Box and Fiddle
Year 18 No 05
February 1995
William James Hardie (1916 – 1995) - Obituary
Bill Hardie, as he was known, was born in Aberdeen in 1916. He played the fiddle and had classical tuition from Theodore Crozier and later from Alex Milne Smith.
His first solo broadcast was at 16-years-of-age which included a wide range from ‘Gows’ to ‘J. Murdoch Henderson’. Early competitions saw him winning the Aberdeen Music Festivals in the J. Scott Skinner challenge Cup, 1930-32 followed in 1937 by gaining a first place in a national competition sponsored by Aberdeen Evening Express, featuring Skinner competitions.
At the age of 14 years, he was the youngest member of the Aberdeen S&R Society and during the early 60’s became conductor. In later years he conducted the Meldrum fiddlers who played in the North-East area.
Teaching played an important part in Bill Hardie’s life. He was a violin instructor for 11 years with Grampian Regional Council’s Education Department and also taught at the Heritage of Scotland Summer School at Stirling University.
Bill was a partner in the business of ‘Hardie Press’ founded in 1984 and assisted in the editing of James Hardie Fiddle Music of Scotland, re-printed in 1988. He had an individual collection of music – ‘Beauties of the North’, printed for him to celebrate his 70th Birthday.
Bill died in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, on 18th January.
Bill Hardie, as he was known, was born in Aberdeen in 1916. He played the fiddle and had classical tuition from Theodore Crozier and later from Alex Milne Smith.
His first solo broadcast was at 16-years-of-age which included a wide range from ‘Gows’ to ‘J. Murdoch Henderson’. Early competitions saw him winning the Aberdeen Music Festivals in the J. Scott Skinner challenge Cup, 1930-32 followed in 1937 by gaining a first place in a national competition sponsored by Aberdeen Evening Express, featuring Skinner competitions.
At the age of 14 years, he was the youngest member of the Aberdeen S&R Society and during the early 60’s became conductor. In later years he conducted the Meldrum fiddlers who played in the North-East area.
Teaching played an important part in Bill Hardie’s life. He was a violin instructor for 11 years with Grampian Regional Council’s Education Department and also taught at the Heritage of Scotland Summer School at Stirling University.
Bill was a partner in the business of ‘Hardie Press’ founded in 1984 and assisted in the editing of James Hardie Fiddle Music of Scotland, re-printed in 1988. He had an individual collection of music – ‘Beauties of the North’, printed for him to celebrate his 70th Birthday.
Bill died in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, on 18th January.