variation and some loose fingering in the crunluath a mach were evident. Ann Gray was given Lord Lovat’s Lament and like too many pipers did not make the doubling on high A audible. In this tune it is not perhaps vital, but if you go through the motions of making the movement then it should be heard. In the doubling of the ground she was too long on the odros but otherwise gave a competent performance. Herve LeFloc’h made a good job of this tune on a pleasant pipe and deserved his third place. Stuart Shedden also played Lord Lovat and I might have had him just ahead of Herve. Stuart has got that something that commands your attention; I think it must be the strong fingers. Of those who played Sobieski’s Salute, Allan Russell made a good job of it but his drones went out of tune. Mike Rogers played it in similar fashion but his pipe was excellent and steady, thus adding to the performance for which he was awarded the Gold Medal.
‘Jenny Hazzard played The Blind Piper’s Obstinacy with an unusual timing in the ground and thereafter the tune did not really come alive. Sgt. Michael Gray also played this tune, and, although he got up to speed and his fingering was good, it did lack deliberate phrasing.
‘The King’s Taxes is a popular tune but requires careful handling. Greg Wilson, I thought, clipped some notes in the ground but from then on his performance was excellent and he was awarded fifth prize. Andrew Berthoff, Ontario, also played this tune and on a good pipe too. Unfortunately for him his second strike, or slur in the double echoes was too short and his fingering was not clean enough towards the end. Iain Speirs was given the MacRae’s March and he made a thoroughly good job of it on a fine instrument. Iain was placed second to Mike Rogers in what must have been a close decision by the judges. I also enjoyed Ed Neigh’s presentation of his tune but I detected some false fingering in the thumb variation and also from A to C in the taorluath variation.’
“The Senior Piobaireachd Competition began at 10.30am in the Royal Hotel. It was sponsored by William Grant & Sons Ltd. Prizes were The Grant’s Senior Piobaireachd Trophy, and a Cup presented by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (both to be held for one year), and 1st Prize £135; 2nd Prize £85; 3rd Prize £65; 4th Prize £50 (to be awarded only at the discretion of the Judges). The competition was open only to previous winners of the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal at a former Gathering at Oban or Inverness.
“Competitors were to submit four from the following list of eight tunes one or more selected from the prescribed settings, one of which they would be required to play. Young George’s Salute, The Red Hand in the MacDonalds’ Arms, The Sutherlands’ Gathering, The Gunns’ Salute, War or Peace From the Gesto MS, Lament for Donald Duaghal Mackay MacArthur setting, The MacLeans’ March MacArthur setting, John Garve MacLeod of Raasay’s Lament D. MacDonald’s setting. There were twelve competitors and the judges were Malcolm McRae, Jimmy Young and Andrew Wright.
“There were twelve entered for this event, but only eleven played as Duncan MacGillivray was delayed and missed his turn. The hall was very full and was uncomfortably hot for the listeners, so must have been equally so for the players. The winner here was local boy Angus MacColl from Benderloch, followed by Willie McCallum, Greg Wilson, and Niall Matheson.
“The Argyllshire Gathering Silver Medal contest began at 9am in the Corran Halls. The prizes were ‘A Silver Medal presented by the Argyllshire Gathering and Money prizes presented by Mr Angus Nicol. 1st Prize £85; 2nd Prize £45; 3rd Prize £40; 4th Prize £25; 5th Prize £20.’
“Entry was restricted to those already notified of their eligibility to compete by the Joint Committee of the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting in the year of the competition.
“Competitors were to choose six tunes from the list below, one of which they would be asked to play. The Groat, Clan Chattan’s Gathering, The Battle of Strome, Tulloch Ard, The MacLeod’s Short Tune, Duntroon’s Salute, Hector MacLean ‘s Warning, The Rout of Glenfruin. The judges were Willie MacDonald (Benbecula), Ronald Lawrie and Ronald Morrison. The Corran Hall main hall is designed for an audience of several hundred but throughout the day the numbers present rarely reached double figures. There were 30 competitors, 12 of whom came from outwith Scotland. First on to play was Graeme Roy from Blanefield near Glasgow, who then had a long wait ahead of him before hearing that he was the winner. Graeme, aged 21, was playing at Oban for the third time. He is taught piobaireachd by Ronald Morrison and also goes to Ian McLellan. In second place was Robert Watt from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, third and fourth were Neil Walker and George Taylor, both from the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, and fifth was Innes Smith from Bridge of Allan.
“The MacGregor Memorial began at 9am in the Regent Hotel. This contest is for young pipers under the age of 22. Each of the 16 competitors had to submit four tunes of their own choice, one of which they played in the morning and another in the afternoon. The winner was James Beaumont from Bo’ness. Edward Gotstaf from Dundee was second, Darach Urquhart from Kyle of Lochalsh third and James Robertson from Kingsmuir, fourth.
“The last event of the day was the MSR for Former Winners, which began in the Corran Halls at 7pm. In previous years the tunes were played twice over but with the increasing number of entries this has meant a very late finish. This year there were 19 entries but as the tunes were played only once over the prize giving ceremony was able to go ahead at the advertised time of 10pm. Although this is a solution to the problem it is not an ideal one. A Former Winners event should be a challenging test for the pipers, but this event is now no more difficult than many minor contests.
“The winner again this year was Willie McCallum, with Angus MacColl in second place, Gordon Walker third and Allan Russell fourth. The judges were Jimmy Young, Walter Drysdale and Ian McLellan.
“With a first and second place each in the two top events, Willie McCallum and Angus MacColl tied for the Royal Celtic Society’s overall prize of £15 ($25US), so this was split between them.
“The programme for 2000 had a cover picture of four dancers from the Queen Victoria School dancing a reel. This was reminiscent of the pre 1976 days when only male dancers were allowed and the regimental reel dancing by teams from the forces was one of the highlights of games day.
“Thursday started at 10.30am, with the traditional march from the station to the games field, but with a difference. This year, instead of leading the parade, the Members and Stewards of the Gathering followed the pipers. The new arrangement was described by one member as ‘frightful’; the only possible advantage being that it helped the stewards to keep in step. The Duke of Argyll was absent from his usual place in the parade but the pipers turned out in respectable numbers. After last year’s poor showing of only six pipers there were 30 this time, although this was still less than half of those entered for the second day’s events. As is traditional the new Gold Medallist, Michael Rogers took the Pipe Major’s position. To lead the competing pipers onto the Argyllshire Gathering field, playing John MacColl’s great march, The Argyllshire Gathering, is a once in a lifetime, never to be forgotten experience, which Michael described as ‘unbelievable’. Another young piper said if he ever won the Medal he would play up the road, even if he had to do it alone.
“The local piping, both adult March and Strathspey and Reel, with six pipers in each and the Junior MSR for local pipers under 16, which had seven entries, had started at 10am, with three platforms being used. The junior event has previously been held on the first day so this was another change. After the local events finished the A and B grades of the March and the Strathspey and Reel began at 11am, followed by the Jig at 11.15, so five events were then running simultaneously. There were 30 pipers in the A Grade and 36 in the B Grade.
“By lunch time only six pipers were left to play in the A March. The Judges were willing to continue to a finish but the stewards decided to stop for the lunch break and save some piping for the afternoon. Perhaps having fewer events running at the same time would help to fill the afternoon, or perhaps the local events could start a little later in the morning. This would have the additional advantage of enabling the local and junior pipers to take part in the march to the field.
“Although the Jig competition is not a new event there was a new trophy this year presented in memory of P/ M Donald S Ramsay BEM. The judges for the jig were Jimmy Young and Barry Donaldson. Jimmy was a close friend of Donald Ramsay’s and was the subject of one of his most popular marches, so it was appropriate that he should be chosen to judge on this occasion.
“Other entertainment during the day was provided by the Oban Pipe Band and the Band of the Danish Civil Protection League. This was a brass band with 48 members aged from 16 to 60. In addition there were the usual athletics and field events.”
The results on the second day were:
Local March: 1. Angus Morrison, 2. Arlene Kerr, 3. Lorne MacDougall.
Local S&R: 1. Angus Morrison, 2. Lorne MacDougall, 3. Arlene Kerr.
Junior MSR: 1. Ewan Dewar, 2. Robert Marrison, 3. Jamie Lawson.
‘A ‘ March: 1. Chris Armstrong, 2. Niall Matheson, 3. Alan Bevan, 4. Robert Watt, 5. Greg Wilson.
‘ B’ March: 1. Brendon Eade, 2. Herve Le Floc’h, 3. George Taylor, 4. Innes Smith, 5. Neil Walker.
‘A’ S&R: 1. Donald MacPhee, 2. Andrew Mathieson, 3. Douglas Murray, 4. John Patrick, 5. John Angus Smith.
‘B’ S&R: 1. Gavin Walker, 2. Les Hutt, 3. Ross Cowan, 4. Innes Smith, 5. Sgt Michael Gray.
Jigs: 1. Gordon Walker, 2. Stuart Liddell, 3. Robert Watt.