Box and Fiddle
Year 42 No 07
March 2019
Price £3.00
48 Page Magazine
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DUNCAN McCALLUM
by Charlie Kirkpatrick
I was recently looking through my collection of music books when I came across a tune called Dochie McCallum Esq. in Graeme Mitchell’s excellent collection of compositions. If I can paraphrase Graeme who writes of Dochie, a fine exponent of the three row Shand Morino accordion; Dochie sits down and meticulously works out the best possible usage of bellows and rows to achieve a more flowing style of playing, the end product being a massively “chunky” and “canny” style of playing that for me demonstrates great control and expertise.
Thinking about this tune took me back to the early sixties when one of my favourite bands on Scottish Dance Music was the Hamish Menzies band from Callander. My recollection is that the band had a great tight, swingy sound and also that although it was normal at the time for bands to play the original tune then two alternatives before returning to the original, this band played the original along with three alternatives. A number of years later I saw them playing at the Highlanders Institute in Glasgow and as an aspiring button box player was entranced by the button box player who although he was playing the tune hardly seemed to be moving the bellows. This button box player was Dochie MacCallum.
Duncan McCallum, or Dochie McCallum as he is universally known, was born in Dubh Loch Cottage, Rowardennan on the banks of Loch Lomond and has lived all of his life in that area. This is the same Dubh Loch Cottage that gained fame some years later when Fiona MacMillan composed a nice 4/4 march in its honour – a tune that has featured many times on Take the Floor. After leaving the local Balfron High School, Dochie worked for several years with the Forestry Commission before becoming the local postie in the Drymen area for 16 years. A change of career saw Dochie working with Scottish Water before taking early retirement in September 1994.
Our readers of course will mostly know Dochie through his amazing ability on the Shand Morino button box. He was given a melodeon by an uncle when he was four years old and in a comparatively short time managed to play a few tunes – the first tune that he mastered was The Standard on the Braes of Mar. Dochie progressed at the music and after a series of accordions he eventually in 1948 purchased a Caselli three row, 48 bass instrument from Jimmy Shand who at that time was working part time with Watts of Wellgate in Dundee. Dochie well remembers the journey to Dundee and going to the Shand household at 13 Sutherland Street, Dundee to pick up the accordion. Dochie, however, is mainly associated with his Shand Morino accordion which he purchased from J T Forbes of Dundee in 1963 and still has to this day. He was proud to be present at the very first Windygates Shand Morino Gathering in January 1995 and among his most treasured possessions, are a certificate recognising his participation in that event and a hand written note from Sir Jimmy Shand thanking him for his presence there.
Having increased his repertoire of tunes, Dochie used to play with a local band in the Drymen area at dances, ceilidhs, etc. and as was the norm at that time when visiting bands came to play at dances the local band used to play at the interval. Things changed for Dochie when Andrew Rankine came with his band to Drymen Hall. The second accordion player in the band, Jack Delaney, heard Dochie playing and recommended him to the Glengarry Band in Callander which was run by Arthur Easson who later went on to gain fame as the drummer in the famous Ian Powrie band. When Arthur Easson left the band it was taken over by Hamish Menzies and this began a happy 12 year relationship with the Hamish Menzies Scottish Dance Band playing all over Scotland, the north of England and as far south as Burnley and Worcester. The aforementioned Jack Delaney subsequently joined the band having left Andrew Rankine when that band went full time.
Dochie says of Jack Delaney; “He was the man solely responsible for where I eventually got to in the Scottish Dance music scene. He coached me in the discipline of playing for country dances and in the playing of strathspeys and waltzs”. It should be stated at this point that Dochie cannot read music and to overcome this, Jack Delaney used to put any new tune that the band was to play on a reel to reel tape. Dochie says; “I used to lock myself in a room and practice that tune until I had it note perfect”. By now the band which consisted of Hamish Menzies on fiddle, Dochie and Jack on accordions, Walter Sinton (brother of John Sinton) on piano, John Buchanan on double bass and Bert Leishman on drums had passed the audition for the BBC and were appearing regularly on the Scottish Dance music programme. All in all the band did a total of 29 broadcasts most of which were live.
On the subject of broadcasts, apparently the band would have studio rehearsal on the afternoon of the broadcasts to check timing and sound and then after a short break it was back to the studio for the live session. Given that Dochie did not have a note of music in front of him it says so much for his ability, his concentration and his dedication to say nothing of his amazing memory.
Eventually, Dochie left the band and this roughly coincided with the start of the Accordion and Fiddle club movement with the local clubs of the MAFIA (Milngavie), Fintry and Balloch being favourites. Those clubs were a great meeting place for all the local musicians and in particular Dochie talks fondly of the late Colin Finlayson who used to attend often in the company of Gordon Simpson. Dochie describes Colin as being “a special guy”. In due course guest artist spots at clubs took place with the first being at Balloch. The backing on that occasion as on most of Dochie’s guest artist appearances was “the heavy team” – Neil McMillan on piano, Ricky Franci on second accordion and Gus Millar on drums. Since then Dochie and the boys have appeared at most of the clubs around Scotland and also Dochie recalls appearing at several Shetland Festivals with a trio. Dochie is very proud of the fact that Fraser McGlynn once introduced him at the Dalriada club saying; “all these backing players play with the top bands in the country but they still enjoy having a tune with Dochie” This meant a lot to Dochie who had a great respect for and friendship with Fraser who he rates as “the best button box player ever”.
As with many other players of our music, Dochie was greatly influenced by Sir Jimmy Shand but his musical idols were Bobby MacLeod, Ian Holmes and of course the aforementioned Fraser McGlynn. Over the years, Dochie has had a number of his compositions published and played by other bands – one for his great friends Neil and Fiona MacMillan, one for their eldest daughter Sheena MacMillan, The Nettie Fraser Two-step and the Delia Graham Polka spring to mind. Other highlights of Dochie’s musical career included a CD called “Naethin ower Fancy” featuring the man himself along with Neil MacMillan on backing – this won the CD of the year in 2004 at our annual BAAFI awards and he had also been nominated in the Guest Artist of the year category on a previous occasion.
I think that Graeme Mitchell’s tune title Dochie McCallum Esq. perfectly sums up this modest, unassuming gentleman who has been one of our foremost button key accordion players for many years and who is worthy of being one of our Guests of Honour at our annual Celebrity Luncheon at the Invercarse Hotel, Dundee on Sunday 30 June 2019.
by Charlie Kirkpatrick
I was recently looking through my collection of music books when I came across a tune called Dochie McCallum Esq. in Graeme Mitchell’s excellent collection of compositions. If I can paraphrase Graeme who writes of Dochie, a fine exponent of the three row Shand Morino accordion; Dochie sits down and meticulously works out the best possible usage of bellows and rows to achieve a more flowing style of playing, the end product being a massively “chunky” and “canny” style of playing that for me demonstrates great control and expertise.
Thinking about this tune took me back to the early sixties when one of my favourite bands on Scottish Dance Music was the Hamish Menzies band from Callander. My recollection is that the band had a great tight, swingy sound and also that although it was normal at the time for bands to play the original tune then two alternatives before returning to the original, this band played the original along with three alternatives. A number of years later I saw them playing at the Highlanders Institute in Glasgow and as an aspiring button box player was entranced by the button box player who although he was playing the tune hardly seemed to be moving the bellows. This button box player was Dochie MacCallum.
Duncan McCallum, or Dochie McCallum as he is universally known, was born in Dubh Loch Cottage, Rowardennan on the banks of Loch Lomond and has lived all of his life in that area. This is the same Dubh Loch Cottage that gained fame some years later when Fiona MacMillan composed a nice 4/4 march in its honour – a tune that has featured many times on Take the Floor. After leaving the local Balfron High School, Dochie worked for several years with the Forestry Commission before becoming the local postie in the Drymen area for 16 years. A change of career saw Dochie working with Scottish Water before taking early retirement in September 1994.
Our readers of course will mostly know Dochie through his amazing ability on the Shand Morino button box. He was given a melodeon by an uncle when he was four years old and in a comparatively short time managed to play a few tunes – the first tune that he mastered was The Standard on the Braes of Mar. Dochie progressed at the music and after a series of accordions he eventually in 1948 purchased a Caselli three row, 48 bass instrument from Jimmy Shand who at that time was working part time with Watts of Wellgate in Dundee. Dochie well remembers the journey to Dundee and going to the Shand household at 13 Sutherland Street, Dundee to pick up the accordion. Dochie, however, is mainly associated with his Shand Morino accordion which he purchased from J T Forbes of Dundee in 1963 and still has to this day. He was proud to be present at the very first Windygates Shand Morino Gathering in January 1995 and among his most treasured possessions, are a certificate recognising his participation in that event and a hand written note from Sir Jimmy Shand thanking him for his presence there.
Having increased his repertoire of tunes, Dochie used to play with a local band in the Drymen area at dances, ceilidhs, etc. and as was the norm at that time when visiting bands came to play at dances the local band used to play at the interval. Things changed for Dochie when Andrew Rankine came with his band to Drymen Hall. The second accordion player in the band, Jack Delaney, heard Dochie playing and recommended him to the Glengarry Band in Callander which was run by Arthur Easson who later went on to gain fame as the drummer in the famous Ian Powrie band. When Arthur Easson left the band it was taken over by Hamish Menzies and this began a happy 12 year relationship with the Hamish Menzies Scottish Dance Band playing all over Scotland, the north of England and as far south as Burnley and Worcester. The aforementioned Jack Delaney subsequently joined the band having left Andrew Rankine when that band went full time.
Dochie says of Jack Delaney; “He was the man solely responsible for where I eventually got to in the Scottish Dance music scene. He coached me in the discipline of playing for country dances and in the playing of strathspeys and waltzs”. It should be stated at this point that Dochie cannot read music and to overcome this, Jack Delaney used to put any new tune that the band was to play on a reel to reel tape. Dochie says; “I used to lock myself in a room and practice that tune until I had it note perfect”. By now the band which consisted of Hamish Menzies on fiddle, Dochie and Jack on accordions, Walter Sinton (brother of John Sinton) on piano, John Buchanan on double bass and Bert Leishman on drums had passed the audition for the BBC and were appearing regularly on the Scottish Dance music programme. All in all the band did a total of 29 broadcasts most of which were live.
On the subject of broadcasts, apparently the band would have studio rehearsal on the afternoon of the broadcasts to check timing and sound and then after a short break it was back to the studio for the live session. Given that Dochie did not have a note of music in front of him it says so much for his ability, his concentration and his dedication to say nothing of his amazing memory.
Eventually, Dochie left the band and this roughly coincided with the start of the Accordion and Fiddle club movement with the local clubs of the MAFIA (Milngavie), Fintry and Balloch being favourites. Those clubs were a great meeting place for all the local musicians and in particular Dochie talks fondly of the late Colin Finlayson who used to attend often in the company of Gordon Simpson. Dochie describes Colin as being “a special guy”. In due course guest artist spots at clubs took place with the first being at Balloch. The backing on that occasion as on most of Dochie’s guest artist appearances was “the heavy team” – Neil McMillan on piano, Ricky Franci on second accordion and Gus Millar on drums. Since then Dochie and the boys have appeared at most of the clubs around Scotland and also Dochie recalls appearing at several Shetland Festivals with a trio. Dochie is very proud of the fact that Fraser McGlynn once introduced him at the Dalriada club saying; “all these backing players play with the top bands in the country but they still enjoy having a tune with Dochie” This meant a lot to Dochie who had a great respect for and friendship with Fraser who he rates as “the best button box player ever”.
As with many other players of our music, Dochie was greatly influenced by Sir Jimmy Shand but his musical idols were Bobby MacLeod, Ian Holmes and of course the aforementioned Fraser McGlynn. Over the years, Dochie has had a number of his compositions published and played by other bands – one for his great friends Neil and Fiona MacMillan, one for their eldest daughter Sheena MacMillan, The Nettie Fraser Two-step and the Delia Graham Polka spring to mind. Other highlights of Dochie’s musical career included a CD called “Naethin ower Fancy” featuring the man himself along with Neil MacMillan on backing – this won the CD of the year in 2004 at our annual BAAFI awards and he had also been nominated in the Guest Artist of the year category on a previous occasion.
I think that Graeme Mitchell’s tune title Dochie McCallum Esq. perfectly sums up this modest, unassuming gentleman who has been one of our foremost button key accordion players for many years and who is worthy of being one of our Guests of Honour at our annual Celebrity Luncheon at the Invercarse Hotel, Dundee on Sunday 30 June 2019.