Piping Press now presents the complete results for the first day of competition at one of the world’s great piping events, the Argyllshire Gathering. The winner of the Senior Piobaireachd was Stuart Liddell. Stuart also placed second in the Former Winners’ MSR to take the Royal Celtic Society prize as Champion Piper.
The 2015 Oban Gold Medallist was John Angus Smith, London. He had been trying for 21 years to win the coveted medal having placed third and fifth on previous occasions. The Silver Medal went to Sandy Cameron, Roy Bridge, and the MacGregor Memorial to Charles MacDonald, Inverness. Angus MacColl won the big ceol beag prize taking the Former Winners’ MSR title. Angus, Stuart and John Angus will now receive invites to compete for the Glenfiddich Championship on October 24.
Tomorrow sees 38 pipers scheduled for the ‘A’ grade ceol beag and 35 the ‘B’. The playing order at the Argyllshire is strictly adhered to and any piper not ready when called on to play is disqualified.
The selection of tunes each piper played in the piobaireachd competitions is normally done by the judges the night before the contest and given to the piper one before he/she plays. This year, because the tunes were own choice, the Silver and Gold Medal tunes were drawn in a ballot.
Gold Medal (8 tunes own choice)
1 JA Smith, Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay (£500)
2 Jamie Troy, Laird of Anapool’s Lament (£350)
3 James MacHattie, MacNeill of Barra’s March (£200)
4 Andrew Carlisle, Lament for the Earl of Antrim (£150)
5 Alasdair Henderson, Big Spree (£100)
Judges: W Morrison, J Taylor, R Worrall
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Argyllshire Gathering Silver Medal (six tunes own choice)
1 Sandy Cameron, Blind Piper’s Obstinacy (£300)
2 Sean McKeown, Isabel MacKay (£250)
3 Ed Bush, Earl of Seaforth’s Salute (£100)
4 Mike Fitzhenry, Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay (£75)
5 Sarah Muir, Lament for Captain MacDougall (£50)
Judges: P Henderson, R MacShannon, A Forbes
Senior Piobaireachd (prescribed list of MacCrimmon tunes recommended by the Piobaireachd Society’s Music Committee)
1 S Liddell, Lament for the Earl of Antrim (£500)
2 I Speirs, Patrick Og MacCrimmon’s Lament (£350)
3 A Hayes, Lament for the Duke of Hamilton (£200)
4 F Johnston, Lament for the Earl of Antrim (£150)
5 F Henderson(£100)
Judges: W Livingstone, I MacFadyen, J Wilson
MacGregor Memorial
1 Charles MacDonald, Old Men of the Shells (£100)
2 John Dew, Lachlan MacNeill Campbell’s Fancy(£75)
3 Callum Watson, Hector MacLean’s Warning (£50)
4 Ross Miller, MacLeod of Raasay’s Salute (£40)
Pipers played in two heats with four from each going through to the final. Other finalists were: Seumas O’Baoighill, Cameron Sharp, Calum Wynd, Campbell Webster
Judges: M McRae, R Wallace, W Wotherspoon, A Wright
Former Winners’ MSR (six tunes of each submitted)
1 Angus MacColl (£500)
2 Stuart Liddell (£350)
3 William McCallum (£200)
4 Alastair Lee (£150)
5 Gordon McCready (£100)
Judges: J Banks, I McLellan, S Samson
The Royal Celtic Society was awarded to the Champion Piper Stuart Liddell who gained most points in the Senior Piobaireachd and the Former Winners’ MSR. Points: 1st = 4, 2nd=3, 3rd=2, 4th=1.
Stay tuned to Piping Press for updates throughout the Gathering. Send your good wishes to the winners by leaving a comment below or go to our Facebook page here.
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Excellent coverage as ever. Warm congratulations to Sandy Cameron on the Silver Medal win. A very hard working and talented young piper. A tremendous accolade in addition to that Juvenile World Champion band win with Dollar Academy. What a summer Sandy.