The Lochcarron Savile Row SPSL Member's Comp 12th April 2008
As usual, the competition was split into 3 sections, Juvenile, Amateur and Open. The standard of play was high, and I heard a great deal of well set up instruments during the day. I was particularly pleased with the high standard in the Juvenile competitions.
As most of you will know, this is the first year of the annual Jim Caution Memorial Quaich
trophy, which goes to the overall Juvenile winner. It really is a
superb trophy, made from solid hallmarked Sterling silver, engraved
with a knotwork band and handles. This year's winner was James
Gillespie, who started off the days' competiton with a really swinging
79'ths Farewell to Gibraltar, and continued to be consistent throught.
James then had the duty of opening the evening Jim Caution Memorial
Recital, and aquitted himself with honour, playing High Road to
Gairloch to a full house, on a full and steady sounding pipe. All the
more remarkable when you consider James in only 10 years old. It's also
fitting that James' father is a former pupil of Jim Caution, so Jim's
tuition is being carried on down through the line. James was presented
with the Jim Caution Quaich and a handsome SPSL Jim Caution gold medal
by Jim's son, Jim Caution Jnr. I strongly suspect that it will be the
first of many medals for young James.We had a guest judge for the Amateur section in the shape of the esteemed Roddy Livingstone. Roddy tells me that the standard of play was very high, and a few entrants would have aquitted themselves well in the Open competition. Piobaireachd tunes included mary MacLeod, the Company's Lament, The Wee Spree, Kinlochmodart No. 1 and Lament for Neil MacEachern of Conespie. This is a 20th century piobaireachd composed the the great John MacColl, and I'm not even aware that it has been played in competition before. It was superbly played by Ian Graham, who took a deserving 1st.
Roddy also reported that there were some nice tunes on good pipes being played in the MSR, Leaving Lunga, John MacDonald of Glencoe, Father John MacMIllan of Barra, John MacDonald of South Uist, and other cracking tried and tested tunes. The Hornpipe & Jig section again showed a nice selection of solid tunes, The Train Journey North, The Man From Skye and The Geese in the Bog being just a few.
In the Open
section, we had the distinction of hearing yet another modern
piobaireachd being aired for the first time, this time it was a 21st
century tune, Sheep in Buchts Kye in Fiels, as performed by Roger Huth. Our judges for the Open were Gordon Walker and Hugh Jamieson. The
standard throughout the Open was extremely high, and it was anyone's
guess who would be selected by the judges. One player came out on top
though, the remarkable Steve
Watterston, who scored a triple, coming 1st in the Piobaireach,
MSR and 6/8. You can see Steve perform at the next SPSL Mudlark night
on Saturday 10th May, full details are on our Diary Page.Tuning seemed to hold up well in the room. I had been concerned because when we arrived the radiators were on full blast and the room was baking. Ron stepped out from behind the bar with pliers in his hand and Dundonian determination on his face, and soon we room was cooling down. Within a short time, however it was packed with people, standing room only, and the temperature began to rise again. The heat did not affect the standard of pipe or play, which was of the highest standard throughout.
After the competition was over, Gordon Walker stepped out from behind the judge's bench, and, (after some well earned fish and chips), proceeded to dazzle us all with his virtuosity on the great Highland Bagpipe, reminding us just why he is rated as one of the world's greatest pipers. He gave us a great variety of marches, strathspeys, reels, hornpipes and the piobaireachd Too Long In This Condition. As always with Gordon, the between the tunes patter was hilarious, but when the fingers got going he left people gasping. His combination of McCallum chanter and Naill pipes sounded magnificent in the great hall, and old chesnuts like Balmoral Castle and Jig of Slurs burst out with new life and vigour. He left us with a jaw dropping Mason's Apron and a cheery wave of the hand. It's been a long time since there was such a night of piping in London, and the audience showed their appreciation with thunderous applause.
I've listed the competition results below, and added some pics of the day. AS usual, click on the thumbnails for larger images. I am sorry to say I don't have room for photos of all the competitors who won a prize. Now that we are having larger entries, there simply isn't room. Use your back button to return after viewing larger photos. I hope that everyone who attended had a great a time as I did, thank you all for coming, thanks also to our sponsors, the Caution family, and Ron and Andy of the London Scottish for their help, support and hard work on the day.
Adam Sanderson.
The 2008 Lochcarron Savile Row SPSL Member's Competition results
We
are extremely grateful to the sponsors of the 2008 Scottish Piping Society of
London's Member's Competition, the internationally
renowned Lochcarron
company and their
London branch, Savile Row Kilts, kilt
purveyors to: Ewan McGregor, Sir Sean Connery, Samuel L. Jackson and
Liam Neeson, among others. The
SPSL are additionally grateful to the Caution family for their
support of
this event. We
are also thankful for the variety of additional juvenile
prizes generously supplied
by McCallum
Bagpipes. We are very happy to welcome the
McCallum Bagpipes company onboard for this Scottish Piping Society of
London event.
Practice chanter
1st place James Gillespie
2nd place Christopher Boyd
Piobaireachd Ground
1st place Tom Curd
2nd James Gillespie
3rd William Reid
2 Parted March
1st place James Gillespie
2nd Angus Lockhart
2 Parted Strathspey & Reel
1st Place James Gillespie
4 Parted March
1st Place Tom Curd
2nd Michael Bosford
3rd William Reid
4 Parted Strathspey and Reel
1st Michael Bosford
2nd Tom Curd
The overall Juvenile winner of the Jim Caution Quaich was James
Gillespie
Amateur
Piobaireachd
1st Ian Graham Lament for Neil MacEachern of Conespie (John MacColl)
2nd Andrew Park Kinlochmoidart No.1
3rd Kieron Cooney MacKintosh’s Banner
March Strathspey & Reel
1st Andrew Park
2nd Robert Hall
3rd Bob Porteous
6/8 March
1st Robert Hall
2nd Andrew Park
3rd Ian Graham
Hornpipe & Jig
1st Robert Hall
2nd Ian Graham
3rd Bill Simpson
Open
Lewis Beaton Piobaireachd
1st Steve Watterson Corrienessan’s Salute
2nd Roger Huth Sheep in Buchts Kye in Fiels (J Montague)
3rd Bruce Ormundsen The Groat
Arthur Wright March Strathspey & Reel
1st Steve Watterston
2nd Andrew Hall
3rd Alasdair Smith
Clans Cup 6/8 March
1st Steve Watterston
2nd Anthony Docherty
3rd Andrew Hall
Hornpipe & Jig
1st Andrew Hall
2nd Steve Watterston
3rd Anthony Docherty
2008
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