Box and Fiddle
Year 45 No 02
February 2022
Price £3.00
32 Page Magazine
12 month UK subscription £49.45
Editor – Pia Walker, Cupar
B&F Treasurer – Scott Band
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).
Editorial
Thank you for all the kind messages received upon starting up the magazine. I even received a text on Christmas Day…….
Pia
News
Congratulations to Paul Anderson for his honorary Doctorate of Music at Robert Gordon University.
Congratulations to Ryan Corbett who recently won the 69th ROSL annual music competition’s Gold Medal and a £20,000 prize.
The 48th Annual NAAFC Championship
by Richard Ross, Festival Chairman
I think we all agree that we have been subject to very trying times over the last two years as a result of the Covid pandemic, and particularly over the last few months owing to the new Omicron variant.
It is therefore with a heavy heart and after much deliberation that the Festival and NAAFC Executive Committees have come to the decision that we should cancel this year’s Festival at Grangemouth Town Hall on 5th March 2022.
On behalf of the Festival Committee, I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause to those that have made arrangement to attend the Festival.
The Festival committee had previously met to discuss the running of a second full Virtual Festival in March as we were hoping that we could return to our live Festival. However, after various discussions we are delighted to announce the launch of :
The NAAFC Virtual diminished Festival 2022
Our adjudicators for this unique event are Jackie Raeburn (accordion) and Stella Wilkie (Fiddle).
Given the time constrains we face, we have decided to operate a smaller Virtual Festival than in 2021 with a total of five classes available to competitors. Each class is open to accordion and fiddle entrants, with piano / keyboard accompaniment permitted. The adjudication will be carried out by both adjudicators independently with aggregated marks deciding the results.
The classes are as follows :-
Class 1 – Under 16 Marches*
Class 2 – Under 16 Waltzes*
Class 3 – Open 6/8 Marches
Class 4 – Open Gaelic Waltzes
Class 5 – Own Composition
*Under 16 Classes will incorporate Under 12 and Under 10 competitions.
Entry forms are available on our webpage at www.naafcfestival.co.uk detailing the above competitions, together with updated rules specifically relevant to this unique virtual competition.
We are hoping to encourage as many entries as possible and therefore we are pleased to announce that entries for all competitions are free.
We are currently liaising with BBC Radio Scotland with a view to showcasing winners on TTF on Saturday evening 5th March 2022.
We will continue to post updates on our webpage and FB page.
We hope that the NAAFC Virtual diminished Festival 2022 will bring some cheer to you all, building up to 5th March 2022.
MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2021
by Richard Ross, NAAFC Festival Chairman
I was very excited to represent the NAAFC……….
Centre Stage
Peter Wood
In Memory
Paddy Neary (1949 – 2020)
Paddy was born in Ardee, County Louth in Leinster where he began playing the piano at the age of four. His father Mickey, a farm labourer, introduced him to traditional music and from his mother, Josie, Paddy inherited his love of classical music. He received an accordion as a Christmas present from his dad when he was aged 11 and one of his earliest and greatest inspirations was the Norwegian accordionist Toralf L. Tollefson (1914 – 1994). He soon began playing at local hotels with a three-piece band and also participating in local competitions.
Paddy studied music at University College, Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and not only was he a talented musician, but he also won several awards for step-dancing. His first big break came in the sixties, at the time when Dermot O’Brien (also from Ardee) and his Clubmen’s recording of The Merry Ploughboy was reaching dizzying heights in the Irish charts. While still in his teens he toured America for six weeks playing in places like The Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas and the many Irish ballrooms in New York. After this he toured Germany with the Nevada Showband. Three years later he was the proud possessor of The Hohner Cup, and made his first broadcast with the Radio Eireann Light Orchestra.
In Ireland he won the competitions on both piano and accordion, and in the late 70s he won the All-Ireland Championship. The adjudicator was Alex MacArthur, a well-known Scottish bandleader, who arranged for Paddy to undertake a ten-date tour of Scottish Box & Fiddle Clubs, after which Paddy decided to move to Scotland.
He moved to Auchterarder where he instantly became much in demand as a guest artiste in clubs and concerts, and also worked for Clinkscales as a demonstrator. He was also one year the chief guest for the evening concert during the All-Scotland Championship held in Perth.
During the day, Paddy kept busy teaching music. Apart from teaching children, he was both surprised and delighted to teach adults as well. He also regularly entertained tourists from all over the world in the Highlander Hotel in Newtonmore.
While in Scotland he switched to playing electronic accordions. In the late 1970s and 1980s Paddy made several albums using electronic accordions. Paddy declared that his favourite piece of music was the slow movement from Tchaikovski’s Pathetique Symphony. However, it was not until he started playing the electronic accordion that he enjoyed playing this piece of music. He claimed that until then the sound that he produced was too little as he could not produce the proper string sound and he hated giving bad performances.
Paddy Nery and his family returned to Ardee in 1990 after he suffered a stroke and his performing career ended. They had by then lived in Scotland for 20 years.
What was this connection to Scotland? Accordionist Brian Forrest sent in the following as a tribute to Paddy.
One dreich Monday in late 1979, I received a phone call in my office from my musical friend and legend, Alex MacArthur, who asked if I’d be going to Bobby Colgan’s A&F Club that night in the Woodside Hotel, Musselburgh. I said I’d though about it, but wasn’t absolutely sure if I’d make it, as I had an appointment with a client to pick up his new accordion at 6pm, and if he was late, I wouldn’t have time. Alex’s response was, “Cancel the client – you’ll thank me for it later!”
As it happened, the client phoned me just after that to rearrange collection and I was able to get along to the Club in good time, where Alex introduced me to the reason for his enthusiasm. And so began a collaboration and friendship which I cherished, and which changed the appreciation of the accordion in Scotland. A pretty sweeping statement, I know, but when I tell you that the guest artiste whom Alex that night introduced me to, and whom he introduced to Scotland, was a young man called Paddy Neary, I hope I may be forgiven. Alex had been across in Ireland adjudicating at the All-Ireland Championships and had heard Paddy play. In his own words, he was “blown away” by Paddy’s complete mastery of the accordion, and the depth of his repertoire, and immediately on his return he set to work fixing up a tour of Scotland, this being the first night.
When Paddy went of stage for his first spot that night, nobody in the hall could have known the impact this gentle, quietly spoken Irishman would make on the scene. He wowed us with hornpipes, reels, jigs and transatlantic medleys, interspersed with accordion novelty showpieces such as Nola, Dantesque and Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca. All this was played on a battered old black Hohner Atlantic IV held together with Elastoplast, insulating tape and goodness knows what else……the compression was shot, as I later discovered. How he could even wring a tune out of it at all was a miracle!
During the half-time interval, another friend of mine, Davy Gibson, set up his Elkavox 77 electronic accordion, which he had bought from me in my capacity, at the time, as Sales Manager of Clinkscale of Melrose, arguably the biggest importers, wholesalers and retailers of accordions in the UK, if not Europe. When Paddy heard the string section on the treble and the piano/bass side, his eyes lit up and his jaw dropped. He had never actually played an electronic accordion before, and the 77 was fairly tasty for that stage in production. When I saw his reaction, I asked him if he’d like to try it later (meaning after the Club finished) and he was like a kid in a sweetie shop. Amazingly, and very bravely, he wondered if the owner would really let him, and if so, could he maybe try it for his second spot? I approached Davie, who of course readily agreed. And so it was that Paddy absolutely hypnotised the audience with classics such as The Blue Danube (his favourite piece) and Elizabethan Serenade, making full use of the beautiful strings and piano sounds – with myself crouching at his feet changing the sound registers and balance as he went! I later discovered that Paddy had arranged the Elizabethan Serenade for a string quartet as part of his PhD Music dissertation, classical piano being his first instrument.
I arranged with Alex to bring Paddy down to Melrose the next day, where I set up a loan of a Clinkscale Crucianelli F45 for the rest of his tour (as I recall, he was guest at my local Club a few days later, where I also spent a fair bit of time changing sounds, of which the F45 had a good few). He soon got the hand of it, likewise the Accoder A45, and then the Elkavox 83, which he made completely his own. We worked together for a number of years, in concerts and roadshows, and he stayed with us a few times, always bringing wee gifts for our daughter Fiona from ‘Uncle Paddy’. I was honoured and privileged to call him friend.
Paddy Neary sadly passed away at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda in September 2020. His music and his family were the two driving forces in his life, and he always made a point of going home to June and the boys, David and Philip, after every gig if at all possible. Latterly, he taught piano, and he was choirmaster and resident musician in his local church in Ardee, where his funeral was held, and where his two granddaughters Sophia and Louise were confirmed. He played for the elder while she sang at her confirmation service, and despite his grave illness was determined to do the same for the younger one. Although his wife, June, pleaded with him that he wasn’t strong enough to play the piano, his reply was, “Just get me to the piano – it will play me”.
It's a measure of the man that he did exactly that, playing in the church on the Saturday and returning to the hospice, where he passed away on the Wednesday.
R.I.P. Paddy. Thank you for sharing your friendship and your music.
Jack Smart
by John Morgan
I was deeply saddened to learn
See Hear! with Bill Brown
CD Reviews
Scottish Accordion Gems 2 – Ronnie Ross – NESS128CD
A Drop for Neptune – TRIP – TMRCCD001
Book Review
The Funky Beginner’s Fiddle Book – Katherine J. Liley – Lovaig Music
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 21.00 with Gary Innes
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Old Machar RBL) –
Alnwick (The Jubilee Hall, Newton-on-the Moor) 9th Feb 2022 – Julie Best & Jean Corrighan
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) -
Arbroath (Arbroath Artisan Golf Club) - 6th Feb 2022 – Jim Cleland
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) –
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) –
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 23rd Feb 2022 - tbc
Beith & District (Beith Bowling Club) –
Biggar (Biggar Bowling Club) – 13th Feb 2022 – Fin Hope & the No-Hopers
Blairgowrie (Rattray Bowling Club) - 6th Feb 2022 - tbc
Button Key (Greig Institute, Windygates) –
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 1st Feb 2022 - tbc
Canderside (Stonehouse Bowling Club) - 10th Feb 2022 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Threave Rovers Football Club) – 8th Feb 2022 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Clydesdale (St Mary’s Club Rooms, Lanark) -
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 17th Feb 2022 – No meeting (renovation)
Crieff & District (British Legion)
Dalriada (Argyll Inn, Lochgilphead) -
Dingwall (National Hotel) –
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 16th Feb 2022 – Kyle Innes SDB
Dunfermline (Masonic Hall, Rosyth) – 8th Feb 2022 – Club Night
Dumfries (Crichton Royal Golf Club) - Feb 2022 - tbc
Forfar (Forfar RBL) - 27th Feb 2022 – Alan Small Duo
Forres (Victoria Hotel) –
Fort William (Railway Club, Inverlochy) -
Galashiels (Gala YM RFC) -
Glendale (The Glendale Hall, Wooler) - 24th Feb 2022 – Neil Hardie SDB
Glenfarg (Glenfarg Village Hall) -
Glenrothes (Queen Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 22nd Feb 2022 – Michael Philip SDB
Gretna (The Richard Greenhow Centre) - 6th Feb 2022 – Alan Crookston SDB
Hidden Toun (Haddington Bowling Club) - 13th Feb 2022 – Liam Stewart Trio
Highland (Waterside Hotel) –
Inveraray (Inveraray Inn) -
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) -
Kelso (Kelso Rugby Club) – 23rd Feb 2022 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Langholm (Langholm Social Club) –
Lewis & Harris (Caladh Inn, Stornoway) -
Lockerbie (Mid Annandale Comrades Club)
Macmerry (Miners Social Club) - 20th Feb 2022 – Alex Ross SDB
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 15th Feb 2022 – Jimmy Blair Orchestra
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 2nd Feb 2022 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Newburgh (Adbie Hall) -
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 28th Feb 2022 - tbc
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Oban (The Royal Hotel) –
Orkney (The Reel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Social Club) –
Perth & District (Salutation Hotel) – 15th Feb 2022 - tbc
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) –
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel) -
Seghill (Old Comrades Club) - 1st Feb 2022 – John Morgan 8th 15th 22nd Feb – Club Night
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 10th Feb 2022 – Club Night 24th Feb – Roy Hendrie
Sutherland (Rogart Village Hall) -
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) –
TMSA (Aberdeen) – Sportmans Club - 15th Feb 2022 - Session
Turriff (Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown) – 3rd Feb 2022 – George Rennie duo
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
Uist & Benbecula (C of S Hall, Griminish) -
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 15th Feb 2022 – Robert Nairn Trio
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Arbroath
2. Biggar
3. Castle Douglas
4. Highland
5. Kelso
6. Macmerry
7. Seghill
8. Shetland
9. TSMA Aberdeen
10. Turriff & District
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2022
(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. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
9. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
10. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
11. Button Key A&F Club (
12. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
13. Canderside A&F Club (Stonehouse) (Feb 2019 – present)
14. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
15. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
16. Clydesdale A&F Club (Sept 2016 – present)
17. Coalburn A&F Club (
18. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
19. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
20. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
21. Dumfries A&F Club (1965 renamed Islesteps Jan 1981 – 2021 then back to Dumfries)
22. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
23. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
24. Forfar A&F Club (
25. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
26. Fort William A&F Club ( )
27. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
28. Glendale A&F Club (Jan 1973 – present)
29. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
30. 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)
31. Hidden Toun A&F (Haddington) (Jan 2022 – present)
32. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
33. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
34. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
35. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
36. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
37. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 – present)
38. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
39. Macmerry A&F Club (Feb 2016 – present)
40. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
41. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
42. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
43. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
44. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
45. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
46. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
47. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
48. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
49. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
50. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
51 Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
52 Turriff A&F Club (1st April 1982 - present)
53 Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
54 Uist & Benbecula A&F Club (Dec 2007 but formed 1994 -
55 Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
56. Araharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
57. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Last meeting May 2010
58. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
59. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
60. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
61. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
62. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
63. Britannia B&F Club (joined 07-08 but much older
64. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
65. Buchan A&F Club
66. Callander A&F Club (
67. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980 – 1997?)
68. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
69. Club Accord
70. Coldingham A&F Club (Nov 2008 – cFeb 2014)
71 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
72. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
73. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
74. Cults A & F Club (
75. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
76. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
77. Derwentside A&F Club
78. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
79. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
80. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
81. Dundee & District A&F Club (January 1971 – 1995?)
82. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
83. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – April 2020 – Covid19)
84. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
85. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
86. Ellon A&F Club (1984 – April 2020 Covid19)
87. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
88. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – ?)
89. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
90. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
91. Glasgow A&F Club (Aug 2017 – March 2018)
92. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93? – left the Assoc c2013)
93. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
94. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
95. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 – 6th December 2015)
96. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
97. Kintore A&F Club (
98. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
99. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier -
100. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
101. Lauder A&F Club (May 2010 -
102. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
103. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – March 2020 - Covid)
104. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
105. Maine Valley A&F Club (
106. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
107. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
108. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
109. Mull A&F Club
110. Newcastleton Accordion Club
111. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded much earlier – closed April 2011 when venue closed)
112. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
113. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999 - closed March 2016)
114. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
115. Northern A&F Club (Sept 2011 -
116. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
117. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
118. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
119. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
120. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
121. Selkirk A&F Club (
122. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
123. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
124. Stonehouse A&F Club (Opened 2003 - first report June 05 – Closed April 2018)
125. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
126 Sutherland A&F Club (Nov 1982 -
127 Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
128. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
129. Tranent A&F Club
130. Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra
131. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
132. Wellbank A&F Club
133. West Barnes (1981? - April 2016?)
134. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
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B&F Treasurer – Scott Band
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).
Editorial
Thank you for all the kind messages received upon starting up the magazine. I even received a text on Christmas Day…….
Pia
News
Congratulations to Paul Anderson for his honorary Doctorate of Music at Robert Gordon University.
Congratulations to Ryan Corbett who recently won the 69th ROSL annual music competition’s Gold Medal and a £20,000 prize.
The 48th Annual NAAFC Championship
by Richard Ross, Festival Chairman
I think we all agree that we have been subject to very trying times over the last two years as a result of the Covid pandemic, and particularly over the last few months owing to the new Omicron variant.
It is therefore with a heavy heart and after much deliberation that the Festival and NAAFC Executive Committees have come to the decision that we should cancel this year’s Festival at Grangemouth Town Hall on 5th March 2022.
On behalf of the Festival Committee, I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause to those that have made arrangement to attend the Festival.
The Festival committee had previously met to discuss the running of a second full Virtual Festival in March as we were hoping that we could return to our live Festival. However, after various discussions we are delighted to announce the launch of :
The NAAFC Virtual diminished Festival 2022
Our adjudicators for this unique event are Jackie Raeburn (accordion) and Stella Wilkie (Fiddle).
Given the time constrains we face, we have decided to operate a smaller Virtual Festival than in 2021 with a total of five classes available to competitors. Each class is open to accordion and fiddle entrants, with piano / keyboard accompaniment permitted. The adjudication will be carried out by both adjudicators independently with aggregated marks deciding the results.
The classes are as follows :-
Class 1 – Under 16 Marches*
Class 2 – Under 16 Waltzes*
Class 3 – Open 6/8 Marches
Class 4 – Open Gaelic Waltzes
Class 5 – Own Composition
*Under 16 Classes will incorporate Under 12 and Under 10 competitions.
Entry forms are available on our webpage at www.naafcfestival.co.uk detailing the above competitions, together with updated rules specifically relevant to this unique virtual competition.
We are hoping to encourage as many entries as possible and therefore we are pleased to announce that entries for all competitions are free.
We are currently liaising with BBC Radio Scotland with a view to showcasing winners on TTF on Saturday evening 5th March 2022.
We will continue to post updates on our webpage and FB page.
We hope that the NAAFC Virtual diminished Festival 2022 will bring some cheer to you all, building up to 5th March 2022.
MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2021
by Richard Ross, NAAFC Festival Chairman
I was very excited to represent the NAAFC……….
Centre Stage
Peter Wood
In Memory
Paddy Neary (1949 – 2020)
Paddy was born in Ardee, County Louth in Leinster where he began playing the piano at the age of four. His father Mickey, a farm labourer, introduced him to traditional music and from his mother, Josie, Paddy inherited his love of classical music. He received an accordion as a Christmas present from his dad when he was aged 11 and one of his earliest and greatest inspirations was the Norwegian accordionist Toralf L. Tollefson (1914 – 1994). He soon began playing at local hotels with a three-piece band and also participating in local competitions.
Paddy studied music at University College, Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and not only was he a talented musician, but he also won several awards for step-dancing. His first big break came in the sixties, at the time when Dermot O’Brien (also from Ardee) and his Clubmen’s recording of The Merry Ploughboy was reaching dizzying heights in the Irish charts. While still in his teens he toured America for six weeks playing in places like The Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas and the many Irish ballrooms in New York. After this he toured Germany with the Nevada Showband. Three years later he was the proud possessor of The Hohner Cup, and made his first broadcast with the Radio Eireann Light Orchestra.
In Ireland he won the competitions on both piano and accordion, and in the late 70s he won the All-Ireland Championship. The adjudicator was Alex MacArthur, a well-known Scottish bandleader, who arranged for Paddy to undertake a ten-date tour of Scottish Box & Fiddle Clubs, after which Paddy decided to move to Scotland.
He moved to Auchterarder where he instantly became much in demand as a guest artiste in clubs and concerts, and also worked for Clinkscales as a demonstrator. He was also one year the chief guest for the evening concert during the All-Scotland Championship held in Perth.
During the day, Paddy kept busy teaching music. Apart from teaching children, he was both surprised and delighted to teach adults as well. He also regularly entertained tourists from all over the world in the Highlander Hotel in Newtonmore.
While in Scotland he switched to playing electronic accordions. In the late 1970s and 1980s Paddy made several albums using electronic accordions. Paddy declared that his favourite piece of music was the slow movement from Tchaikovski’s Pathetique Symphony. However, it was not until he started playing the electronic accordion that he enjoyed playing this piece of music. He claimed that until then the sound that he produced was too little as he could not produce the proper string sound and he hated giving bad performances.
Paddy Nery and his family returned to Ardee in 1990 after he suffered a stroke and his performing career ended. They had by then lived in Scotland for 20 years.
What was this connection to Scotland? Accordionist Brian Forrest sent in the following as a tribute to Paddy.
One dreich Monday in late 1979, I received a phone call in my office from my musical friend and legend, Alex MacArthur, who asked if I’d be going to Bobby Colgan’s A&F Club that night in the Woodside Hotel, Musselburgh. I said I’d though about it, but wasn’t absolutely sure if I’d make it, as I had an appointment with a client to pick up his new accordion at 6pm, and if he was late, I wouldn’t have time. Alex’s response was, “Cancel the client – you’ll thank me for it later!”
As it happened, the client phoned me just after that to rearrange collection and I was able to get along to the Club in good time, where Alex introduced me to the reason for his enthusiasm. And so began a collaboration and friendship which I cherished, and which changed the appreciation of the accordion in Scotland. A pretty sweeping statement, I know, but when I tell you that the guest artiste whom Alex that night introduced me to, and whom he introduced to Scotland, was a young man called Paddy Neary, I hope I may be forgiven. Alex had been across in Ireland adjudicating at the All-Ireland Championships and had heard Paddy play. In his own words, he was “blown away” by Paddy’s complete mastery of the accordion, and the depth of his repertoire, and immediately on his return he set to work fixing up a tour of Scotland, this being the first night.
When Paddy went of stage for his first spot that night, nobody in the hall could have known the impact this gentle, quietly spoken Irishman would make on the scene. He wowed us with hornpipes, reels, jigs and transatlantic medleys, interspersed with accordion novelty showpieces such as Nola, Dantesque and Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca. All this was played on a battered old black Hohner Atlantic IV held together with Elastoplast, insulating tape and goodness knows what else……the compression was shot, as I later discovered. How he could even wring a tune out of it at all was a miracle!
During the half-time interval, another friend of mine, Davy Gibson, set up his Elkavox 77 electronic accordion, which he had bought from me in my capacity, at the time, as Sales Manager of Clinkscale of Melrose, arguably the biggest importers, wholesalers and retailers of accordions in the UK, if not Europe. When Paddy heard the string section on the treble and the piano/bass side, his eyes lit up and his jaw dropped. He had never actually played an electronic accordion before, and the 77 was fairly tasty for that stage in production. When I saw his reaction, I asked him if he’d like to try it later (meaning after the Club finished) and he was like a kid in a sweetie shop. Amazingly, and very bravely, he wondered if the owner would really let him, and if so, could he maybe try it for his second spot? I approached Davie, who of course readily agreed. And so it was that Paddy absolutely hypnotised the audience with classics such as The Blue Danube (his favourite piece) and Elizabethan Serenade, making full use of the beautiful strings and piano sounds – with myself crouching at his feet changing the sound registers and balance as he went! I later discovered that Paddy had arranged the Elizabethan Serenade for a string quartet as part of his PhD Music dissertation, classical piano being his first instrument.
I arranged with Alex to bring Paddy down to Melrose the next day, where I set up a loan of a Clinkscale Crucianelli F45 for the rest of his tour (as I recall, he was guest at my local Club a few days later, where I also spent a fair bit of time changing sounds, of which the F45 had a good few). He soon got the hand of it, likewise the Accoder A45, and then the Elkavox 83, which he made completely his own. We worked together for a number of years, in concerts and roadshows, and he stayed with us a few times, always bringing wee gifts for our daughter Fiona from ‘Uncle Paddy’. I was honoured and privileged to call him friend.
Paddy Neary sadly passed away at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda in September 2020. His music and his family were the two driving forces in his life, and he always made a point of going home to June and the boys, David and Philip, after every gig if at all possible. Latterly, he taught piano, and he was choirmaster and resident musician in his local church in Ardee, where his funeral was held, and where his two granddaughters Sophia and Louise were confirmed. He played for the elder while she sang at her confirmation service, and despite his grave illness was determined to do the same for the younger one. Although his wife, June, pleaded with him that he wasn’t strong enough to play the piano, his reply was, “Just get me to the piano – it will play me”.
It's a measure of the man that he did exactly that, playing in the church on the Saturday and returning to the hospice, where he passed away on the Wednesday.
R.I.P. Paddy. Thank you for sharing your friendship and your music.
Jack Smart
by John Morgan
I was deeply saddened to learn
See Hear! with Bill Brown
CD Reviews
Scottish Accordion Gems 2 – Ronnie Ross – NESS128CD
A Drop for Neptune – TRIP – TMRCCD001
Book Review
The Funky Beginner’s Fiddle Book – Katherine J. Liley – Lovaig Music
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 21.00 with Gary Innes
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Old Machar RBL) –
Alnwick (The Jubilee Hall, Newton-on-the Moor) 9th Feb 2022 – Julie Best & Jean Corrighan
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) -
Arbroath (Arbroath Artisan Golf Club) - 6th Feb 2022 – Jim Cleland
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) –
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) –
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 23rd Feb 2022 - tbc
Beith & District (Beith Bowling Club) –
Biggar (Biggar Bowling Club) – 13th Feb 2022 – Fin Hope & the No-Hopers
Blairgowrie (Rattray Bowling Club) - 6th Feb 2022 - tbc
Button Key (Greig Institute, Windygates) –
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 1st Feb 2022 - tbc
Canderside (Stonehouse Bowling Club) - 10th Feb 2022 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Threave Rovers Football Club) – 8th Feb 2022 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Clydesdale (St Mary’s Club Rooms, Lanark) -
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 17th Feb 2022 – No meeting (renovation)
Crieff & District (British Legion)
Dalriada (Argyll Inn, Lochgilphead) -
Dingwall (National Hotel) –
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 16th Feb 2022 – Kyle Innes SDB
Dunfermline (Masonic Hall, Rosyth) – 8th Feb 2022 – Club Night
Dumfries (Crichton Royal Golf Club) - Feb 2022 - tbc
Forfar (Forfar RBL) - 27th Feb 2022 – Alan Small Duo
Forres (Victoria Hotel) –
Fort William (Railway Club, Inverlochy) -
Galashiels (Gala YM RFC) -
Glendale (The Glendale Hall, Wooler) - 24th Feb 2022 – Neil Hardie SDB
Glenfarg (Glenfarg Village Hall) -
Glenrothes (Queen Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 22nd Feb 2022 – Michael Philip SDB
Gretna (The Richard Greenhow Centre) - 6th Feb 2022 – Alan Crookston SDB
Hidden Toun (Haddington Bowling Club) - 13th Feb 2022 – Liam Stewart Trio
Highland (Waterside Hotel) –
Inveraray (Inveraray Inn) -
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) -
Kelso (Kelso Rugby Club) – 23rd Feb 2022 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Langholm (Langholm Social Club) –
Lewis & Harris (Caladh Inn, Stornoway) -
Lockerbie (Mid Annandale Comrades Club)
Macmerry (Miners Social Club) - 20th Feb 2022 – Alex Ross SDB
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 15th Feb 2022 – Jimmy Blair Orchestra
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 2nd Feb 2022 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Newburgh (Adbie Hall) -
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 28th Feb 2022 - tbc
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Oban (The Royal Hotel) –
Orkney (The Reel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Social Club) –
Perth & District (Salutation Hotel) – 15th Feb 2022 - tbc
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) –
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel) -
Seghill (Old Comrades Club) - 1st Feb 2022 – John Morgan 8th 15th 22nd Feb – Club Night
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 10th Feb 2022 – Club Night 24th Feb – Roy Hendrie
Sutherland (Rogart Village Hall) -
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) –
TMSA (Aberdeen) – Sportmans Club - 15th Feb 2022 - Session
Turriff (Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown) – 3rd Feb 2022 – George Rennie duo
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
Uist & Benbecula (C of S Hall, Griminish) -
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 15th Feb 2022 – Robert Nairn Trio
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Arbroath
2. Biggar
3. Castle Douglas
4. Highland
5. Kelso
6. Macmerry
7. Seghill
8. Shetland
9. TSMA Aberdeen
10. Turriff & District
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2022
(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. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
9. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
10. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
11. Button Key A&F Club (
12. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
13. Canderside A&F Club (Stonehouse) (Feb 2019 – present)
14. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
15. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
16. Clydesdale A&F Club (Sept 2016 – present)
17. Coalburn A&F Club (
18. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
19. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
20. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
21. Dumfries A&F Club (1965 renamed Islesteps Jan 1981 – 2021 then back to Dumfries)
22. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
23. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
24. Forfar A&F Club (
25. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
26. Fort William A&F Club ( )
27. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
28. Glendale A&F Club (Jan 1973 – present)
29. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
30. 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)
31. Hidden Toun A&F (Haddington) (Jan 2022 – present)
32. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
33. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
34. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
35. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
36. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
37. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 – present)
38. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
39. Macmerry A&F Club (Feb 2016 – present)
40. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
41. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
42. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
43. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
44. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
45. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
46. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
47. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
48. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
49. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
50. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
51 Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
52 Turriff A&F Club (1st April 1982 - present)
53 Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
54 Uist & Benbecula A&F Club (Dec 2007 but formed 1994 -
55 Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
56. Araharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
57. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Last meeting May 2010
58. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
59. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
60. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
61. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
62. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
63. Britannia B&F Club (joined 07-08 but much older
64. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
65. Buchan A&F Club
66. Callander A&F Club (
67. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980 – 1997?)
68. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
69. Club Accord
70. Coldingham A&F Club (Nov 2008 – cFeb 2014)
71 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
72. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
73. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
74. Cults A & F Club (
75. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
76. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
77. Derwentside A&F Club
78. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
79. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
80. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
81. Dundee & District A&F Club (January 1971 – 1995?)
82. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
83. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – April 2020 – Covid19)
84. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
85. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
86. Ellon A&F Club (1984 – April 2020 Covid19)
87. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
88. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – ?)
89. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
90. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
91. Glasgow A&F Club (Aug 2017 – March 2018)
92. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93? – left the Assoc c2013)
93. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
94. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
95. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 – 6th December 2015)
96. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
97. Kintore A&F Club (
98. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
99. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier -
100. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
101. Lauder A&F Club (May 2010 -
102. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
103. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – March 2020 - Covid)
104. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
105. Maine Valley A&F Club (
106. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
107. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
108. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
109. Mull A&F Club
110. Newcastleton Accordion Club
111. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded much earlier – closed April 2011 when venue closed)
112. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
113. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999 - closed March 2016)
114. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
115. Northern A&F Club (Sept 2011 -
116. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
117. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
118. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
119. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
120. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
121. Selkirk A&F Club (
122. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
123. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
124. Stonehouse A&F Club (Opened 2003 - first report June 05 – Closed April 2018)
125. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
126 Sutherland A&F Club (Nov 1982 -
127 Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
128. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
129. Tranent A&F Club
130. Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra
131. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
132. Wellbank A&F Club
133. West Barnes (1981? - April 2016?)
134. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
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