I think it must have been the Scottish Pipers’ Association who started the ‘knock-out’ competition, two pipers play, the audience picking a winner who progresses to the next round. The famous final of the ’60s when Duncan Johnston defeated Donald MacLeod is still talked about in these parts. And I remember being robbed in the SPA final myself when playing against P/M Angus.
By Robert Wallace
Well it’s another guardsman who’s keeping the KO tradition alive these days and that’s P/M Jimmy Banks MBE. Each winter he invites a raft of professional players, mostly young, to the Scots Guards Club in Haymarket, Edinburgh, to do battle. Yesterday at 4pm saw the first round, Cameron May, the holder, versus Chris McLeish.
Each had to play for around 30 minutes, the performance including a piobaireachd ground. Chris was on first and interspersed his tunes with stories from his early years learning the pipes in Brisbane, Australia. He played some of the tunes dearest to his old tutor, Mr McBeth, (hope I got that right Chris) and the first bit of the Desperate Battle of the Birds.
I felt he was a little nervous and a misbehaving pipe would not have done his confidence a lot of good. He then went on to demonstrate the excellence of his fingerwork. One of his best sets were these two marches, Maclean of Pennycross and John MacColl’s March to Kilbowie Cottage:
The genial big Aussie has picked up quite a few prizes round the games with these tunes. Chris closed things out with some faster stuff including the Braes of Mellinish which he announced as by P/M Donald MacLeod which surprised me. It’s unattributed in Seumas MacNeill’s book. Does anyone have the definitive on this?
After a refreshment break of pies and pints, on came the holder Cameron May from Dillarburn, in darkest Lanarkshire. Though the pipe was solid, nerves were again evident in Cameron’s delivery – tight short notes and fractionally off the beat in places – but this was another piper with a really good set of hands and a professional mien.
Here is Cameron with two 2/4s, Duke of Roxburgh and P/M John Stewart:
Anyone spot the deliberate mistake in the second tune? This must be the Lanarkshire setting. I remember John Burgess telling me that the difficulty with going off the tune was trying to replicate it second time round. I think John would have congratulated Cameron on his effort.
The piobaireachd ground was Lament for the Children and then, like Chris, Cameron finished with a flourish and to good applause.
Both pipers had presented balanced programmes with, thankfully, a modest amount of kitchen piping.
The voting slips gathered in, P/M Banks announced the winner in a close encounter: Cameron May.
The next round in the series is on November 24 when Sandy Cameron and Bobby Allen lock horns. Get along and cheer them on if you can.
