Skye Gathering piping competitions will be held on August 6th and 7th and feature six events, Dunvegan Medal, Col. Jock Clasp, Kemble Star March, Peter MacFarquhar Star Strathspey & Reel, 6/8 March and Hornpipe & Jig.
Entries for the Dunvegan Medal will be accepted during April & May. The blurb issued by Piping Convenor Cameron MacFadyen reads:
‘The top three performers from each heat (i.e. six competitors drawn from the two March heats and six competitors from the two S&R heats) will go forward to take part in the finals in St Columba’s Church starting at 1.30pm.
‘For the March Final, pipers will perform the remaining unplayed two tunes from their original submission of three, i.e. not the march played in the heats.
‘If a piper is in both finals he/she will be asked to play their two Marches and then the Strathspey and Reel together rather than making separate visits to the platform.
‘As in the heats, there will be the opportunity to retune between Marches and S&R. Finalists will be asked to play their two Marches once through. The S&R is once through.’
Dunvegan Medal: 1 £140 2 £100 3 £70 4 £40 5 £20
Clasp: 1 £200 2 £120 3 £100
6/8: 1 £60 2 £40 3 £30 4 £20 5 £15
H&J: 1 £60 2 £40 3 £30 4 £20 5 £15
March: 1 £70 2 £50 3 £40 4 £30 5 £20 6 £10
S&R: 1 £70 2 £50 3 £40 4 £30 5 £20 6 £10
The piper with the highest points in the ceòl beag (light music) competitions will win the Dr Allan MacDonald Cup + £200. The piper with the highest points in the Clasp and/or Dunvegan Medal + ceòl beag competitions will win the Highland Society of London award of £250.
Points for placings in the Ceòl Mòr competitions are as follows: 1st – 10, 2nd – 8, 3rd – 6, 4th – 4, 5th – 2. Note that the last two placings do not apply in the Clasp competition. Points for placings in the ceòl beag competitions are as follows: 1st – 6, 2nd – 5, 3rd – 4, 4th – 3, 5th – 2, 6th – 1.
In the event of a tie, weighting will be given to the competitor scoring highest in the ceòl mòr events.
- Get full details and a competition entry form here.
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Gilbert Cromie reports from Northern Ireland: Congratulations to Gary Smyth, lead drummer of the Quinn Memorial Pipe Band, and his team, the artistes who performed and the legion of sponsors whose efforts raised £8355 for the Children’s Cancer Unit, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, at the concert held on 9th February in the Royal Hotel, Cookstown.
This was the second year of the event with a whopping £9000 being raised in 2018. There was an outstanding line-up from the pipe band community including Richard Parkes, Terry Tully, Kris Coyle, Ryan Cupples Menendez, Gareth McLees, William Glenholmes, Dean Smyth, Lee Lawson and many more.
Also appearing were the NI Drum Majors display team and a St. Laurence O’Toole mini band with their World Champion drum corps. In addition there were songs from Robyn Talbot and James Marks as well as entertainment from the Music Service for Pipes and Drums.
The list of sponsors was a veritable a who’s who of the local and international pipe band merchandisers and manufacturers which is a tribute to the pipe band community and the charitable approach which is a halmark of the genre. Gary has confirmed that there will be a 2020 event.
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