Archie Kenneth Quaich 2013 Results

Alan Forbes, secretary of the music committee, who organises the competition writes

Archie Kenneth Quaich 2013

The 21st Archie Kenneth Quaich competition for amateur piobaireachd players was held in the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society rooms in Edinburgh on Saturday 2 March.   The competition is sponsored by the Piobaireachd Society.   The Archie Kenneth Quaich was won by Andrew Park from London playing a nice steady Lament for Mary MacLeod on a solid bagpipe.   The full list of  prize winners and their tunes were as follows:

1 Andrew Park, London:                               Lament for Mary MacLeod

2 John Frater, Darlington:                            The Black Wedder’s White Tail

3 Susy Klinger, Germany:                              The Groat

4 Kirsteen MacDonald, London:                 The Company’s Lament

The judges were Bill Wotherspoon and Stuart Samson and the prizes were presented by Dugald MacNeill, former Secretary of the Piobaireachd Society, who had jetted in from holiday in India a few hours earlier.   RSPS Secretary Alan McGhie kindly took on the task of steward and announcer, and did an excellent job in getting the competitors in front of the judges on time and with minimium stress.

Thanks are due to the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society who once again contributed the use of their rooms and bar.   This is an ideal venue for the competition and makes for a relaxed congenial atmosphere, although competitors have to play with the great pipers of the past frowning at them from the array of old photographs which lines the walls.

On this occasion there were 24 competitors from Scotland, various parts of England and overseas, around a third of them appearing for the first time in this competition.    Alex Dougal and Cecily Grant travelled  all the way from Canada and Susy Klinger and Christian Grosser from Germany, to take part.

Last year’s winner, John Frater, played the seldom heard ‘Black Wedder’s White Tail’ and was going well, but his drones drifted out later in the tune and his usually reliable execution lost definition a bit in the latter stages.   Good tunes were anticipated from James Beaton and two-times winner Tom Peterkin, but both had drones stopping early in their tunes and gave up.   Susy Klinger and Kirsteen MacDonald gave musical renderings of ‘The Groat’ and ‘The Company’s Lament’ respectively.

As always, everyone gave of their best.   Despite the inevitable nerves, this is one of the more relaxed occasions in the piping calendar and seemed to be enjoyed by all.

Full list of competitors and their tunes

 

1	Michael Parr	The Munros’ Salute
2	Kirsteen MacDonald	The Company’s Lament
3	Alex Dougall	The MacGregors’ Gathering
4	Theresa Brown	MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart’s Lament No 1
5	Susy Klinger	The Groat
6	Christian Grosser	Lament for Islay Flora MacLeod
7	Andrew Park	Lament for Mary MacLeod
8	Tom Peterkin	The Battle of Bealach nam Brog
9	Walter Gray	Lament for Captain MacDougall
10	Michael McGowan	Corrienessan’s Salute
11	Iain MacDonald	Beloved Scotland
12	Chris Ogilvie	Isabel Mackay
13	Tom Graham	Field of Gold
14	Leslie Barrett	The Little Spree
15	Stephen Whitton	Lament for the Old Sword
16	Ben Mulhearn	MacLeod of Raasay’s Salute
17	Cecily Grant	Lament for Captain MacDougall
18	John Frater	The Black Wedder’s White Tail
19	James Beaton	The Marquis of Argyll’s Salute
20	Nick Tuckey	The Old Men of the Shells
21	Alastair MacQueen	A Flame of Wrath for Patrick Caogach
22	Jim Dougall	Lament for Donald of Laggan
23	Robert Smart	MacLeod’s Controversy
24	Ray Bell	The Battle of Auldearn No 2