• PART 67 •
BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
In 2002 the Argyllshire Gathering was on 21st and 22nd August. The Gold Medal began at 9.00 am in the Great Western Hotel. The set tunes were Nameless (Hiharin odin hiharin dro), Nameless (Hiharin dro o dro), Borlum’s Salute, The Vaunting, The King’s Taxes, The MacDougall’s Gathering, The Gathering of Clan Chattan, The Rout of Glenfruin, Mrs Smith’s Salute, Lament for MacDonald’s Tutor, and six were to be submitted. There were 30 competitors and the judges were John MacDougall, Willie MacDonald (Benbecula) and Dr. Jack Taylor. The winner Iain Speirs was the son of Gold Medallist Tom Speirs. He was a pupil of Donald MacPherson as were the third and fourth prize winners. The full result was 1. Iain Speirs, King’s Taxes, 2. Stuart Liddell, The Vaunting, 3. Douglas Murray, Rout of Glenfruin, 4. Stuart Shedden, Clan Chattan.
The Senior Piobaireachd Competition began at 10.30am in the Royal Hotel. There were 17 competitors, each offering four tunes chosen from The Sutherland’s Gathering, Lament for Airds, Rout of the Lowland Captain, End of the Little Bridge, Nameless (Hindro hindro), Lament for King George III. Present in the audience at the Royal Hotel was Alasdair Campbell of Airds, who was hoping to hear the tune composed for the ancestor, which in fact was the winning tune of the day. The result was 1. William McCallum, Lament for Airds, 2. Greg Wilson, 3. Angus MacColl, 4. Murray Henderson. The judges here were Ronald Lawrie, Donald MacPherson and Andrew Wright.
The Silver Medal began at 9.00am in the Corran Halls with judges Malcolm McRae, Iain MacFadyen and George Lumsden. The set tunes were the same as in the previous year and again six were to be offered. There were 30 competitors. The result was 1. Innes Smith, The Bicker, 2. Chris Armstrong, 3. J Ross Cowan, 4. Matt Turnbull, 5. Louise Hay.
The MacGregor Memorial Competition began at 9.00am at The Regent Hotel. There was a rule change for this event. ‘Competitors will submit four tunes of their own choice. If there are fewer than 16 Competitors, each will be required to play two tunes, one in the first half of the competition, and one in the second. If there are I6 Competitors or more, the Judges will produce a short leet of the six whose tunes they consider to have been the best, and those six will each play a second tune. The prizewinners will be the best of those six judged on both tunes.’ The judges were Finlay MacNeill and Iain Clowe. There were 24 competitors and the six chosen for the final were Angus John Nicolson, Euan Dewar, Andrea Boyd, Andrew Carlisle, Finlay Johnston and Erin McCarthy. The final result was 1. Andrew Carlisle, 2. Andrea Boyd, 3. Finlay Johnston, 4. Euan Dewar.
The March, Strathspey and Reel for Former Winners began earlier than in previous years at 5.30 pm in the Corran Halls although the programme showed a start time of 5.00pm. There were 22 competitors and the judges were Barry Donaldson, Ian McLellan and Willie Morrison. The result was 1. William McCallum, 2. Iain Speirs, 3. Chris Armstrong, 4. Allan Russell.
Games Day began with the parade to the field, with the stewards led by the young Duke of Argyll making his first appearance as President of the Gathering and the new Gold Medallist Iain Speirs taking the Pipe Major’s position. Alongside Iain were his colleagues Colin MacLellan and Jenny Hazzard from the Lothians and Borders Police Pipe Band, with Silver Medallist Innes Smith in the Pipe Sergeant’s position. The competitions took place on five platforms around the field. There were 38 pipers in the A Grade and 33 in the B Grade. The Junior MSR had 10 entries and the local events had eight. All the piping events were over by 3.30pm. During the day the Oban Pipe Band entertained.
A March. 1. Bruce Gandy, 2. Robert Watt, 3. Gavin Walker, 4. Jenny Hazzard, 5. Niall Stewart.
A Strathspey and Reel. 1. Chris Armstrong, 2. Alan Bevan, 3. Robert Watt, 4. Iain Speirs, 5. Gavin Walker.
B March. 1. Ross Cowan, 2. Neil Walker, 3. Martin Frewin, 4. Gary Watterson, 5. Glenn Brown.
B Strathspey and Reel. 1. Gordon McCready, 2. Brian MacKenzie, 3. Ross Cowan, 4. Simon McKerrell, 5. Neil Walker.
Jig. 1. Robert Watt, 2. Alexis Meunier, 3. Greg Wilson.
Junior MSR. 1. Fraser Wylie, 2. Euan Dewar, 3. Gavin Ferguson, 4. Struan Thorpe.
Local March. 1. Finlay Johnston, 2. Ian Donaldson, 3. Alasdair Currie.
Local S&R. 1. Finlay Johnston, 2. George Sharp, 3. Alasdair Currie.