• PART 73 •
BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
The 2008 Argyllshire Gathering was held on 27th and 28th August in good weather. The programme did not include the set tunes except those for the Silver Medal, and the venues and starting times were not shown either, although these were much the same as the previous year, with the Senior in the Main Auditorium and the Gold in the Theatre at the Corran Halls.
The set tunes for the Senior and Gold has been published the previous year by the Piobaireachd Society. They were for the Senior: Lament for Angus Campbell, Salute to the Isle of Iona, Salute to James Campbell, Roderick MacDonald’s Salute, The Phantom Piper of Corrieyaireack, Lament for Pipe Major Robert Reid, Echoing Roots of Brittany, Lament for Alan My Son. Four were to be submitted.
The tunes for the Gold Medal were: Group 1. The Blind Piper’s Obstinacy, Sobieski’s Salute, The Stewarts’ White Banner, Clan MacNab’s Salute. Group 2. The King’s Taxes, My King has Landed in Moidart, The End of the Great Bridge, The Park Piobaireachd No. 2. Two from each group were required.
The Silver Medal tunes were: Group 1. Rout of the MacPhees, Hector MacLean’s Warning, The Little Spree. Group 2. Corrienessan’s Salute, I am Proud to Play a Pipe, Lament for the Castle of Dunyveg. Two from each group were to be submitted. There were 16 entries for the Senior, 28 for the Gold, 31 for the Silver and 24 for the MacGregor Memorial.
The results were: Senior Piobaireachd: 1. Roddy MacLeod, Lament for Alan My Son; 2. Jack Lee, Phantom Piper of Corrieyaireack; 3.Niall Matheson, Phantom Piper of Corrieyaireack; 4. Iain Speirs, Roderick MacDonald’s Salute. The judges were J Taylor, J McGillivray and J MacDougall.
Gold Medal: 1. Niall Stewart, The Blind Piper’s Obstinacy; 2. Andrew Hayes, The End of the Great Bridge; 3. Gareth Rudolph, The Stewarts’ White Banner; 4. Callum Beaumont, The King’s Taxes; 5. James MacHattie, My King has Landed in Moidart. The judges were J Wilson, M McRae and W Livingstone.
Silver Medal: 1. Andrea Boyd, Corrienessan’s Salute; 2. Andrew Lee, 3. Faye Henderson, 4. Duncan Grant, 5. Cameron Drummond. The judges were H MacCallum. I MacFadyen and R Worrall.
MacGregor Memorial: 1. Ashleigh Bell, Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay; 2. Fraser Maitland, 3. Alistair Lee, 4. Gordon Conn. The judges were T Speirs, A Wright and R Clark.
The Former Winners March Strathspey and Reel was held in the evening at the Corran Halls with 22 competitors, including Margaret Dunn who the previous year had qualified for this event. The result was: 1. William McCallum, 2. Bruce Gandy, 3. Stuart Liddell, 4. Douglas Murray. The judges were Barry Donaldson, Bruce Hitchings and Ian McLellan.
The second day began with the usual march to the field. Two pipe bands played during the day, The Scots Guards Association and the Tiree Schools. Six platforms were used for the piping so the Junior and Local events could be held on platform one while the other five events A March, A S&R, B March, B S&R and Jig each had a platform and could all start at the same time. There were 36 pipers in the A Grade and 39 in the B.
A Grade March: 1. Allan Johnstone, 2. Andrew Hayes, 3. James Beaumont, 4. Ryan Canning. Judges: Bill Livingstone, Iain MacFadyen and Malcolm McRae.
A Grade Strathspey & Reel: 1. James Murray. 2. Andrew Hayes, 3. James MacKenzie, 4. Iain Speirs. Judges: Barry Donaldson, Robert Worrall and Andrew Wright.
B Grade March: 1. Peter MacGregor. 2. Jamie Forrester, 3. Will Nichols, 4. Matt Pantaleoni. Judges: Hugh MacCallum, Jim MacGillivray and Tom Speirs.
B Grade Strathspey & Reel: 1. Fraser Wylie, 2. Neil Walker, 3. Alex Gandy, 4. Cameron Scott. Judges: Walter Cowan, Andrew Frater and John Wilson.
Open Jig: 1. Gordon McCready, 2. Andrew Carlisle, 3. James MacHattie, 4. Ryan Canning. Judges: Ian McLellan, John MacDougall and Robert Wallace.
Junior Local MSR: 1. Alasdair Dempster, 2. Ross Fergusson, 3. Scott McLean.
Local March: 1. Gavin Ferguson, 2. Laura MacMillan, 3. Iain Marshall.
Local S&R: 1. Laura MacMillan, 2. Gavin Ferguson, 3. lain Marshall.