This ever-popular amateur piobaireachd contest was held on 22nd February. This was our 33rd contest and for most of those years we have been the fortunate guests of the Royal Scottish Pipers Society (RSPS) in Edinburgh.
If you haven’t been there, you may not know that they have excellent acoustics (especially the bar which is the final tuning room). The impressive collection of vintage piping photos on all the walls is surely one of the finest in the world – noting that it can distract the piper, trying to finish a long tune. We are deeply indebted to the Society for all their years of hospitality.
By Peter McCalister
At the last minute there were a couple of call-offs, so 22 pipers played. The judges were Derek Fraser and Darach Urquhart, both members of the General Committee of the Piobaireachd Society, the promoters. As ever the atmosphere was congenial and friendly, with players travelling from far afield – one from Ireland and three from the USA – a record attendance from that country, for this contest.
I did not hear all the performances but did hear everyone in the final tuning room where myself and Colin MacNeill (son of Dugald) helped with some final set-up of the chanters and/or drones. Stewarding was done by Colin and Leslie Barrett – the latter had played earlier in the draw, and then nobly put on the steward’s badge in the afternoon.
Results were as follows:
1. Tom Peterkin (The Battle of Auldearn No.1)
2. Stuart Letford (MacLeod’s Controversy)
3. Adam Aitchison (Nameless, Hiharin dro o dro)
4. Graham Farr (Queen Anne’s Lament)
5. Andrea Jones (Lament for Captain MacDougall)
The above list includes the usual dramas and stories that occur in any contest: Tom walked away with his prize for the 6th time – surely a record that cannot be beaten at any point in the future. However he had initially been unhappy with his own performance and had gone home to change into civvies. When it became clear that he was heading for the prize I had to call him away from a park where he was with the family, to get into his kilt and come back to the venue. Well done to Tom.
Stuart Letford had been unwell with a virus and thought of scratching from the contest – but after a short tune-up he went on to play, and obviously impressed the judges. Adam Aitchison is a relative newcomer to this contest – last year was his first attendance. He was first on after lunch but with a minor mix-up in stewarding had not been told his tune in the final tuning room. The judges allowed him an extra 10 minutes prep to overcome this mild unfairness.
Grahm Farr is an Eagle Piper who is a big supporter of a venture started by Dugald MacNeill – Piobaireachd for Pleasure. In this endeavour a small group of pipers assemble every other Tuesday night in the RSPS and simply play Ceol Mor to each other in a non-threatening environment. Graham’s efforts there have obviously paid off … and if you are interested in this please contact the organiser on iainmacdonald62@gmail.com
Finally the 5th prize-winner, Andrea Jones, had come over from North Carolina with her band of supporters and had recruited another piper (Curtis Costa) – a neighbour of hers – to enter the contest. She describes this contest as an “annual pilgrimage”.
After the contest Derek Fraser made a short speech, telling the competitors that they had put on a superb day of entertainment for the audience and judges – and he had some advice for the players. When looking at their bagpipe sound, he thought the drone-tuning was good in general, but some chanters were not in a true scale … so that the overall effect was an out-of-tune instrument which let a few pipers down. A second bit of advice was to keep plugging away at the practice chanter for the piobaireachd technique, without which it is hard to get the music across.
The Piobaireachd Society plans to hold this contest next year as usual – probably on the last Saturday in February 2026 – and welcomes amateur players and their supporters to come along once again.
