The Bratach Gorm piobaireachd competition was held last night (Nov 1) – the first time on a Friday. The venue was the Caledonian Club, Belgravia, London, and a good crowd supported the event run by the Scottish Piping Society of London and sponsored by the Piobaireachd Society.
Unfortunately, to the general disgruntlement of the audience, the results were witheld until the prizegiving later today.
Ten pipers entered; nine played; seven tunes asked. In order of play:
Roderick MacLeod – Patrick Og MacCrimmon’s Lament
William McCallum – Rout of the Lowland Captain
Callum Beaumont – Lament for the Earl of Antrim
Jack Lee – Lord Lovat’s Lament
Alasdair Henderson- The Battle of Auldearn #2
Glenn Brown – Scarce of Fishing
Niall Stewart – Lachlan MacNeill Campbell of Kintarbert’s Fancy
Iain Speirs – Cherede Darievea
Peter McCallister – The Earl of Seaforth’s Salute
Piping Press’s special correspondent filed this: ‘I enjoyed the evening and in particular the playing of Iain Speirs (couple of light strikes in the ground but otherwise a strong tune), Callum Beaumont, Alasdair Henderson and and Glenn Brown.
‘Niall Stewart played well too, but to me, in the small room, the bagpipe was loud and lacked refinement. Just my views. Overall the judges may see it completely differently.
‘Audience maxed out at about thirty which is slightly better than the last couple of years.
‘The Morrison Room at the Caledonian Club is acoustically excellent but there was some issue with maintaining a constant temperature.
‘The committee invited Walter MacGregor (above) as ‘Fear an Tighe’ for the evening and I think he was somewhat hampered by a faulty microphone. He had done a lot of background research on the pipers and their tunes and this added interest.
‘I think there was general disappointment that the result was not revealed tonight.’
A raft of competitions will be held at the same venue today. Stay tuned for results as we get them.
Jimmy Banks reports from last weekend’s Scots Guards KO: ‘Brighde Chaimbeul won the first round of our KO on Sunday. Forty-two people voted and the result was 22 Brighde 20 Jamie Elder. Very good piping and a good audience and the result could have gone either way.’
Tomorrow, Sunday Nov 3rd, sees the annual Queensland Highland Pipers’ Society Piobaireachd Day at Rochedale State High School Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. Pipers and their tunes:
