• PART 74 •
BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
The 2009 Argyllshire Gathering took place on 26th and 27th August. Again the venues were not listed in the programme but the Gold Medal was in the theatre and the Senior in the main auditorium at the Corran Halls. The weather was dry on the first day but there were some heavy showers on Games day.
The set tunes for the Senior were The Earl of Ross’s March, Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon, The MacDonalds’ Salute, Lament for the Duke of Hamilton, Rory Macloude’s Lament, Lament for the Children, The Battle of Waternish, Lament for the Harp Tree, Macleod of Macleod’s Lament, John Garve Macleod of Raasay’s Lament, Lament for the Earl of Antrim, Mrs. Macleod of Talisker’s Salute, Macleod of Colbeck’s Lament, Lament for Padruig Og MacCrimmon; and competitors were required to submit six. Although 21 names were listed in the programme seven of these had called off. The judges were Andrew Wright, John Wilson and Malcolm McRae. The result of the Senior Piobaireachd was 1. Angus MacColl, Mrs MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute; 2. Niall Stewart, Earl of Ross’s March, 3. Jack Lee, Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon; 4. William McCallum, MacLeod of Colbeck’s Lament.
The set tunes for the Gold Medal were Group 1: Lament for MacDonald’s Tutor, Lament for the Dead, The MacRaes’ March, Hiharin dro o dro. Group 2: Beloved Scotland, The Earl of Seaforth’s Salute, The Battle of Auldearn, No. 2, Lament for the Viscount of Dundee. Competitors were required to submit two from each group. There were 30 names listed in the programme and the judges were John MacDougall, Iain MacFadyen and Colin MacLellan. The result of the Gold Medal was 1. Alastair Dunn, Lament for the Viscount of Dundee; 2. Glenn Brown, MacRaes’ March; 3. Marion Horsburgh, Earl of Seaforth’s Salute; 4. Allan Russell, Hiharin dro o dro; 5. Andrew Hayes, Lament for the Viscount of Dundee.
The set tunes for the Silver Medal were: The MacKays’ Banner, Mackintosh’s Lament, Tulloch Ard, The Piper’s Warning to his Master, The Gathering of Clan Chattan, A Flame of Wrath for Squinting Patrick, The Desperate Battle of the Birds, Lament for Captain MacDougall. Four tunes were to be submitted. There were 31 competitors and the judges were Jim McGillivray, Ronald McShannon and Alan Forbes. The result of the Silver Medal was 1. Cameron Drummond, The Gathering of Clan Chattan; 2. Alistair Lee, The MacKays’ Banner; 3. David Wilton, The Piper’s Warning to his Master, 4. Faye Henderson, The Gathering of Clan Chattan; 5. John Mulhearn, The Gathering of Clan Chattan.
There were 24 competitors for the MacGregor Memorial which was judged by Dr Jack Taylor, Dugald MacNeill and Ronald Clark. Each competitor had submitted four tunes of their own choice and six were selected to play again with a different tune chosen from their four. They were judged over both performances. The result of the MacGregor Memorial was 1. Craig Sutherland, MacDougalls’ Gathering, Scarce of Fishing; 2. Craig Muirhead, Earl of Seaforth’s Salute, Beloved Scotland; 3. Keith Bowes, I Got a Kiss of the King’s Hand, The Piper’s Warning to His Master. The other finalists were George Stewart, Bradley Parker and Gavin Ferguson.
The Former winners took place at the Corran Halls in the evening of the first day. Out of 23 competitors listed only 17 played and there were two breakdowns. As always the tunes were played twice through. The judges were Barry Donaldson, Jimmy Banks and Bob Worrall. The winner was James Murray playing The Rossshire Volunteers, Highland Harry, Sandy Cameron. Second was Stuart Liddell with Abercairney Highlanders, Shepherd’s Crook, John Morrison of Assynt House. Third was Gordon Walker with John MacDonald of Glencoe, Piper’s Bonnet, Ca’ the Ewes, and fourth Douglas Murray, MacLean of Pennycross Caledonian Society of London, Thomson’s Dirk.
The second day began with the usual march to the field led by Alastair Dunn, the new Gold Medallist. The pipe bands in attendance were Inveraray and District and Oban High School. As in the previous year the piping took place on six platforms. There were 32 names listed for the A Grade March, 34 for the A Grade Strathspey and Reel and 37 for both the B events. The junior MSR and the local events were judged by Walter Cowan and Ronald Clark.
The results were:
A Grade March: 1. Glenn Brown 2. James MacKenzie, 3. Andrew Carlisle, 4. Jack Lee. Judges: Jimmy Banks, Barry Donaldson, Tom Speirs.
A Grade S&R: 1. Niall Stewart, 2. Cameron Drummond, 3. Iain Speirs, 4. Glenn Brown. Judges: Alan Forbes, John Wilson, Bob Worrall.
B Grade March: 1. Alistair Lee, 2. Will Nichols, 3. Willie McIntyre, 4. Xavier Boderiou. Judges: John MacDougall, Dugald MacNeill, Colin MacLellan.
B Grade S&R: 1. Willie McIntyre, 2. John Mulhearn, 3. Gavin Ferguson, 4. James Troy. Judges: Bruce Hitchings, Ronnie McShannon, Malcolm McRae.
Jig: 1. Simon McKerrell, 2. Ian K. MacDonald, 3. Gordon McCready, 4. Alasdair Henderson. Judges: Andrew Frater, Iain MacFadyen, Jim McGillivray.