Donald Ridley - 1941 - 11th April 2022
by Roddy Matthews
B&F June 2022
Year 45 No 06
The Borders lost one of their greatest accordionists on 11th April 2022 with the passing of Donald Ridley of Brampton.
Donald was born in 1941 into a musical Methodist family and his musical interest grew through singing and playing for some of the great hymns. He was an accomplished pianist and played for church services at some of the outlying chapels in the area. But he always loved Scottish dance music and at the age of 18 bought himself an accordion and started to play. He was a member of The Lyne Valley SDB for around 58 years, when he and the leader, David Bell, started to play together. One of his most famous tunes was Donald Ridley’s Compliments to Oliver Waugh, who played the fiddle for the band. He also wrote a lovely tune for David Bell’s sister, Rosalind Snaith, who was band pianist for many years.
Donald Ridley and David Bell were both founding Committee members of Gretna Accordion & Fiddle Club. Another well-known tune of Donald’s is Strawberries Galore. Indeed, Donald was a prolific composer of tunes and has left us with three wonderful printed volumes.
His first commercial recording was with local musicians on an L.P. called Bonnie North Tyne where he played on several tracks. In later life, with the assistance of Jim Nichol of Pathhead on keyboard, he recorded three wonderful albums which included many of his own compositions. He also made an album with The Lyne Valley SDB.
Donald also loved playing cricket and his idea of a good weekend was a fine cricket match followed by a night out playing with the band, travelling widely throughout the country to bring their music to others. A member of the family building business, Donald was known by all for being an extremely hard worker, occasionally retreating to the van to write down a new tune which had just come into his head.
Donald particularly loved his time in The Shetland Isles, where he stayed with Betty Galbraith, and he enjoyed a valued friendship with Willie Hunter and Jim & David Halcrow. Many of Donald’s tunes have a Shetland accent to them and remain challenging to players today. In more recent years Donald cherished memories of times spent playing music with Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch.
A statement made by an old cricketing friend on Donald’s at his graveside was “He had not a bad bone in his body”, which was so true, for he was a man of high integrity – genuine and true to the last.
I was privileged, in his last few months, to play the last tune with him and lifted his accordion onto his weakened knees so he could play a beautiful set of Shetland Waltzes. Then a wry smile and a twinkle appeared in his eye as he burst into Crackens, a challenging reel by Graeme Mitchell, as if to say that towards the end of his life he could still play the harder tunes. Next time I called he was sadly unable to play again.
Donald was a man of Christian faith and with a love of roaming the hills, which he often walked alone, and also with a true love of Scottish dance music. He always encouraged both young and older players and he is greatly missed. He is remembered with huge affection by all who knew him.
Donald was born in 1941 into a musical Methodist family and his musical interest grew through singing and playing for some of the great hymns. He was an accomplished pianist and played for church services at some of the outlying chapels in the area. But he always loved Scottish dance music and at the age of 18 bought himself an accordion and started to play. He was a member of The Lyne Valley SDB for around 58 years, when he and the leader, David Bell, started to play together. One of his most famous tunes was Donald Ridley’s Compliments to Oliver Waugh, who played the fiddle for the band. He also wrote a lovely tune for David Bell’s sister, Rosalind Snaith, who was band pianist for many years.
Donald Ridley and David Bell were both founding Committee members of Gretna Accordion & Fiddle Club. Another well-known tune of Donald’s is Strawberries Galore. Indeed, Donald was a prolific composer of tunes and has left us with three wonderful printed volumes.
His first commercial recording was with local musicians on an L.P. called Bonnie North Tyne where he played on several tracks. In later life, with the assistance of Jim Nichol of Pathhead on keyboard, he recorded three wonderful albums which included many of his own compositions. He also made an album with The Lyne Valley SDB.
Donald also loved playing cricket and his idea of a good weekend was a fine cricket match followed by a night out playing with the band, travelling widely throughout the country to bring their music to others. A member of the family building business, Donald was known by all for being an extremely hard worker, occasionally retreating to the van to write down a new tune which had just come into his head.
Donald particularly loved his time in The Shetland Isles, where he stayed with Betty Galbraith, and he enjoyed a valued friendship with Willie Hunter and Jim & David Halcrow. Many of Donald’s tunes have a Shetland accent to them and remain challenging to players today. In more recent years Donald cherished memories of times spent playing music with Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch.
A statement made by an old cricketing friend on Donald’s at his graveside was “He had not a bad bone in his body”, which was so true, for he was a man of high integrity – genuine and true to the last.
I was privileged, in his last few months, to play the last tune with him and lifted his accordion onto his weakened knees so he could play a beautiful set of Shetland Waltzes. Then a wry smile and a twinkle appeared in his eye as he burst into Crackens, a challenging reel by Graeme Mitchell, as if to say that towards the end of his life he could still play the harder tunes. Next time I called he was sadly unable to play again.
Donald was a man of Christian faith and with a love of roaming the hills, which he often walked alone, and also with a true love of Scottish dance music. He always encouraged both young and older players and he is greatly missed. He is remembered with huge affection by all who knew him.