Blairgowrie & Rattray Highland Games were held yesterday (Sept.6), writes Piping Convenor Stuart Samson. Conditions were mild with drizzle throughout the morning, clearing up in the afternoon.
There was a good entry of 60 competitors across juniors and seniors and only a few withdrawals on the day, resulting in a full on day of quality piping.
Open Piob: 1 Sandy Cameron 2 Ben Duncan 3 Peter McCalister 4 Eireann Cameron
Open March: 1 Ben Duncan 2 Callum Wynd 3 Bobby Allen 4 Sandy Cameron
Open S&R: 1 Sandy Cameron 2 Jonathon Simpson 3 David Bruce 4 Michael Fitzhenry
B Piob.: 1 Bobby Durning 2 Gordon Barclay 3 Dan Lyden 4 Dan Nevans 5 Cameron Bonar
C Piob.: 1 Craig Muirhead 2 Magnus Stone 3 Scott Barrie 4 John Cameron 5 Gregor Grierson
C March: 1 Kevin Low 2 Scott Barrie 3 Lewis Maxwell 4 Iain Simpson
C S&R: 1 Lewis Maxwell 2 Hugo MacPherson 3 Gregor Grierson 4 Iain Simpson
U18 Piob.: 1 Travis McKenna-Johnston 2 Morla Bruce 3 Charlie Mack 4 Lauren Bain
U18 March: 1 Charlie Mack 2 Alexander Bulloch 3 Morla Bruce 4 Travis McKenna-Johnston
U18 S&R: 1 Charlie Mack 2 Alasdair Bulloch 3 Travis McKenna-Johnston 4 Morla Bruce
U18 Piob. Local: 1 Morla Bruce 2 Eilidh Squires 3 Charlotte Rowlins
U18 March Local: 1 Morla Bruce 2 Ruaridh Lean 3 Eilidh Squires
U18 S&R Local: 1 Morla Bruce 2 Ton Clark 3 Eilidh Squires
Judges: E Anderson, L Barclay, R Barnes, I Duncan, D Fraser, M Henderson, P Henderson, P Hunt, D MacPhee, R Wallace.
Raasay Contest
After two years in the Raasay Community Hall, this year’s contest was held in the Raasay House Hotel on Saturday September 5th, writes Angus Clarke. Once again the audience was treated to some wonderful performances on pipes that ranged from the pitch normally played today, to concert Bb and to two sets in A. This simply added to the entertainment value for Saturday’s audience.
The weather played ball, and the views back to Skye and the Red Cuillin only served as an enjoyment multiplier.
After some deliberation the spokesman for the judges’ jury, Allan MacDonald, declared the winners: Pìobaireachd Song – Rachel Gray, who was presented with a set of Hamish Moore pipes in A. These pipes are copies of the 1785 ‘Black Set of Kintail’ in Inverness Museum. Runner-up was Angus MacColl who won a selection of limited edition Raasay whiskies.
Dance music (jigs, and strathspeys & reels suitable for a step dancer): Gary West. His reward was a £3,000 cask of Raasay whisky. Runner up was once again Angus MacColl, who won another selection of Raasay whiskies.
This was Allan MacDonald’s second year judging the competition, and he opined afterwards that the contestants demonstrated a much greater understanding of what was required of them, with some genuine research and true originality having gone into many of the pìobaireachd airs.
The competition looks to be setting down solid roots, and both Raasay Distillery and the Raasay House Hotel are keen to host next year’s event.
Finally, for those of you who are keen to hear more top-class piping in a similar, but not exactly identical vein, then the Raasay organisers are running a concert in Pitlochry Town Hall on Friday 30th October, the night before the Glenfiddich. An opportunity to enjoy two very contrasting styles of piping over the two days!
The performers in Pitlochry are Ross Ainslie, Angus MacColl and ‘inB’, a quartet of Scottish smallpipers and Irish uilleann pipers – Brighde Chaimbeul, Fin Moore, Louise Mulcahy & Tiernan Ó Duinnchinn. Tickets.
