Atholl Gathering 2026 Results – Updated

The Atholl Gathering was held yesterday (May 24) in the grounds of Blair Castle, Perthshire. There were several call offs but still a very healthy entry with 17 in the P/A Piobaireachd.

The weather was settled with some warmth and sunshine. There were graded senior contests for Piobaireachd. The March, Strathspey and Reel and Hornpipe & Jig were open but split into four heats with three pipers in each progressing to the final.

Four tunes were asked for in ceòl mòr and MSR. The H&J and Juniors were own choice, but H&J finalists had to play a different set in the final.

The editor writes….I was one of 14 judges on duty on the warm braes. As we gathered the early talk was of the passing of colleagues Walter Cowan and Andy Venters, known and respected by all of us.

Despite the call offs, there were still over 60 entrants for co-ordinators Alistair and Alison Duthie and their team of Army School stewards to co-ordinate. As we have come to expect, everything ran seamlessly.

At the end Alistair asked for suggestions as to how they might improve things. One thought doing the rounds might be to have light music categories for each grade rather than mixing them up in Open competition. The present arrangement means there is a wide disparity in levels with the C graders having little likelihood of getting through to the finals.

I was told by other judges that the standard in the P/A and B piobaireachds was high with many competitors making a good fist of their Oban and Inverness tunes. In the Hornpipe & Jig final the judges were full of praise for all contestants, the standard as high as they had ever heard with winner Bobby Allan playing exceptionally well.

Barry Donaldson and I judged the MSR final. My comment of last Friday regarding the need for tuition in the basics of the art hold true. The pipes were generally very good, especially among the prizewinners, but there was repeated playing off the beat, erratic pulsing and a lack of phrasing. Surprisingly for this level, there was also a deal of weak, flawed fingering. The recipients of the brown envelopes can be freed from any of the above criticisms.

Gordon Bruce was a fine winner playing smoothly, tastefully, on a warm, balanced instrument. Sarah Muir (2nd) was not far behind him with just a little tightness in the top hand work. Cameron May (3rd) had a lovely pipe and finger, a shade of caution in the march and reel, his only detriment. Ben Duncan (4th) overcut the tachums in the Duchess of Edinburgh, but finished well, and Calum Wynd (5th) was over clipping some short notes and might have had more bass in his drone. Best pipe of the day: David Bruce, who, distracted by runners, broke down when going well in George Ross’s Farewell to the Black Watch.

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Judges: L Barclay, R Barnes, B Donaldson, I Duncan, A Forbes, M Henderson, P Henderson, P Hunt, DJ MacIntyre, R McShannon, M Robertson, L Tannock, J Taylor, R Wallace.

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