Four of the major piobaireachd competitions in world piping, plus the Former Winners’ MSR, were held yesterday in Oban, Argyll .
Only four days after lifting the World Pipe Band Championship with his Inveraray band, P/M Stuart Liddell walked off with the Champion Piper award in the senior events. Stuart placed second in MSR and third in Piobaireachd to give him the title.
By Robert Wallace
Another remarkable feat: Stuart’s P/Sgt, Alasdair Henderson, won the Senior Piobaireachd award, again only four days after his band’s triumph on Glasgow Green. The way these two pipers are able to switch from solo to band disciplines is certainly noteworthy and a credit to their ability and preparation.
Elsewhere, all firsts went to home pipers, but it may be significant that in the Gold Medal all prizes, other than first, went overseas. However, in the Silver Medal all prizewinners were home based. In the MacGregor Memorial Piobaireachd only two of the qualifiers for the final were from Scotland.
There was a mixed bag of ability in the MacGregor. It is a tall ask for young pipers to play at this level twice in the same day. Managing it no bother was the winner Kyle Cameron with two accomplished runs. Kyle just needs to control a tendency to run away with things. He now automatically qualifies for next year’s Silver Medal and is amply equipped to do well there.
Of the others in the list Cameron Bonar played a nice Donald of Laggan despite a couple of missed crunluaths and a clipping of the connecting notes in the taorluath singling. The Red Speckled Bull earned Fraser Hamilton third. A good attempt by this young lad, if a shade square. Fourth went to Australia’s Liam Nicolson with Queen Elizabeth II’s Salute. A nice pipe saw Liam home despite rushing in the doublings.
My advice to all pipers trying for the MacGregor is to submit four tunes of equal weight, not too long, not too short, and be prepared to play any of them when called on to do so. The demand on the pipe and on the concentration will therefore be the same irrespective of the tune chosen. Yesterday we had a very wide range of pieces from the simplest to the most difficult.
Gold Medal
1 Cameron Drummond, Black Donald’s March
2 Nick Hudson, Nameless, hiharin odin, hiharin dro
3 Derek Midgley, Nameless, hiharin odin, higarin dro
4 Brendan Eade, Glen is Mine
5 Andrew Donlon, Farewell to the Laird of Islay
Judges: B Hitchings, R McShannon, W Morrison
Silver Medal
1 John MacDonald, Cave of Gold
2 Cameron May, MacNab’s Gathering
3 Edward Gaul
4 Calum Wynd, MacKintosh’s Lament
5 Luke Kennedy
Judges: E Anderson, J Banks, W Wotherspoon
Senior Piobaireachd
1 Alasdair Henderson, Mrs MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute
2 Callum Beaumont, Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon
3 Stuart Liddell
4 Bruce Gandy
5 Craig Sutherland
Judges: M Henderson, A MacDonald, J Wilson
MacGregor Memorial Piobaireachd (For pipers aged 22 and under – two heats, four from each going forward to a final of eight judged by all four judges)
1 Kyle Cameron, MacNeill of Barra’s March
2 Cameron Bonar, Lament for Donald of Laggan
3 Fraser Hamilton, Red Speckled Bull
4 Liam Nicolson, Queen Elizabeth II’s Salute
Finalists: K Cameron, C Bonar (Canada), L Nicolson (Australia), J Walker (Australia), F Hamilton, M McConnochie (NZ), C Bevan (Canada), L Forrest (Canada).
Judges: M Cusack, I Duncan, A Forbes, R Wallace
Former Winners’ MSR
1 Christopher Armstrong
2 Stuart Liddell
3 William McCallum
4 Sarah Muir
5 Ian K MacDonald
Judges: B Donaldson, I MacFadyen, R Worrall
Stay tuned to Piping Press for more from the Argyllshire Gathering.
