THE GAIRLOCH IAIN DALL YOUNG PIPERS’ FESTIVAL September 24-25th 2011
Gairloch was the home of the celebrated piper and composer Iain Dall Mackay (1656 -1754) and this year the festival to commemorate him celebrated its 10th year. It was the first time for me and my wife; we really enjoyed it and hope to make it an annual pilgrimage. It is held each year on the last weekend of September.
The main purpose of the Festival is to encourage pipers from Primary school age to under 18 years through a friendly competition. There are various classes and the John Burgess Cup is awarded to the best overall under 15 year old piper, with a week’s tuition at the National Piping Centre as the prize. What a great prize! Young pipers had travelled from all over Scotland to compete. It was the first time I had attended a Pibroch competition and I was impressed by their high standard of playing. I really enjoyed it and look forward to hearing those pipers over the years as they gain more musical experience.
On Saturday evening there was a Ceilidh concert at The Gairloch Highland Lodge Hotel. This featured some of the prize winners, other pipers, fiddlers and a host of singers. It was particularly significant for the event that Mike Sinclair from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was able to attend. It was Mike who last year donated the original Iain Dall chanter to the National Museums of Scotland.
On Sunday as always there was a walk from The Old Inn to the area close to the remains of Iain Dall’s house. About 40 of us, led by various pipers, went on this gentle half hour’s walk up the Flowerdale Valley to where a cairn to commemorate Iain Dall has recently been erected. Here there was short and moving ceremony with songs, poems, (drams, of course) and piping. A special moment was when Barnaby Brown played one of Dall’s best-known pibrochs, the Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon, on a reproduction of Iain Dall’s chanter. We then headed back to The Old Inn where we were greeted by soup and sandwiches. To aid digestion I treated those assembled to a few tunes on the Cornish, English Great and Leicestershire pipes!
Before and during the weekend the local radio station 2 Lochs Radio, gave the festival plenty of publicity and played a recording of Barnaby playing a replica of the Dall chanter. I pre-recorded an interview on Friday about my involvement with copying the Iain Dall chanter which was broadcast several times during the weekend.
Click here to listen to the interview.
Outside Two Lochs Radio.
Barnaby Brown plays Iain Dalls Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon, on a replica of the Iain Dall chanter at the new memorial Cairn in Flowerdale Valley. (Duncan MacGilvray in the background)
Mike Sinclair, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by the new memorial Cairn for Iain Dall. Mike donated the Iain Dall chanter in 2010 to The National Museums of Scotland.
