Gordon Castle Games are the first outdoor solo piping competition of the summer. They are held in the castle grounds near Fochabers in Morayshire. Seventeen entered the senior events.
Piobaireachd: 1 Hamish Munro 2 Angus MacPhee, Old Men of the Shells 3 James MacPetrie 4 Hector Munro, King’s Taxes 5 Keith Bowes, Desperate Battle
March: 1 Hamish Munro 2 Hector Munro 3 Norman Gillies 4 Keith Bowes
S&R: 1 Angus MacPhee 2 Keith Bowes 3 Norman Gillies 4 Calum Dunbar 5 Gordon Barclay
Judges: DJ MacIntyre, JD MacKenzie
James Campbell Medal
The Fourth Annual Pembroke College, Cambridge, competition for the James Campbell Medal was held in Wren Chapel on May 17, writes Robert Porter.
The fact that this event is now a stalwart of the Pembroke calendar is very much down to, amongst others, Chris Smith, Lord Smith of Finsbury, whose tireless zeal has contributed greatly to its success. 2024-25 is Chris’s last year as Master of Pembroke, and he was presented with a framed score of a Piobaireachd Ground – Salute to Lord Smith of Finsbury – composed by Dr Peter McCalister, Vice President of the Piobaireachd Society, and performed by Roddy Livingstone.
To date the competition has been open to current members, fellows and staff of the university, but this year saw a new category for under-18s amply supplied by James Carnegie and his Cambridge City Pipers’ organisation. Three adult pipers and three under-18s competed. Judges were Roddy Livingstone, Anna Lapwood (Director of Music at Pembroke), and myself, a piper alumnus.
The U-18 contest was won by Alex Brown. He played a variety of tunes with suitable breaks: Skye Boat Song & Leaving Barra, Teribus & Corriechoillie’s Welcome to the Northern Meeting, Rowan Tree & Bonnie Galloway
The James Campbell Medal was won by Kate Runciman for the second year in a row. The judges were particularly taken by her execution, her command of the room and her stagecraft.
Kate played a medley including Calum Campbell’s Caprice, Dream Valley of Glendaruel, AA Cameron’s Strathspey, Malt from the Optics, Music of the Sea, and the Day the Co-op Flooded.
The day started with a short talk about James Campbell by John Campbell of Kilberry, James’s nephew, and ended with a performance by Roddy Livingstone of a medley of tunes he associates with James.
Kilberry Book of Ceòl Meadhonach – Middle Music – digital book
This book was compiled and edited by Captain John Campbell, Kilberry, and his more famous son Archibald.
Published in 1909, the year of Campbell senior’s death, the book is a compendium of old Gaelic airs and song tunes. Not piobaireachd but not the rigid slow march either.
There are 43 tunes each with an historical note and, as one would expect with a Kilberry production, an erudite Intr…