Box and Fiddle
Year 23 No 03
November 1999
Price £1
32 Page Magazine
7 month subscription £10.00
Editor – Charlie Todd, 63 Station Road, Thankerton, Biggar, ML12 6NZ
B&F Treasurer – Alan Gardiner, Cocklaw Farm, Elsrickle, Biggar.
The main features in the above issue were as follows (this is not a comprehensive detail of all it contained. The Club reports, in particular, are too time consuming at this stage to retype).
Freeland Barbour
A Man of Many Parts
by Charlie Todd
Freeland was born in Edinburgh in December 1951 and brought up both there and in Glen Fincastle, near Pitlochry, where his family, on his father’s side, had stayed for many huindreds of years. There was always music in the home, as had probably been the case right back through the generations. It was Freeland’s 4 x grandfather Dr Alexander Stewart, a noted fiddler who lived in Dunkeld, who introduced Robert Burns to Niel Gow, whilst the well-known songwriter Caroline Oliphant, Baroness Nairne, was also an ancestor.
Freeland’s father is very musical and taught him his first Scottish tunes – pipe tunes he had learned while serving with the local Regiment – The Scottish Horse – during the war. He was about five when he first went to piano lessons, mainly classical piano, which he kept up until he was 14 at which point he rebelled and tried to learn the guitar.
For as long as he can remember he had wanted to play the accordion and Jimmy Shand was his big hero. At that age though, he had little idea of the difference between Jimmy’s button key accordion and his own first instrument, a Hohner Lucia IV 96 bass, bought by his parents from Bill Wilkie in 1963. Thereafter he had a few lessons from Margaret Cameron, a very good player and teacher, who, along with her husband Bert had a local band in Pitlochry. She gave Freeland the rudiments of the left hand and bellows and he took it from there himself.
Freeland started to play quite a lot at University in Cambridge, but down there it was mostly Irish music which served as an introduction to a wider folk scene in which he was already interested through attending concerts by such as The Corries and The Dubliners. The other big influence then was ‘The Incredible String Band’ who were a highly electric outfit from Edinburgh. He started to meet and play with all sorts of interesting people at this time – Aly Bain, Stephan Grapelli and Sean McGuire to name but three.
Next he met up with another Edinburgh based band called ‘Silly Wizard’ and eventually joined them in 1975. They had a young whiz-kid fiddler called Johnny Cunningham whose younger brother Philip wasn’t a bad box player himself (although fortunately he was still at school!) From then onwards he found himself trying to introduce Scottish instrumental music into a scene that knew all about Scots song but inclined to Ireland for its instrumental repertoire. Silly Wizard worked mainly in England but also in France and Holland and he had a wonderful time. After a year and a half ‘on the road’ he decided on a change of tack and came back to Edinburgh from Liverpool where he’d been living and spent four years working in housing in various capacities.
Two or three years previously Freeland had got hold of an L.P. called ‘The Sound of the North’ by The Wick Scottish Dance Band and this really turned him back to what he had heard in his younger days. He knew that it was music like this that he would want to spend time on in the future. So it was that back in Edinburgh he met 3-row player Sandy Coghill, from Halkirk in Caithness, who had played with the Wick Band (particularly on drums) so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that they had an empathy. They certainly had a similar repertoire and influences.
On the back of a number of duo engagements they formed the Wallachmor Ceilidh Band with Neil McMillan, Gus Millar and Jim Barrie and began a run of incredibly hectic years. In many ways you couldn’t have put a more diverse variety of musical backgrounds together if you’d tried. When they rolled up on the first night Gus turned up with his dinner duit and a bow tie while Freeland turned up in a T shirt and jeans because that was what he had been used to in Silly Wizard. Gus thought he was the roadie and was surprised when he strapped on an accordion.
Soon however it took off in a big way and they played all over the place and in all sorts of locations, became regular on TV and radio, produced 5 albums and generally had ‘a very fine time’. ‘The Wallochs’ as they became known were unusual in that both Sandy and Freeland played unison lead accordion – there was no second box – and they found that the sound appealed to a wide range of ages, including fairly large numbers of their own age group. This last point enabled them to do a fair amount of work with contemporary bands (Runrig in particular) and they were also in demand in the Highlands and Islands and in Shetland. It was a great experience and they wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
In the middle of all this Freeland decided to leave housing and joined the BBC. He was the Producer of all of the ‘light music’ programmes coming from Aberdeen including, of course, ‘Take the Floor’ and ‘The Reel Blend’. He had been learning about production but this was definitely getting thrown in at the deep end. “The amount of help I was given by many during this time was incalculable, and it certainly seemed an exciting time to be so centrally involved in the Scottish music scene” says Freeland. He became involved in producing all types of music and found himself invited to join the BBC’s Gaelic Department in Glasgow to help with their music output. This was a bit daunting since he couldn’t speak any Gaelic (still can’t really) but everyone was hugely helpful and patient and he enjoyed it enormously.
All this while life was becoming hectic and he decided in 1985 to leave the BBC in order to concentrate on running the record label that Sandy and himself had set up (Lapwing Records) in addition to his own music, composition and production work. He also fond himself becoming involved in teaching, and that is something he has tried to keep going on an ad hoc basis (he currently helps with the accordion tuition on the BA course in Scottish Traditional Music, at the R.S.A.M.D. in Glasgow).
1985 was a year of change as Sandy Coghill decided to move from Edinburgh up to Skye and take up the hotel and campsite trade. Inevitably the work that they did as the Wallochmor had to be scaled down and Freeland had already started to play with Brian Miller (vocals and guitar) and Charlie Soane (fiddle) in a Trio they called The Occasionals. Over the next few years this became the main event for Freeland in terms of playing dance music. Various players have been involved in The Occasionals over the years – Neil McMillan, Gus Millar and Jim Barrie (all from the Wallochs), Kevin MacLeod (banjo) has been virtually ever-present, and other main players have included Malcolm Jones of Runrig (guitar), Mairi Campbell (fiddle), Ally MacIntyre (drums) and Ian Hardie (fiddle). The current line-up is Ian Hardie, Kevin MacLeod, Gus Millar and Freeland and their third CD is due out within the next few weeks.
On the recording front things have gone very well in that The Wallochmor LPs and The Occasionals CDs have sold very well. Perhaps because of that Freeland has been able to make three solo CDs and one with fiddler Iain Fraser with whom he has had the ‘good fortune’ to paly on many occasions. He has also been a member of a group called The Ghillies, along with Ian Hardie, Duncan MacGillivray, Jack Evans and Andy Thorburn. This is a sort of ‘house band’ for United Distillers and was set up by Ian Hardie to play music from a sponsored volume of new music – ‘The Nineties Collection’. They’ve produced one CD and a lot of fun, as one would with such a sponsor!
Another great interest of Freeland’s has been Scandinavian music and he has had the good fortune to play with Spaelimenninir I Hoydulum from the Faroe Islands. They have played all over Scandinavia and the USA. This in fact led him to the American Traditional Dance scene and he has played quite a lot for American contra and square dancing, as well as producing a number of recordings on the other side of the pond.
Freelance production has taken Freeland all over the place and he has enjoyed working on most aspects of traditional music. Recording harps during an earthquake in Tokyo was a new experience, but in so many way music has proved an international language and a great breaker of barriers.
Freeland has always had a great interest in the technical side of things because PA equipment and recording is so much a part of a musicians life nowadays and he has long felt it useful to know the tools. For a few years in the eighties he ran a PA hire company with friend and colleague Alan Marin in Edinburgh. He also, for a short period in the mid nineties, had a mobile recording set-up with sound engineer Alastair George, based in a mobile bank that had spent its days touring Islay on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
In 1998, however, he really took the plunge and bought Castlesound Studios in Pencaitland, East Lothian, from old friend and colleague Calum Malcolm. This recording studio had been set up by Calum in 1978 and had been leading the recording industry since then with all manner of leading names amongst its clients. Along with Calum and engineer Stuart Hamilton, Freeland now runs the studio and deals with all types of music, including a fair amount of Scottish and folk music. “It’s a hugely exciting enterprise and should keep me busy for a while to come” says Freeland.
Another long term interest has been the dance that goes with the music and for the past two years he has been on the Board of the Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust – a recently established body set up to foster interest in and provide links with the various forms of Scottish traditional dance. He has also done quite a bit of playing for dance teaching and, most particularly of late, old time dancing with Jessie Stewart.
Freeland has also helped, together with The Occasionals Dance Caller Karin Ingram, as Northbeat, to run a ceilidh dance class and club in Glasgow for about four years as well as a number of other dance orientated events across the country, particularly in Skye at Easter at the Gaelic College. Sabhal Mor Ostaig. In fact, on the subject of teaching The Occasionals were one of the first bands to introduce a Dance Caller, something that he had run across in England and America.
They were finding that many folk, particularly in the cities, seemed to be losing a traditional dance repertoire and the use of a Caller seemed to be a good way to do something about that. As Freeland points out there’s nothing new about this, of course, as this was the way it was done in the days of the old itinerant dancing master or ‘dancies’. Aside from weddings, where the Caller is often the most important person in the band, his personal preference is to play for classes / clubs where the Caller / Teacher runs the show, or to do a full night’s dancing with the band with nothing more than a reminder if needed now and again.
Perhaps the last thing worth touching on is the instrument that Freeland plays. His original Hohner Lucia together with a second one that he bought, kept him going for many years, but in time he felt the need for something more up-to-date. With enormous help from John Huband and Owen Murray he managed to persuade the Pigini company in Italy to build an instrument for them. It was to be a small 96 bass, 4 voice accordion, and about 24 were made – one of which he still plays as his main dance instrument. However his travels to Denmark introduced him to a most interesting tuner, repairer and reed maker called Torben Ejersbo and through him and along with fellow Dane Leif Ernstsen and Klaus Werner from Hanover they persuaded then Zero Zette company to build an accordion, the 5 row version of which is particularly good. The instruments all have 140 bass in a 96 bass frame and include an extra inside row (a sixth diminished).
“And that’s about it as far as I can think at the moment. Music has given me a wonderful life and I’m only half way through! Roll on the next forty years” and who can disagree with that.
Robin Anderson - Obituary
The large attendance at St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall was indicative of the popularity of T. R. Anderson. Robin, as he was better known, had a wide circle of friends from Shetland to the Solway and beyond and his sudden and unexpected passing came as a great shock. At the service his long-standing mate Jim Halcrow played a moving tribute.
A quiet and unassuming chap, Robin had been associated with music for many years, starting in the late forties with his brothers Allen, Ronald and Jim in what was essentially a family band. Later he formed his own band as did the late Allen and Jim who is still very active. A fine natural player, Robin had evolved his own style over the years and, judging by the demand for his services, it was one which appealed to a great many people. A stalwart member and one-time Treasurer and Leader of the Orkney Accordion and Fiddle Club, he will be sorely missed.
To his wife Muriel, a valued helper behind the scenes at our Club, to daughters Marion and Evelyn and their families we again offer our sympathy.
Betty MacKinnon – Obituary
Well known Perthshire pianist, Betty MacKinnon has died in Pitlochry Cottage Hospital after a long illness.
Betty’s musical career began in the early fifties when, along with her brother Angus and sister Helen, she played on “Down At The Mains” on Children’s Hour.
Shortly after this Angus emigrated to Canada and Helen and Betty formed their own quartet which proved to be very popular throughout Perthshire and beyond.
After Helen emigrated to America, Betty was soon in great demand by some of the local broadcasting bandleaders. She joined Willie Simpson’s Band in 1961 and the following year the band passed their audition for the BBC. In all they were to do no less than three broadcasts in two years.
In 1964 Betty joined Allan Kindness and the Glendaruel Broadcasting Band, indeed she was to remain with Allan for the next 17 years.
From there she became part of the Bill black ensamble – again doing numerous broadcasts with him. Probably one of the highlights of her time with Bill with a trip to Lagos in Nigeria.
In 1985 Betty met Peter Stewart of Ballinluig, yet another button key player. Together they formed a very successful duo and were kept busy right up to the onset of Betty’s illness.
A large turnout of relatives and friends attended the funeral at Logierait on August 20th.
We extend our deepest sympathy to Peter and to Betty’s immediate family.
Peter Straughan (1936 – 99) – Obituary
by Ian Cruickshanks (Kirriemuir)
It is with regret that I report the passing of Peter Straughan on June 12th, 1999. Peter will probably be best remembered as pianist with Jimmy Shand and Rob Gordon. He was born in Throckley, near Newcastle, in 1936. He became involved with the piano at an early age and also with the church organ which he continued playing until just before his death.
His involvement with the Dance Band scene began in the 50’s when he joined the band of Jack Armstrong and the Barnstormers, a very popular band in the North of England at the time. He then went on to play with David White’s Band, again in the Newcastle area, Whitley Bay to be more precise, as Peter was a keen and competent Country Dancer at that time. In 1963 he moved north to Auchtermuchty to play full time with Jimmy Shand and his Band, and stayed with Sir Jimmy until 1972/3 when the fulltime Band disbanded. This was a hectic time for Peter and he traveled extensively throughout the U.K. and abroad including Australia. It was during a 1966 Tour of Australia that the fiddler in the Shand Band at the time, Angus Fitchet, presented Peter with a tune ‘Peter Straughan’s Jig’.
Peter had spells with various other bands including John MacGregor, Bobby Crowe and John Ellis but in recent times he had a long association with the late Rob Gordon and this is when I came to know him. Peter played with Rob’s Band for some 20 years, and Peter was one of the stalwarts who carried on with me after Rob passed away in 1994.
On a personal level I traveled thousands of miles with Peter and played countless gigs with him in Rob’s Band and when Rob took ill and I fronted his Band, Peter’s experience carried us through. He wasn’t content just to coast, he was always paying attention and putting everything into it at the same time. He was a man who would speak his mind rather than sulk about something. If he didn’t agree he would tell you! I let him hear some recordings of broadcasts that he was on in the late 60’s playing with Jimmy Shand on the Heather Mixture Radio Shows and the piano was very ‘flowery’ on a couple of tracks, ‘Lily of Laguna’ and a waltz ‘Little Sir Echo’. I asked him how he got leave to do that and he told me it was Ben Lyons, the Producer, who asked him to ‘ad lib’ with the piano on the waltzes. Peter agreed, but only on the old time, sing-along material. He refused point blank to do it on a Scottish waltz.
He worked part time in a number of pubs in ‘Muchty and he played the organ at Auchtermuchty Parish Church for some 30 years. At his funeral service that Church was packed with musicians and friends and the Reverend Anne Fraser remembered how Peter had that extra something in his music, even playing the organ at the Kirk. He was a man who had little use for ‘material possessions’ in his life, but was happy if he had enough for his cigarettes, his paper and a wee drink.
Lest We Forget
by Charlie Todd
November is the month when we remember our fallen in wartime but we shouldn’t forget the hardships endured by many of the survivors. Amongst us are many ex-servicemen with interesting stories to tell.
Rifleman James Ferguson Smart Watson – 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
At 84 Hamish (it seems to be the Gaelic thing James is Hamish?) Watson is the oldest active member of the Lanark Branch of the R.S.C.D.S. Born in St Leonard’s Street, Lanark on 29th April, 1915 Hamish, a foreman at local tomato houses, received his ‘Call Up’ papers in 1940 and reported to the Hamilton Barracks in Almada Street on 18th July, 1940.After three months basic training Rifleman Watson was posted to the 1st Battalion at Trimulgarry Barracks near Secunderbad, India. After four months of acclimatisation and training the Battalion was posted to the 14th Army in Rangoon, Burma under General Wavell.
Hamish’s first time in action was also his last. Advancing across open paddy fields without air cover, towards Japanese positions the man next to Hamish was hit and fell. As he went to render assistance Hamish felt a blow on the side of his steel helmet ‘like being hit by a brick’. A Japanese rifle bullet had punched a whole in both the helmet and Hamish’s skull. Evacuated by ambulance he underwent surgery at the Base Hospital at Bareilly and convalesced at Oribi, near Durban, South Africa before returning home to Carstairs Military Hospital via Southampton. Discharged from the Army, officially after 2 years and 352 days service, Hamish transferred to Bangour Hospital, where Professor Norman Dott carried out further surgery before he retuned home in 1943. Initially rated as 70% disabled he gradually improved to 30% but is still on medication to this day. However, other than never being allow to drive on medical grounds Hamish has enjoyed a very full life marrying Jane Brash, a keen Country Dancer, in 1943 and although Jane died 18 years ago Hamish still ‘soldiers on’ with the hobby he loves. Well done Hamish.
Lance Bombadier Jimmy Scott – 155th Field Regiment (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery
At 79 Jimmy ‘Bon’* Scott is the oldest active playing member of the Lanark Accordion and Fiddle Club. Born in Motherwell on 1st July 1920 Jimmy joined ‘A’ Squadron of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, a Territorial Army Unit, in February 1939 as Trooper Scott. Mobilised on 1st Septemebr, two days before war was declared, Jimmy was initially billeted in Lanark’s Masonic Hall (where the Accordion Club met for many years before moving to Ravenstruther Hall). Town born Jimmy had joined the Yeomanry because of his love of horses but with the changing face of war they were the first to go and ‘A’ Squadron became part of 155 Field Regiment RA armed with 4.5 inch howitzers. After some basic training they embarked at Greenock for Bombay, India and spent the next four months at Ahmednagar Barracks.
Next it was on to Malaya, disembarking at Port Swettenham and moving north to the Ipoh camp in the midst of the Malayan rubber plantations. Five ‘cushy’ months followed for the Jocks who got on well with the other servicemen and the planters and locals but all that changed one evening when word came through that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour and, at almost the same time, the Seletar aerodrome in the North of Malaya. Although initially moving up to gun emplacements prepared earlier near the Thai border, the whole British and Indian Army was soon in full retreat, passing the wrecks of the cruisers ‘Repulse’ and ‘Prince of Wales’ sitting in shallow water near the coast, and, barring periodic rearguard actions, not stopping for 13 weeks until they reached Singapore in the South where the formal surrender, of 120,000 British and Indian troops, took place.
Jimmy and his comrades were to spend the next 3½ years as a POW in various Japanese camps. Sent initially to the massive Changi camp he, along with other members of 155 Regiment, was transferred to form part of a 1,000 strong slave labour force at KinKaseki Camp on the Island of Formosa (modern day Taiwan but ironically originally ‘Island of Flowers). The job of the inmates was to mine copper ore for the Japanese. Conditions were appalling. 400 steps led from the camp to the mine entrance where a further 1,700 uneven steps led to the working level where the air was so starved of oxygen that the small carbide lamps frequently extinguished themselves leading to some terrible falls. In some distant corners at the lowest levels the heat and humidity were so ferocious that a man could only work for two minutes at a time. Injuries below ground and brutality and starvation above ground took a fearsome toll but ‘Ancho’ **(Squad Leader) Jimmy survived.
The hero of the camp was a Canadian doctor of the Indian Army Medical Service, Major Ben Wheeler, who performed miracles with practically no medical supplies, even conducting surgical operations with only a razor blade to act as a scalpel and no anesthetic for the patient. The war was over some days before US Marines ‘liberated’ the camp. ‘Big hard men’ Jimmy recalls, ‘but many had tears in their eyes when they saw the state we were in and the conditions we lived in”. Jimmy was repatriated via British Columbia, Halifax, Southampton and London before finally arriving in his native Motherwell. They missed the ‘Heroes Welcome’ for the returning survivors of 155 since the crowd on the platform at Motherwell Station had been told that the train was cancelled so it was a solitary journey back to his parents house in Thistle Street. Jimmy married and moved to Lanark in 1946 where he has lived ever since. Next month he and moothie player ‘Ginger’ Marshall, from Bellshill, together with 10 other ex POWs return for the first time to the Kinkaseki Camp to see the Memorial erected on the site of the camp last year and to relive old memories and honour the memory of comrades who didn’t return
Jimmy had received his first small accordion at the age of 10. In the POW camp the authorities provided a few musical instruments and costumes for the concert party, although there was an ulterior motive since the shows were sometimes filmed for use as ‘evidence’ that prisoners were ‘well treated’ in the camps. After the war Jimmy ran a very successful band for many years playing for old time and modern ballroom dancing.
* In the local Lanarkshire dialect Band become Bon
** Better remembered at Honsho as in ‘Head Honsho’
The Story of the Development of the British Hohner Enterprise
First Results
In spite of all efforts no great turnover increase had been achieved since 1931, the beginning of the Great Depression, but the preparatory period was soon to bear fruit. New harmonica models No 1925 ‘Echo’ and the ‘Little Laird’ soon made their impact.
In accordions a new 21/8 bass model in C/C# tuning, the No 3515 on the Scottish market soon achieved wonderful sales, against the 19/4 Melodeon which had so far dominated the market, but the English market needed new models and the idea of forming Accordion clubs was considered.
In conversations with the Trade, the idea was completely rejected as being ‘Continental and not suitable for this country’. However one day a Mr Helbling of Zurich, who had a most successful Accordion School and Orchestra with a type of accordion known now in this country as ‘Club Model’, asked Hohner’s whether they would find a family for his young daughter, Cilly Helbling, aged 18, where she could perfect her English knowledge in exchange for her services as an experienced accordion teacher.
Miss Helbling came in 1932, and after she had given lessons to a few Hohner employees, it was decided to arrange a demonstration of the new ‘Club Model’ to the music dealers of London through Messrs. John E. Dallas and Sons. They arranged for the hire of a hall and were there with several people of their own organisation, but only one of the invited music dealers came, so little did they think of the selling value of the accordion!
However Joe Cottle of Forrest Hill, London was very enthusiastic and promised active support. He very soon got a small group of people together and after only 3 to 6 weeks under Miss Helbling they were able to play 2 or 3 pieces in two parts.
A local concert was advertised, a hall for about 150 people hired, and the new band played, followed by an advanced recital by Miss Helbling. The immediate results were excellent. Plenty of people joined the band and soon so many came that the group could be split into a Beginners Section and an Advanced Section. When, after about 9 months the Advanced Band had achieved quite a remarkable standard, Hohner’s decided to use it for demonstration concerts all over the country.
Mr Bridger was sent to a number of towns to negotiate with music dealers the hiring of halls, the local publicity etc for the concerts, and the twenty-odd members of the band all took their holidays at a given time, a motor coach was hired and a concert tour through about ten of the largest towns in England was successfully organized in September 1933.
At each concert Mr Bridger addressed the audience and pointed out that less than a year ago none of the performers knew anything about music or the playing of any instrument. He told them that they too could do the same and in most towns the dealers succeeded in forming accordion groups and thus started the English Accordion Club movement.
In Scotland where the small button key melodeon was the most popular model, one well-known music dealer, Charles Forbes of Dundee, stimulated by the ‘Club Model’ and the ‘Heibling System’ worked out a novel method with a similar graphic system, the ‘Black Dot Double Ray’ model and the ‘Forbes System’ which proved very popular in both Scotland and in Ireland.
At the same time a new large Piano Accordion Club was formed with the help of a good musician, a Mr Harding, and practice nights were held in the YMCA building in Tottenham Court Road. One of the members of this Club was Conway Graves who, being a teacher of the piano, a church organist as well as a thoroughly trained musician, had taken a fancy to this new instrument. He was destined to play an important part in the development of the movement and in time became the Senior Teacher and Examiner of the British College of Accordionists.
It was necessary to arrange orchestral parts for this new Club, as practically no accordion orchestra arrangement existed. Hohner, therefore, imported large collections of accordion music from various German music publishers and also commenced printing their own edition. This was the beginning of the Hohner Music Department which was to become the largest accordion publishing house in Great Britain.
Once again, thanks to Ken Hopkins for the loan of the above.
The Andy Greig Gallery
Photographs
Take the Floor – Saturdays at 6.30pm with Robbie Shepherd
6th Nov 99 – Ian Cruickshanks SDB & feature
13th Nov 99 – OB Perth – Jim Lindsay SDB & Guests
20th Nov 99 – Roy Hendrie SDB & feature
27th Oct 99 – OB St Andrews – Colin Dewar SDB & Guests from the Younger Hall, St Andrews
4th Dec 99 – David Cunningham Jnr SDB & feature
11th Dec 99 – Jim Johnstone SDB & feature
18th Dec 99 – Charlie Kirkpatrick SDB & feature
25th Dec 99 - tbc
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Dee Motel) – 30th Nov 99 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Alnwick (White Swan Hotel) – members only 10th Nov 99 - tbc
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 21st Nov 99 – Fiona Rae SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 7th Nov 99 – Gordon Pattullo
Armadale (Masonic Hall) – 4th Nov 99 – George Hood SDB
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Hall) – 21st Nov 99 – MacAllister Brothers
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 29th Nov 99 – Lynne Christie SDB
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 24th Nov 99 - tbc
Beith & District (Hotel de Croft, Dalry) – 15th Nov 99 – Alistair McCulloch Duo
Belford (Community Club) – 25th Nov 99 – Carlyle Family Band
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 14th Nov 99 – Keith Dickson Orchestra
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 9th Nov 99 – Jim Lindsay (Guildtown)
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) - 9th Nov 99 – Ritchie Ahearne Band
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 11th Nov 99 – Maurice Duncan
Campsie (Glazert House Hotel) - 2nd Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Carlisle (Border Regiment Club, Carlisle Castle) - 11th Nov 99 – Roger Dobson SDB
Castle Douglas (Ernespie House Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Iain Anderson
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 18th Nov 99 – Ian Muir Sound
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) - 14th Nov 99 – All players welcome
Crieff & District (Arduthie Hotel) 4th Nov 99 – Sandy Legget Trio
Cults (Cults Sports & Social Club) 10th Nov 99 – Bill Black SDB
Dalriada (Argyll Arms Hotel, Lochgilphead) 16th Nov 99 – Neil Sinclair Ceilidh Sound
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Bruce Lindsay Trio
Dunblane (Westlands Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Morag Robertson Trio
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 9th Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel) 12th Nov 99 - tbc
East Kilbride (Sweepers, Cambuslang) – 25th Nov 99 – Gary Blair Duo
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 23rd Nov 99 – West Telferton Cale CB
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 22nd Nov 99 – Iain Lockhart
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 28th Nov 99 - tbc
Forres (Brig Motel) – 10th Nov 99 – Ian Hutson SDB
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) – 4th Nov 99 – Pentland Ceilidh Band
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) – 8th Nov 99 – Wayne Robertson
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel – Wooler) – 18th Nov 99 – Maureen Turnbull & Morag MacAskill
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 3rd Nov 99 – Eden Ceilidh Band
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 30th Nov 99 – Eden Ceilidh Band
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 7th Nov 99 - Coila
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 15th Nov 99 – Donald MacLeod SDB
Inveraray (Loch Fyne Hotel) - 10th Nov 99 – John Renton SDB
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 4th Nov 99 - tbc
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 2nd Nov 99 – Marian Anderson SDB
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 24th Nov 99 – Webster Craig Band
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Gordon Pattullo
Lanark (Masonic Hall) - 22nd Nov 99 – George Stirrat SDB
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 10th Nov 99 – Colin Dewar
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 11th Nov 99 – Iain Buchanan SDB
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 4th Nov 99 - tbc
Livingston (Cairn Hotel) - 16th Nov 99 – Livingston Fiddle Group
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 30th Nov 99 – Ian Muir
Mauchline (Sorn Village Hall) 16th Nov 99 – David Vernon
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Pentland Ceilidh Band
Muirhead (Belmont Arms, Meigle) - 21st Nov 99 – All players welcome
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 3rd Nov 99 – Jim Johnstone SDB
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 29th Nov 99 – Lomond Ceilidh Band
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) – 2nd Nov 99 – David McKenzie Family Band
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) – 4th Nov 99 – Alisdair Hunter
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Green Tree Hotel) – 25th Nov 99 – Burns Brothers Duo
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Neil Dawson SDB
Premier NI (Camlin Function Rooms) - 2nd Nov 99 – Alexander Korbakov
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 9th Nov 99 – Iain Cathcart SDB
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) - 4th Nov 99 – Burns Brothers Trio
Selkirk (Cricket Club) - 11th Nov 99 – Rhymers Reel
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) -
Stirling (Terraces Hotel) - 14th Nov 99 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 20th Nov 99 - tbc
Thornhill (Masonic Hall) - 10th Nov 99 – Bruce Lindsay SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 1st Nov 99 – Highland Style
Turriff (Royal Oak Hotel) – 4th Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) – 18th Nov 99 - tbc
Wick (McKay’s Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Jimmy & Joan Blue
Yarrow (Gordon Arms) - 17th Nov 99 – Alan Gardiner Duo
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Annan
3. Armadale
4. Beith
5. Biggar
6. Blairgowrie
7. Bromley
8. Campsie
9. Coalburn
10. Crieff
11. Cults
12. Dunfermline
13. Dunoon & Cowal
14. Forres
15. Galston
16. Glendale
17. Gretna
18. Highland
19. Inveraray
20. Isle of Skye
21. Islesteps
22. Kelso
23. Kintore
24. Lanark
25. Lesmahagow
26. Livingston
27. Lockerbie
28. Newmill-on-Teviot
29. Newtongrange
30. North East
31. Perth
32. Rothbury
33. Stirling
34. Thornhill
35. Thurso
36. Turriff
37. Tynedale
38. Wick
39. Yarrow
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 1998
(Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports or in the Club Diary above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975 – present)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Aug 1975 – present)
3. Annan A&F Club (joined Assoc in 1996 but started 1985 – present)
4. Arbroath A&F Club (1991? – present)
5. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Closed
6. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
7. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
8. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
9. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
10. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
11. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
12. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
13. Bromley A&F Club
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campbeltown A&F Club (
16. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
17. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
18. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
19. Coalburn A&F Club (
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
29. Ellon A&F Club (
30. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
31. Forfar A&F Club (
32. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
33. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
34. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
35. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
36. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
37. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
38. Gretna A&F Club (1991) Known as North Cumbria A&F Club previously (originally called Gretna when started in June 1966 but later had to move to venues in the North of England and changed name. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
39. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
40. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
41. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
42. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
43. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
44. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
45. Kintore A&F Club (
46. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed
47. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – present)
48. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
49. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
50. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
51. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
52. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
53. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
54. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
55. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
56. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999
57. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
58. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
59. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
60. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
61. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
62. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
63. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
64. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
65. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
66. Selkirk A&F Club (
67. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
68. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 - )
69. Sutherland A&F Club (
70. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
71. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
72. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
73. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
74. Vancouver
75. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
76. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 -
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
77. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
78. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
79. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
80. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
81. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
82. Buchan A&F Club
83. Callander A&F Club (
84. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
85. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
86. Club Accord
87. Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
88. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
89. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
90. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
91. Derwentside A&F Club
92. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
93. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
94. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
95. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
96. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
97. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
98. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
99. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
100. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
101. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
102. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
103. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
104. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
105. Mull A&F Club
106. Newcastleton Accordion Club
107. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
108. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
109. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
110. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
111. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
112. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
113. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
114. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
115. Tranent A&F Club
116. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
117. Wellbank A&F Club
Advertising rates
Full Page - £120
Half Page - £60
Quarter Page - £30
B&F Treasurer – Alan Gardiner, Cocklaw Farm, Elsrickle, Biggar.
The main features in the above issue were as follows (this is not a comprehensive detail of all it contained. The Club reports, in particular, are too time consuming at this stage to retype).
Freeland Barbour
A Man of Many Parts
by Charlie Todd
Freeland was born in Edinburgh in December 1951 and brought up both there and in Glen Fincastle, near Pitlochry, where his family, on his father’s side, had stayed for many huindreds of years. There was always music in the home, as had probably been the case right back through the generations. It was Freeland’s 4 x grandfather Dr Alexander Stewart, a noted fiddler who lived in Dunkeld, who introduced Robert Burns to Niel Gow, whilst the well-known songwriter Caroline Oliphant, Baroness Nairne, was also an ancestor.
Freeland’s father is very musical and taught him his first Scottish tunes – pipe tunes he had learned while serving with the local Regiment – The Scottish Horse – during the war. He was about five when he first went to piano lessons, mainly classical piano, which he kept up until he was 14 at which point he rebelled and tried to learn the guitar.
For as long as he can remember he had wanted to play the accordion and Jimmy Shand was his big hero. At that age though, he had little idea of the difference between Jimmy’s button key accordion and his own first instrument, a Hohner Lucia IV 96 bass, bought by his parents from Bill Wilkie in 1963. Thereafter he had a few lessons from Margaret Cameron, a very good player and teacher, who, along with her husband Bert had a local band in Pitlochry. She gave Freeland the rudiments of the left hand and bellows and he took it from there himself.
Freeland started to play quite a lot at University in Cambridge, but down there it was mostly Irish music which served as an introduction to a wider folk scene in which he was already interested through attending concerts by such as The Corries and The Dubliners. The other big influence then was ‘The Incredible String Band’ who were a highly electric outfit from Edinburgh. He started to meet and play with all sorts of interesting people at this time – Aly Bain, Stephan Grapelli and Sean McGuire to name but three.
Next he met up with another Edinburgh based band called ‘Silly Wizard’ and eventually joined them in 1975. They had a young whiz-kid fiddler called Johnny Cunningham whose younger brother Philip wasn’t a bad box player himself (although fortunately he was still at school!) From then onwards he found himself trying to introduce Scottish instrumental music into a scene that knew all about Scots song but inclined to Ireland for its instrumental repertoire. Silly Wizard worked mainly in England but also in France and Holland and he had a wonderful time. After a year and a half ‘on the road’ he decided on a change of tack and came back to Edinburgh from Liverpool where he’d been living and spent four years working in housing in various capacities.
Two or three years previously Freeland had got hold of an L.P. called ‘The Sound of the North’ by The Wick Scottish Dance Band and this really turned him back to what he had heard in his younger days. He knew that it was music like this that he would want to spend time on in the future. So it was that back in Edinburgh he met 3-row player Sandy Coghill, from Halkirk in Caithness, who had played with the Wick Band (particularly on drums) so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that they had an empathy. They certainly had a similar repertoire and influences.
On the back of a number of duo engagements they formed the Wallachmor Ceilidh Band with Neil McMillan, Gus Millar and Jim Barrie and began a run of incredibly hectic years. In many ways you couldn’t have put a more diverse variety of musical backgrounds together if you’d tried. When they rolled up on the first night Gus turned up with his dinner duit and a bow tie while Freeland turned up in a T shirt and jeans because that was what he had been used to in Silly Wizard. Gus thought he was the roadie and was surprised when he strapped on an accordion.
Soon however it took off in a big way and they played all over the place and in all sorts of locations, became regular on TV and radio, produced 5 albums and generally had ‘a very fine time’. ‘The Wallochs’ as they became known were unusual in that both Sandy and Freeland played unison lead accordion – there was no second box – and they found that the sound appealed to a wide range of ages, including fairly large numbers of their own age group. This last point enabled them to do a fair amount of work with contemporary bands (Runrig in particular) and they were also in demand in the Highlands and Islands and in Shetland. It was a great experience and they wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
In the middle of all this Freeland decided to leave housing and joined the BBC. He was the Producer of all of the ‘light music’ programmes coming from Aberdeen including, of course, ‘Take the Floor’ and ‘The Reel Blend’. He had been learning about production but this was definitely getting thrown in at the deep end. “The amount of help I was given by many during this time was incalculable, and it certainly seemed an exciting time to be so centrally involved in the Scottish music scene” says Freeland. He became involved in producing all types of music and found himself invited to join the BBC’s Gaelic Department in Glasgow to help with their music output. This was a bit daunting since he couldn’t speak any Gaelic (still can’t really) but everyone was hugely helpful and patient and he enjoyed it enormously.
All this while life was becoming hectic and he decided in 1985 to leave the BBC in order to concentrate on running the record label that Sandy and himself had set up (Lapwing Records) in addition to his own music, composition and production work. He also fond himself becoming involved in teaching, and that is something he has tried to keep going on an ad hoc basis (he currently helps with the accordion tuition on the BA course in Scottish Traditional Music, at the R.S.A.M.D. in Glasgow).
1985 was a year of change as Sandy Coghill decided to move from Edinburgh up to Skye and take up the hotel and campsite trade. Inevitably the work that they did as the Wallochmor had to be scaled down and Freeland had already started to play with Brian Miller (vocals and guitar) and Charlie Soane (fiddle) in a Trio they called The Occasionals. Over the next few years this became the main event for Freeland in terms of playing dance music. Various players have been involved in The Occasionals over the years – Neil McMillan, Gus Millar and Jim Barrie (all from the Wallochs), Kevin MacLeod (banjo) has been virtually ever-present, and other main players have included Malcolm Jones of Runrig (guitar), Mairi Campbell (fiddle), Ally MacIntyre (drums) and Ian Hardie (fiddle). The current line-up is Ian Hardie, Kevin MacLeod, Gus Millar and Freeland and their third CD is due out within the next few weeks.
On the recording front things have gone very well in that The Wallochmor LPs and The Occasionals CDs have sold very well. Perhaps because of that Freeland has been able to make three solo CDs and one with fiddler Iain Fraser with whom he has had the ‘good fortune’ to paly on many occasions. He has also been a member of a group called The Ghillies, along with Ian Hardie, Duncan MacGillivray, Jack Evans and Andy Thorburn. This is a sort of ‘house band’ for United Distillers and was set up by Ian Hardie to play music from a sponsored volume of new music – ‘The Nineties Collection’. They’ve produced one CD and a lot of fun, as one would with such a sponsor!
Another great interest of Freeland’s has been Scandinavian music and he has had the good fortune to play with Spaelimenninir I Hoydulum from the Faroe Islands. They have played all over Scandinavia and the USA. This in fact led him to the American Traditional Dance scene and he has played quite a lot for American contra and square dancing, as well as producing a number of recordings on the other side of the pond.
Freelance production has taken Freeland all over the place and he has enjoyed working on most aspects of traditional music. Recording harps during an earthquake in Tokyo was a new experience, but in so many way music has proved an international language and a great breaker of barriers.
Freeland has always had a great interest in the technical side of things because PA equipment and recording is so much a part of a musicians life nowadays and he has long felt it useful to know the tools. For a few years in the eighties he ran a PA hire company with friend and colleague Alan Marin in Edinburgh. He also, for a short period in the mid nineties, had a mobile recording set-up with sound engineer Alastair George, based in a mobile bank that had spent its days touring Islay on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
In 1998, however, he really took the plunge and bought Castlesound Studios in Pencaitland, East Lothian, from old friend and colleague Calum Malcolm. This recording studio had been set up by Calum in 1978 and had been leading the recording industry since then with all manner of leading names amongst its clients. Along with Calum and engineer Stuart Hamilton, Freeland now runs the studio and deals with all types of music, including a fair amount of Scottish and folk music. “It’s a hugely exciting enterprise and should keep me busy for a while to come” says Freeland.
Another long term interest has been the dance that goes with the music and for the past two years he has been on the Board of the Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust – a recently established body set up to foster interest in and provide links with the various forms of Scottish traditional dance. He has also done quite a bit of playing for dance teaching and, most particularly of late, old time dancing with Jessie Stewart.
Freeland has also helped, together with The Occasionals Dance Caller Karin Ingram, as Northbeat, to run a ceilidh dance class and club in Glasgow for about four years as well as a number of other dance orientated events across the country, particularly in Skye at Easter at the Gaelic College. Sabhal Mor Ostaig. In fact, on the subject of teaching The Occasionals were one of the first bands to introduce a Dance Caller, something that he had run across in England and America.
They were finding that many folk, particularly in the cities, seemed to be losing a traditional dance repertoire and the use of a Caller seemed to be a good way to do something about that. As Freeland points out there’s nothing new about this, of course, as this was the way it was done in the days of the old itinerant dancing master or ‘dancies’. Aside from weddings, where the Caller is often the most important person in the band, his personal preference is to play for classes / clubs where the Caller / Teacher runs the show, or to do a full night’s dancing with the band with nothing more than a reminder if needed now and again.
Perhaps the last thing worth touching on is the instrument that Freeland plays. His original Hohner Lucia together with a second one that he bought, kept him going for many years, but in time he felt the need for something more up-to-date. With enormous help from John Huband and Owen Murray he managed to persuade the Pigini company in Italy to build an instrument for them. It was to be a small 96 bass, 4 voice accordion, and about 24 were made – one of which he still plays as his main dance instrument. However his travels to Denmark introduced him to a most interesting tuner, repairer and reed maker called Torben Ejersbo and through him and along with fellow Dane Leif Ernstsen and Klaus Werner from Hanover they persuaded then Zero Zette company to build an accordion, the 5 row version of which is particularly good. The instruments all have 140 bass in a 96 bass frame and include an extra inside row (a sixth diminished).
“And that’s about it as far as I can think at the moment. Music has given me a wonderful life and I’m only half way through! Roll on the next forty years” and who can disagree with that.
Robin Anderson - Obituary
The large attendance at St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall was indicative of the popularity of T. R. Anderson. Robin, as he was better known, had a wide circle of friends from Shetland to the Solway and beyond and his sudden and unexpected passing came as a great shock. At the service his long-standing mate Jim Halcrow played a moving tribute.
A quiet and unassuming chap, Robin had been associated with music for many years, starting in the late forties with his brothers Allen, Ronald and Jim in what was essentially a family band. Later he formed his own band as did the late Allen and Jim who is still very active. A fine natural player, Robin had evolved his own style over the years and, judging by the demand for his services, it was one which appealed to a great many people. A stalwart member and one-time Treasurer and Leader of the Orkney Accordion and Fiddle Club, he will be sorely missed.
To his wife Muriel, a valued helper behind the scenes at our Club, to daughters Marion and Evelyn and their families we again offer our sympathy.
Betty MacKinnon – Obituary
Well known Perthshire pianist, Betty MacKinnon has died in Pitlochry Cottage Hospital after a long illness.
Betty’s musical career began in the early fifties when, along with her brother Angus and sister Helen, she played on “Down At The Mains” on Children’s Hour.
Shortly after this Angus emigrated to Canada and Helen and Betty formed their own quartet which proved to be very popular throughout Perthshire and beyond.
After Helen emigrated to America, Betty was soon in great demand by some of the local broadcasting bandleaders. She joined Willie Simpson’s Band in 1961 and the following year the band passed their audition for the BBC. In all they were to do no less than three broadcasts in two years.
In 1964 Betty joined Allan Kindness and the Glendaruel Broadcasting Band, indeed she was to remain with Allan for the next 17 years.
From there she became part of the Bill black ensamble – again doing numerous broadcasts with him. Probably one of the highlights of her time with Bill with a trip to Lagos in Nigeria.
In 1985 Betty met Peter Stewart of Ballinluig, yet another button key player. Together they formed a very successful duo and were kept busy right up to the onset of Betty’s illness.
A large turnout of relatives and friends attended the funeral at Logierait on August 20th.
We extend our deepest sympathy to Peter and to Betty’s immediate family.
Peter Straughan (1936 – 99) – Obituary
by Ian Cruickshanks (Kirriemuir)
It is with regret that I report the passing of Peter Straughan on June 12th, 1999. Peter will probably be best remembered as pianist with Jimmy Shand and Rob Gordon. He was born in Throckley, near Newcastle, in 1936. He became involved with the piano at an early age and also with the church organ which he continued playing until just before his death.
His involvement with the Dance Band scene began in the 50’s when he joined the band of Jack Armstrong and the Barnstormers, a very popular band in the North of England at the time. He then went on to play with David White’s Band, again in the Newcastle area, Whitley Bay to be more precise, as Peter was a keen and competent Country Dancer at that time. In 1963 he moved north to Auchtermuchty to play full time with Jimmy Shand and his Band, and stayed with Sir Jimmy until 1972/3 when the fulltime Band disbanded. This was a hectic time for Peter and he traveled extensively throughout the U.K. and abroad including Australia. It was during a 1966 Tour of Australia that the fiddler in the Shand Band at the time, Angus Fitchet, presented Peter with a tune ‘Peter Straughan’s Jig’.
Peter had spells with various other bands including John MacGregor, Bobby Crowe and John Ellis but in recent times he had a long association with the late Rob Gordon and this is when I came to know him. Peter played with Rob’s Band for some 20 years, and Peter was one of the stalwarts who carried on with me after Rob passed away in 1994.
On a personal level I traveled thousands of miles with Peter and played countless gigs with him in Rob’s Band and when Rob took ill and I fronted his Band, Peter’s experience carried us through. He wasn’t content just to coast, he was always paying attention and putting everything into it at the same time. He was a man who would speak his mind rather than sulk about something. If he didn’t agree he would tell you! I let him hear some recordings of broadcasts that he was on in the late 60’s playing with Jimmy Shand on the Heather Mixture Radio Shows and the piano was very ‘flowery’ on a couple of tracks, ‘Lily of Laguna’ and a waltz ‘Little Sir Echo’. I asked him how he got leave to do that and he told me it was Ben Lyons, the Producer, who asked him to ‘ad lib’ with the piano on the waltzes. Peter agreed, but only on the old time, sing-along material. He refused point blank to do it on a Scottish waltz.
He worked part time in a number of pubs in ‘Muchty and he played the organ at Auchtermuchty Parish Church for some 30 years. At his funeral service that Church was packed with musicians and friends and the Reverend Anne Fraser remembered how Peter had that extra something in his music, even playing the organ at the Kirk. He was a man who had little use for ‘material possessions’ in his life, but was happy if he had enough for his cigarettes, his paper and a wee drink.
Lest We Forget
by Charlie Todd
November is the month when we remember our fallen in wartime but we shouldn’t forget the hardships endured by many of the survivors. Amongst us are many ex-servicemen with interesting stories to tell.
Rifleman James Ferguson Smart Watson – 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
At 84 Hamish (it seems to be the Gaelic thing James is Hamish?) Watson is the oldest active member of the Lanark Branch of the R.S.C.D.S. Born in St Leonard’s Street, Lanark on 29th April, 1915 Hamish, a foreman at local tomato houses, received his ‘Call Up’ papers in 1940 and reported to the Hamilton Barracks in Almada Street on 18th July, 1940.After three months basic training Rifleman Watson was posted to the 1st Battalion at Trimulgarry Barracks near Secunderbad, India. After four months of acclimatisation and training the Battalion was posted to the 14th Army in Rangoon, Burma under General Wavell.
Hamish’s first time in action was also his last. Advancing across open paddy fields without air cover, towards Japanese positions the man next to Hamish was hit and fell. As he went to render assistance Hamish felt a blow on the side of his steel helmet ‘like being hit by a brick’. A Japanese rifle bullet had punched a whole in both the helmet and Hamish’s skull. Evacuated by ambulance he underwent surgery at the Base Hospital at Bareilly and convalesced at Oribi, near Durban, South Africa before returning home to Carstairs Military Hospital via Southampton. Discharged from the Army, officially after 2 years and 352 days service, Hamish transferred to Bangour Hospital, where Professor Norman Dott carried out further surgery before he retuned home in 1943. Initially rated as 70% disabled he gradually improved to 30% but is still on medication to this day. However, other than never being allow to drive on medical grounds Hamish has enjoyed a very full life marrying Jane Brash, a keen Country Dancer, in 1943 and although Jane died 18 years ago Hamish still ‘soldiers on’ with the hobby he loves. Well done Hamish.
Lance Bombadier Jimmy Scott – 155th Field Regiment (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery
At 79 Jimmy ‘Bon’* Scott is the oldest active playing member of the Lanark Accordion and Fiddle Club. Born in Motherwell on 1st July 1920 Jimmy joined ‘A’ Squadron of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, a Territorial Army Unit, in February 1939 as Trooper Scott. Mobilised on 1st Septemebr, two days before war was declared, Jimmy was initially billeted in Lanark’s Masonic Hall (where the Accordion Club met for many years before moving to Ravenstruther Hall). Town born Jimmy had joined the Yeomanry because of his love of horses but with the changing face of war they were the first to go and ‘A’ Squadron became part of 155 Field Regiment RA armed with 4.5 inch howitzers. After some basic training they embarked at Greenock for Bombay, India and spent the next four months at Ahmednagar Barracks.
Next it was on to Malaya, disembarking at Port Swettenham and moving north to the Ipoh camp in the midst of the Malayan rubber plantations. Five ‘cushy’ months followed for the Jocks who got on well with the other servicemen and the planters and locals but all that changed one evening when word came through that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour and, at almost the same time, the Seletar aerodrome in the North of Malaya. Although initially moving up to gun emplacements prepared earlier near the Thai border, the whole British and Indian Army was soon in full retreat, passing the wrecks of the cruisers ‘Repulse’ and ‘Prince of Wales’ sitting in shallow water near the coast, and, barring periodic rearguard actions, not stopping for 13 weeks until they reached Singapore in the South where the formal surrender, of 120,000 British and Indian troops, took place.
Jimmy and his comrades were to spend the next 3½ years as a POW in various Japanese camps. Sent initially to the massive Changi camp he, along with other members of 155 Regiment, was transferred to form part of a 1,000 strong slave labour force at KinKaseki Camp on the Island of Formosa (modern day Taiwan but ironically originally ‘Island of Flowers). The job of the inmates was to mine copper ore for the Japanese. Conditions were appalling. 400 steps led from the camp to the mine entrance where a further 1,700 uneven steps led to the working level where the air was so starved of oxygen that the small carbide lamps frequently extinguished themselves leading to some terrible falls. In some distant corners at the lowest levels the heat and humidity were so ferocious that a man could only work for two minutes at a time. Injuries below ground and brutality and starvation above ground took a fearsome toll but ‘Ancho’ **(Squad Leader) Jimmy survived.
The hero of the camp was a Canadian doctor of the Indian Army Medical Service, Major Ben Wheeler, who performed miracles with practically no medical supplies, even conducting surgical operations with only a razor blade to act as a scalpel and no anesthetic for the patient. The war was over some days before US Marines ‘liberated’ the camp. ‘Big hard men’ Jimmy recalls, ‘but many had tears in their eyes when they saw the state we were in and the conditions we lived in”. Jimmy was repatriated via British Columbia, Halifax, Southampton and London before finally arriving in his native Motherwell. They missed the ‘Heroes Welcome’ for the returning survivors of 155 since the crowd on the platform at Motherwell Station had been told that the train was cancelled so it was a solitary journey back to his parents house in Thistle Street. Jimmy married and moved to Lanark in 1946 where he has lived ever since. Next month he and moothie player ‘Ginger’ Marshall, from Bellshill, together with 10 other ex POWs return for the first time to the Kinkaseki Camp to see the Memorial erected on the site of the camp last year and to relive old memories and honour the memory of comrades who didn’t return
Jimmy had received his first small accordion at the age of 10. In the POW camp the authorities provided a few musical instruments and costumes for the concert party, although there was an ulterior motive since the shows were sometimes filmed for use as ‘evidence’ that prisoners were ‘well treated’ in the camps. After the war Jimmy ran a very successful band for many years playing for old time and modern ballroom dancing.
* In the local Lanarkshire dialect Band become Bon
** Better remembered at Honsho as in ‘Head Honsho’
The Story of the Development of the British Hohner Enterprise
First Results
In spite of all efforts no great turnover increase had been achieved since 1931, the beginning of the Great Depression, but the preparatory period was soon to bear fruit. New harmonica models No 1925 ‘Echo’ and the ‘Little Laird’ soon made their impact.
In accordions a new 21/8 bass model in C/C# tuning, the No 3515 on the Scottish market soon achieved wonderful sales, against the 19/4 Melodeon which had so far dominated the market, but the English market needed new models and the idea of forming Accordion clubs was considered.
In conversations with the Trade, the idea was completely rejected as being ‘Continental and not suitable for this country’. However one day a Mr Helbling of Zurich, who had a most successful Accordion School and Orchestra with a type of accordion known now in this country as ‘Club Model’, asked Hohner’s whether they would find a family for his young daughter, Cilly Helbling, aged 18, where she could perfect her English knowledge in exchange for her services as an experienced accordion teacher.
Miss Helbling came in 1932, and after she had given lessons to a few Hohner employees, it was decided to arrange a demonstration of the new ‘Club Model’ to the music dealers of London through Messrs. John E. Dallas and Sons. They arranged for the hire of a hall and were there with several people of their own organisation, but only one of the invited music dealers came, so little did they think of the selling value of the accordion!
However Joe Cottle of Forrest Hill, London was very enthusiastic and promised active support. He very soon got a small group of people together and after only 3 to 6 weeks under Miss Helbling they were able to play 2 or 3 pieces in two parts.
A local concert was advertised, a hall for about 150 people hired, and the new band played, followed by an advanced recital by Miss Helbling. The immediate results were excellent. Plenty of people joined the band and soon so many came that the group could be split into a Beginners Section and an Advanced Section. When, after about 9 months the Advanced Band had achieved quite a remarkable standard, Hohner’s decided to use it for demonstration concerts all over the country.
Mr Bridger was sent to a number of towns to negotiate with music dealers the hiring of halls, the local publicity etc for the concerts, and the twenty-odd members of the band all took their holidays at a given time, a motor coach was hired and a concert tour through about ten of the largest towns in England was successfully organized in September 1933.
At each concert Mr Bridger addressed the audience and pointed out that less than a year ago none of the performers knew anything about music or the playing of any instrument. He told them that they too could do the same and in most towns the dealers succeeded in forming accordion groups and thus started the English Accordion Club movement.
In Scotland where the small button key melodeon was the most popular model, one well-known music dealer, Charles Forbes of Dundee, stimulated by the ‘Club Model’ and the ‘Heibling System’ worked out a novel method with a similar graphic system, the ‘Black Dot Double Ray’ model and the ‘Forbes System’ which proved very popular in both Scotland and in Ireland.
At the same time a new large Piano Accordion Club was formed with the help of a good musician, a Mr Harding, and practice nights were held in the YMCA building in Tottenham Court Road. One of the members of this Club was Conway Graves who, being a teacher of the piano, a church organist as well as a thoroughly trained musician, had taken a fancy to this new instrument. He was destined to play an important part in the development of the movement and in time became the Senior Teacher and Examiner of the British College of Accordionists.
It was necessary to arrange orchestral parts for this new Club, as practically no accordion orchestra arrangement existed. Hohner, therefore, imported large collections of accordion music from various German music publishers and also commenced printing their own edition. This was the beginning of the Hohner Music Department which was to become the largest accordion publishing house in Great Britain.
Once again, thanks to Ken Hopkins for the loan of the above.
The Andy Greig Gallery
Photographs
Take the Floor – Saturdays at 6.30pm with Robbie Shepherd
6th Nov 99 – Ian Cruickshanks SDB & feature
13th Nov 99 – OB Perth – Jim Lindsay SDB & Guests
20th Nov 99 – Roy Hendrie SDB & feature
27th Oct 99 – OB St Andrews – Colin Dewar SDB & Guests from the Younger Hall, St Andrews
4th Dec 99 – David Cunningham Jnr SDB & feature
11th Dec 99 – Jim Johnstone SDB & feature
18th Dec 99 – Charlie Kirkpatrick SDB & feature
25th Dec 99 - tbc
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Dee Motel) – 30th Nov 99 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Alnwick (White Swan Hotel) – members only 10th Nov 99 - tbc
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 21st Nov 99 – Fiona Rae SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 7th Nov 99 – Gordon Pattullo
Armadale (Masonic Hall) – 4th Nov 99 – George Hood SDB
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Hall) – 21st Nov 99 – MacAllister Brothers
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 29th Nov 99 – Lynne Christie SDB
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 24th Nov 99 - tbc
Beith & District (Hotel de Croft, Dalry) – 15th Nov 99 – Alistair McCulloch Duo
Belford (Community Club) – 25th Nov 99 – Carlyle Family Band
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 14th Nov 99 – Keith Dickson Orchestra
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 9th Nov 99 – Jim Lindsay (Guildtown)
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) - 9th Nov 99 – Ritchie Ahearne Band
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 11th Nov 99 – Maurice Duncan
Campsie (Glazert House Hotel) - 2nd Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Carlisle (Border Regiment Club, Carlisle Castle) - 11th Nov 99 – Roger Dobson SDB
Castle Douglas (Ernespie House Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Iain Anderson
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 18th Nov 99 – Ian Muir Sound
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) - 14th Nov 99 – All players welcome
Crieff & District (Arduthie Hotel) 4th Nov 99 – Sandy Legget Trio
Cults (Cults Sports & Social Club) 10th Nov 99 – Bill Black SDB
Dalriada (Argyll Arms Hotel, Lochgilphead) 16th Nov 99 – Neil Sinclair Ceilidh Sound
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Bruce Lindsay Trio
Dunblane (Westlands Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Morag Robertson Trio
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 9th Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel) 12th Nov 99 - tbc
East Kilbride (Sweepers, Cambuslang) – 25th Nov 99 – Gary Blair Duo
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 23rd Nov 99 – West Telferton Cale CB
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 22nd Nov 99 – Iain Lockhart
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 28th Nov 99 - tbc
Forres (Brig Motel) – 10th Nov 99 – Ian Hutson SDB
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) – 4th Nov 99 – Pentland Ceilidh Band
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) – 8th Nov 99 – Wayne Robertson
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel – Wooler) – 18th Nov 99 – Maureen Turnbull & Morag MacAskill
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 3rd Nov 99 – Eden Ceilidh Band
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 30th Nov 99 – Eden Ceilidh Band
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 7th Nov 99 - Coila
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 15th Nov 99 – Donald MacLeod SDB
Inveraray (Loch Fyne Hotel) - 10th Nov 99 – John Renton SDB
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 4th Nov 99 - tbc
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 2nd Nov 99 – Marian Anderson SDB
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 24th Nov 99 – Webster Craig Band
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Gordon Pattullo
Lanark (Masonic Hall) - 22nd Nov 99 – George Stirrat SDB
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 10th Nov 99 – Colin Dewar
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 11th Nov 99 – Iain Buchanan SDB
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 4th Nov 99 - tbc
Livingston (Cairn Hotel) - 16th Nov 99 – Livingston Fiddle Group
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 30th Nov 99 – Ian Muir
Mauchline (Sorn Village Hall) 16th Nov 99 – David Vernon
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 3rd Nov 99 – Pentland Ceilidh Band
Muirhead (Belmont Arms, Meigle) - 21st Nov 99 – All players welcome
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 3rd Nov 99 – Jim Johnstone SDB
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 29th Nov 99 – Lomond Ceilidh Band
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) – 2nd Nov 99 – David McKenzie Family Band
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) – 4th Nov 99 – Alisdair Hunter
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Green Tree Hotel) – 25th Nov 99 – Burns Brothers Duo
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Neil Dawson SDB
Premier NI (Camlin Function Rooms) - 2nd Nov 99 – Alexander Korbakov
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 9th Nov 99 – Iain Cathcart SDB
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) - 4th Nov 99 – Burns Brothers Trio
Selkirk (Cricket Club) - 11th Nov 99 – Rhymers Reel
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) -
Stirling (Terraces Hotel) - 14th Nov 99 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 20th Nov 99 - tbc
Thornhill (Masonic Hall) - 10th Nov 99 – Bruce Lindsay SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 1st Nov 99 – Highland Style
Turriff (Royal Oak Hotel) – 4th Nov 99 – Deirdre Adamson
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) – 18th Nov 99 - tbc
Wick (McKay’s Hotel) – 16th Nov 99 – Jimmy & Joan Blue
Yarrow (Gordon Arms) - 17th Nov 99 – Alan Gardiner Duo
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Annan
3. Armadale
4. Beith
5. Biggar
6. Blairgowrie
7. Bromley
8. Campsie
9. Coalburn
10. Crieff
11. Cults
12. Dunfermline
13. Dunoon & Cowal
14. Forres
15. Galston
16. Glendale
17. Gretna
18. Highland
19. Inveraray
20. Isle of Skye
21. Islesteps
22. Kelso
23. Kintore
24. Lanark
25. Lesmahagow
26. Livingston
27. Lockerbie
28. Newmill-on-Teviot
29. Newtongrange
30. North East
31. Perth
32. Rothbury
33. Stirling
34. Thornhill
35. Thurso
36. Turriff
37. Tynedale
38. Wick
39. Yarrow
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 1998
(Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports or in the Club Diary above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975 – present)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Aug 1975 – present)
3. Annan A&F Club (joined Assoc in 1996 but started 1985 – present)
4. Arbroath A&F Club (1991? – present)
5. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Closed
6. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
7. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
8. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
9. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
10. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
11. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
12. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
13. Bromley A&F Club
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campbeltown A&F Club (
16. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
17. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
18. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
19. Coalburn A&F Club (
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
29. Ellon A&F Club (
30. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
31. Forfar A&F Club (
32. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
33. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
34. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
35. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
36. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
37. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
38. Gretna A&F Club (1991) Known as North Cumbria A&F Club previously (originally called Gretna when started in June 1966 but later had to move to venues in the North of England and changed name. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
39. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
40. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
41. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
42. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
43. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
44. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
45. Kintore A&F Club (
46. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed
47. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – present)
48. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
49. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
50. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
51. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
52. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
53. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
54. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
55. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
56. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999
57. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
58. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
59. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
60. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
61. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
62. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
63. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
64. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
65. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
66. Selkirk A&F Club (
67. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
68. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 - )
69. Sutherland A&F Club (
70. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
71. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
72. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
73. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
74. Vancouver
75. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
76. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 -
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
77. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
78. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
79. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
80. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
81. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
82. Buchan A&F Club
83. Callander A&F Club (
84. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
85. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
86. Club Accord
87. Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
88. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
89. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
90. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
91. Derwentside A&F Club
92. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
93. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
94. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
95. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
96. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
97. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
98. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
99. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
100. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
101. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
102. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
103. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
104. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
105. Mull A&F Club
106. Newcastleton Accordion Club
107. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
108. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
109. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
110. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
111. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
112. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
113. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
114. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
115. Tranent A&F Club
116. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
117. Wellbank A&F Club
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