Box and Fiddle
Year 07 No 05
January 1984
Price 25p
12 pages
8 month subscription £3
Editor – Ian Smith, 50 Mount Vernon Road, Stranraer Tele 4098
B&F Treasurer – Mrs Mary Plunkett, 2 Dounan Road, Dunragit, Wigtownshire
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
Please welcome two new Clubs to the family. From Ayr we have them meeting on the first Sunday of the month in the Aftongrange Hotel and the Secretary is Mr John Leitch, 47 Belmont Road, Ayr tele 0292 61071
Then we welcome the Callander Club who meet in the Glengarry Hotel on the second Thursday of the month. The Secretary is Mrs Vera Black, Entrance Lodge, Moray Estates Doune, Stirlingshire Tele 0786 841011.
An idea worth considering from the Lesmahagow Club report. They make the plea that guest artistes who are not otherwise engaged should present themselves as an ordinary visitor to any club and give the usual club spot.
The wintry conditions have caused quite a considerable delay in getting copy. It will be a bonus if early clubs do get their papers on time.
Never mind, I saw a bunch of snowdrops edging their way through the snowy ground.
Kirsty’s Ceilidh a Huge success
by Kirsty
We had the best ceilidh ever. 196 tickets sold at the door and over 300 with players and entertainers. Children got in free and we had a fantastic day.
We had folks traveling from Hawick, Hexham, Oban, Mull, Arbroath and even from Wales. There were amateur and professional players arriving all day and well into the evening. Every one of them entertained the instant they were called and were received equally with great acclaim.
Praise
To mention them all would fill the ‘B&F’, but we praise them all. We sincerely and fervently hope they will turn up for us again.
We must thank Alex Fitzsimmons for starting proceedings, all dressed to kill and in fine Fintry Club form and to Eddie Rose for getting it all together.
We must also apologise to John Loch and all those other players who didn’t get a chance to perform. It’s all down to the lack of minutes in each hour.
Our next ceilidh is on 1st April, 1984. Although it is April Fools Day there will definitely be none at that ceilidh.
The total money raised towards another Guide Dog was £746. A magnificent result. Our heartfelt thanks to all those who helped in any way at all.
A special thanks to Robbie Shepherd of ‘TTF’ and his better looking half, Jill Kinnaird, Club Diarist on the same programme. We’ll maybe see you again.
Donations
To Crieff for their donation of £16.17, to Balloch £16.95 to the MAFIA £1.54, to Dunblane £2.30 and all towards the target of £1,000 for another guide dog.
To Bill Wilkie and John Hay for their help in selling tickets and to the ladies of the raffle and tickets.
Finally a very big thank you to Bobby Crowe and his SDB. Bobby, it was a great sound.
We are always open to receive donations and these will be gratefully received.
To friends and players, see you all at our next ‘do’ and with your help it can be even better.
Thanks a thousand.
Lockerbie’s 10th Anniversary
The 10th anniversary meeting of Lockerbie A&F Club was held in the Blue Bell Hotel on Tuesday, 29th November. A large audience was present to hear varied selections from the 30 plus local artistes, including Ronnie Moffat from Thornhill Club making his first appearance at Lockerbiw, and from the guest artistes for the evening, the Iain Peterson Trio from Grangemouth.
Change
The guests played many well know tunes including several composed by Iain himself. By way of a change from the normal instrumentalists, songs were sung by Mrs Cathie Johnstone and Mr Robin Brook-Smith, and were much appreciated.
During the programme a ‘Name the Tune’ quiz was held, the winner being Mrs Margaret Porteous from Moffat.
During the evening, presentations were made to Jim Harkness, the Club compere, and to Miss Christine Hunter, the Club Secretary, in recognition of all the good work they had done during the last decade.
Fiddles – the Beginnings
The music of the fiddle has been played in Scotland for more than half a millennium. The origin of the name is obscure, but possibly came from the early Romanic vidula, though and old English fithele into the modern language as fiddle and into Gaelic as fidhel (pronounced fi’ull).
The Scottish fiddle today is the same instrument today as the modern violin. Centuries ago it was much less sophisticated, having an oval or guitar-shaped body with a flat back and front, joined by ribs, and played with a bow. Gradually lutes, viols and finally violins became the popular upper-class instruments of the day ; the fiddle was rejected as old-fashioned and out-of-date. In the end the fiddle itself disappeared, but the name stayed on through its associations with Scottish dance music.
Primitive as they were, the old fiddles, with their limited range and thin, scratchy sound, were once good enough for royalty ; ‘April 19, 1497 – Item, to the tua fithelasir that sang Greysteil to ye King…..iv.s.’ King James IV’s payroll also included three other fiddlers, the first whose names have survived, Adam Boyd, Bennet, and Jame Widderspune.
A ‘fidlar’ called Cabroch was employed by James V, but he may have soon been out of a job unless he was versatile, for James began ordering viols, the new favourite, from an English maker, Richard Hume. The viols had a more pleasant sound than the fiddles, and would have been easier to play in tune since they had lengths of gut tied round the fingerboard which, like guitar frets, could help stop the string accurately.
By 1538 fiddlers had been completely displaced at court by Continental ‘violers.’ Perhaps James was yielding to the French style to which his new wife was accustomed, but other more serious forces were at work too, like this pointed attack, a poem by James’s scribe, the cleric John Bellenden :
Show now what kinds of sounds musical
Is most seemly to valiant cavaliers
As thund’ring blast of trumpet bellical
The spirits of men to hardy courage stirs
So singing, fiddling, and piping not ever is
For men of honour or of high estate
Because it spouts sweet venom in their ears
And makes their minds all effeminate
Certainly, fiddlers were not universally liked. By the time of the Reformation, any ‘Vagabonds, fiddlers (and) pipers’ not in the service of the aristocracy or a burgh who refused to leave Edinburgh were burnt on the cheek then banished. In fairness, laws of this sorts were not entirely Philistine. Scotland had been plagued for years by a floating, homeless population which invaded the town trying to make some kind of frugal living. It would have been simple enough to get or make a crude instrument which might gain a beggar a penny or two more than his competitor. But holding a fiddle didn’t make a man a musician, and many must have used instruments to camouflage are more criminal pursuits.
Unfortunately, the mention of fiddlers in various anti-vagrancy Acts may have contributed to some people having negative attitudes to them :
The poor and wandering gleeman was glad to purchase his bread by singing his ballads at the alehouse, wearing a fantastic habit, and latterly sinking into a mere crowder upon an un-tuned fiddle, accompanying his rude strains with a ruder ditty, the helpless associate of drunker revelers, and marvelously afraid of the constable and parish beadle.
Perhaps there were some as badly off as this caricature, but with the destruction of so many Scottish records by Cromwell (who had taken them to the Tower where they were accidentally burnt), those which remain are Treasurers’ Accounts, records of trials and Acts of Burghs or of Parliament, the bias being towards the criminal rather than the praiseworthy. The majority of people involved in music, whether in the service of families or burghs or self-employed, would have led ordinary lives, and remained relatively unknown.
The Reformation
Different and wider-reaching restrictions overwhelmed Scotland with the arrival of the Reformation, which sought to eliminate the Catholicism which had been the country’s religion. Music in the church – the sung mass, the playing of the organ – vanished ; the Calvinists in power went on to ban the traditional May Day games, New Year celebrations and Christmas itself, all unsanctioned by the Bible.
Gradually, men such as John Knox tried to extend their control over all amusements no matter how innocent. Dancing, however, Knox was unable to forbid even while reprimanding Mary, Queen of Scots, for enjoying it with her luters and violers. But Knox certainly made it sound a morally dangerous pastime.
Of dancing, Madam, I said that, albeit in the Scriptures I found no praise of it, and in profane writers that it is termed the gesture rather than those that are mad and in frenzy than of sober men ; yet I do not utterly condemn it, providing that two vices be avoided. (Firstly) that the principal vocation of those that use that exercise must not be neglected for the pleasure of dancing ; secondly, that they dance not, as did the Philistines their fathers, for the pleasure that they take in the displeasure of God’s people. If they do either, they shall receive the reward of dancers, and that will be to drink in Hell, unless they speedily repent, and so shall God turn their mirth into sudden sorrow.
The only musical part of Mary’s brief reign which Knox found pleasure in was her reception when she first arrived in Edinburgh ; “Fire of joy were set forth all night, and a company of the most honest, with instruments of music, and with musicians, gave their salutations at her chalmer window. The melody (as she alleged) liked her weel ; and she willed the same to be continued some nights after.”
What kind of music could have drawn praise from Knox? The psalms, naturally, although Brantome, Mary’s French historian, was much less elevated by the experience ; “An open air concert of nasty violins (mechans violins) and little rebecs, which are as bad as they can be in that country, and accompanied then with singing psalms, but so wretchedly out of tune and concord that nothing could be worse.” (Brantome’s use of the word violins suggests that violins had already appeared in Scotland, but he was writing after the event, when such instruments would have become more common).
Not all Scots immediately gave up their old lives to settle down and meekly sing psalms. Indeed, in the 1580s the Kirk felt its moral housekeeping had accomplished little “Scotland,” it complained, had “ugly heaps of all kinds of sin lying in every nook and part……..with abusing of the blessed name of God, with swearing, perjury, and lies, with profaning of the Sabbath-day with mercats, gluttony, drunken-ness, fighting, playing, dancing etc., with rebelling against magistrates and the laws of the country.”
The De’il and the Reel
But there were far greater evils facing the Kirk. Scotland, under the kingship of Mary’s son, James VI, and with the whole-hearted support of his book Demonology, suddenly discovered witches in its midst. Many psychological reasons for this kind of behaviour are given today – the judges might be called sadists, the witches hysterical or masochistic personalities, or simply those with the misfortune of having unpleasant habits which did not endear them to their neighbours. Whatever the explanation, the phenomenon seems inextricably tied up with the very repressions and resultant guilt and frustration which the Kirk helped create.
It is no surprise to find that music and dance played a part in these dangerous goings-on, since one of the underlying purposes of the witches’ meetings must have been to do, or claim to do, those things which the Kirk was most strongly against. The witch hunters’ and reformers’ fires would have been fuelled by reports like this, an extract from Newes from Scotland (1591) :
Agnes Thompson…..confessed that upon the night of All-Hallow Even last, she was accompanied (by) a great many witches to the number of two hundredth and that they all went together….to the kirke of North Barrick in Lowthian, and that after they had landed (they) took hands on the land, and daunced this reill or short dance (accompanied by ‘a small trump, called a Jewe’s trump,) until they entered into the kerke of North Barrick.
Ironically, since Agnes was strangled, then burnt, for her role, this is the first record of a reel as a type of dance being performed in Scotland. The names of the tunes they used are known, if not the music ‘Silly bit chicken’ and ‘Cummer, go ye before; Cummer, go ye before; Gif ye will not go before, Cummer, let me,’ which they all sang.
Interested? This is just an extract taken from Mary Anne Alberger’s book – ‘Scottish Fiddler’s and Their Music.’ Her book is crammed full of the history of the fiddle. The detail must have meant many, many hours checking and verifying. Yet it is written in a very readable manner. Still interested? Then contact Victor Gollancz Ltd, 14 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E 8QJ.
Mr Dave Dickman
Obituary
The sudden passing of our Vice-Chairman, Dave Dickman, on Sunday, 18th December, deeply shocked our chairman and Committee Members at Lesmahagow A&F Club.
Dave, quiet, unassuming but always at my side, a support no Club chairman can be without, a founder member of our Club, a grand musician, whose great interest in our musical heritage in Scotland led him to play his lovely fiddle music with a group known as Sounds Scottish, led by Rev. R. Vincent of Stonehouse.
This group was formed for fun and charity entertainment and he will leave a big gap. But how we in Lesmahagow A&F Club can replace such a man I don’t yet know.
Dave, after a long period in the Fire Service, then started a Model and Gift shop in Lanark, with, ever at his side, his beloved wife Betty, two people in this world made for each other.
In the short space of time that our Club has existed, that’s when I first met hi, my wife an I were part of this couples great humour and wit. Your special request, from Annie on our Committee, was granted. You were a grand partner, yes, we knew you were ill, but not to the obvious extent.
Our Club, the Scottish scene and the NAAFC have truly lost a great man. Our sympathy to Betty and Dave’s two sons, John and David. These lads and their wives will, we know, be the strength and support Betty will need and get in her time of need.
Betty, at this time, we bless you. All the Club are behind you.
Big Jack
Reel Blend
by Tom Handy
One or two good and interesting programmes to look forward to in the coming months.
My spell with this column has been somewhat awkward, as publication date and information release dates do not always coincide.
However, the radio looks a real must for the enthusiasts and must cater for all tastes.
I have enclosed the full list and wish you all the compliments of the season and good listening.
Saturday, 21st January – band, Sandy Nixon SDB. Feature, interview with accordionist and composer Willie Lawrie.
Saturday, 28th January – band, Jim Johnstone SDB. Feature, interview with John MacKay, piper and composer from Halladale.
Kathryn Wilson
By Murdo McLeod
This month our regular feature puts the spotlight on a lady member and who better than the attractive pianist Kathryn Wilson.
Brought up in the classical mould, Kathryn was fashioned, so to speak, by that teacher of note the late and lamented John Patterson of Uphall. Mr Patterson, BSc(Music) (Edinburgh), L.R.A.M. etc had more influence on local musicians than is generally acknowledged and Kathryn is delighted to express her debt of gratitude for his excellent teaching which helped her to achieve the distinction of Grade V in the Associated Board of Music when she was only 13 years of age.
It was only when her brother David, himself brought up on the classical tradition of accordion music, started to play Scottish at the local Club, Livingston, that young Kathryn decided that it wasn’t such a bad sound after all! Having been advised by brother David that “this is how they all do it,” Kathryn decided to have a go at the rhythm piano and having backed David once or twice caught the bug as they say. A lot of our readers will now know that she is the very swinging pianist who helps to give The Oakbank Sound that distinctive beat. We feel sure that John Patterson would have been pleased.
Kathryn has connections with the East Calder and Oakbank area. Local residents will recognize the face as the familiar bank clerk at the local branch of the Clydesdale in Mid-Calder. It is not only beats that Kathryn is good at counting! Mum, Mary Dick, was born in Oakbank and dad, David, an East Calder chiel, although his late mother was also from Oakbank. Grandpa Wilson, still living in East Calder, is one of Kathryn’s greatest fans. Oakbank, it may be mentioned, produced a not inconsiderable number of musicians and even yet with only one household left it can boast a no mean accordionist – John Shearer.
Undoubtedly, the most interesting moment in Kathryn’s musical career must have been when The Oakbank Sound won the top honours at last year’s Musselburgh Festival. All the hard work on those chords paid off and made it all worthwhile. The early training received from John Patterson came into its own on that memorable occasion.
Being pianist with one of the busiest bands on the Scottish music circuit must mean an interesting, if somewhat hectic life traveling as, for example, in one week between East Calder, Taynault, Auldearn and then the Albany Hotel in Glasgow. How do they manage it? By dint of two excellent roadies, Lawrence Edwardson and David Wilson Snr. Drumochter here we come! On these extended tours a dab hand at the old electric iron helps to look after five fastidious male musicians and their red shirts. The most musical laundry maid in the business! The Laundry MaID? – sounds like a good reel tune, David?
More recently Kathryn was part of another exciting experience for any musician and this was, of course, the audition, successful we are glad to report – with BBC of The Oakbank Sound. She tells us the experience of the Grand Piano and the grand surroundings of the BBC Studios was most exhilarating, but not any more so than the kick she gets from performing at the local church where, as Captain of the Boy’s Brigade, she often helps the entertainment along. And she will also, we feel sure, continue to give us pleasure at the Livingston A&F Club and long may she do so.
This then is a small tribute to another of our members who have helped to keep the flag flying for our Club over the past ten years.
Letters to the Editor
Sir – Listening to the exceptional performance of Duncan Black on the special feature on Saturday, 23rd December, with Robbie Shepherd, we heard the two principal prize-winners in the Scottish section at the Perth Festival.
It struck me that we should have more of this concert ‘delivery’ in order that one gets a chance to appreciate the rare talent of some of our exceptional Scottish musicians.
It makes a nice change from the bands, good as they are.
From an ordinary punters point of hearing this was really memorable. It would be interesting to get the experts’ impression.
Derek Hamilton’s article about Jim Donaldson made interesting reading. One has to admire this gentleman for his work in producing what is virtually a unique instrument.
Now I remember the late Will Starr shown on a record sleeve playing a four-row British chromatic. Explanation please?
Murdo MacLeod
(Easy Murdo – Thomson’s of Glasgow put on a dummy row of buttons)
Sir – Some time ago we heard an interview on ‘TTF’ in which John Ellis was talking to Robbie Shepherd.
One of the subjects John spoke about was that he always played good tunes, not the rubbish that was played at Perth Festival Competitions. It would seem that these ‘slabbery’ tunes will not be around for very long according to him.
However, after the broadcast of 31st December, I would think the Mr Ellis should eat his words, as I am sure that many people would agree that his choice of so many unheard-of tunes did nothing for his fans.
While there is nothing wrong with less-well-known tunes being broadcast, it is always a good thing to include some of the more popular dances and tunes, or are they too common for his band to play?
With such a vast number of non-musical tunes in the broadcast, it was one of the poorest broadcasts we have heard for a long time.
Sad to say, the standard of playing would not have set the heather on fire. This is only natural, as the band line-up has again changed.
I don’t know what John is trying to prove by playing so many of these ‘slabbery,’ sub-standard type of tunes when there are plenty good musical compositions in use today.
When people go to a dance they like to dance to tunes that they know and can sing as well.
It is also rather pointless changing pipe tunes from the key of A to Bb, it simply does nothing for them.
I hope we can have some good tunes on the next broadcast John.
Ian McCallum
Carnbo
Kinross
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Dee Motel) – 31 Jan 84
Alnwick (Nag’s Head) – members only
Armadale (Masonic Arms Hotel) – 25 Jan 84 Allan Smith & the Doublet SDB
Ayr (Aftongrange Hotel) – 5 Feb 84 John Huband & the Tayside Sound
Balloch (Griffin Hotel, Alexandria) – 19 Feb 84 Bobby Coghill Trio
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 30 Jan 84 Eddie Edmonds SDB
Banff (Royal Oak Hotel) – 26 Jan 84 Macduff S&R Society
Beith (Anderson Hotel) –
Belford (Community Club) – 23 Feb 84 John Leslie
Biggar (Clydesdale Hotel) –
Bridge of Allan (Walmer Hotel) -
Buchan (Buchaness Hotel) –
Callendar (Glengarry Hotel) – 9 Feb 84 Bobby Harvey
Campbeltown (Royal Hotel) –
Castle Douglas (Ernespie Hotel) –
Cleland (Dalrymple House) –
Coupar Angus (Royal Hotel) –
Crieff & District (Arduthie Hotel) –
Dalriada (Royal Hotel, Lochgilphead) –
Derwentside (Working Men’s Club, Consett) –
Dingwall (venue? ) –
Dunblane (Hydro) – 14 Feb 84 Fraser McGlynn Trio
Dundee (Queen’s Hotel, Nethergate) – 2 Feb 84 Colin Finlayson SDB
Dunfermline (Northern Roadhouse) – 7 Feb 84 Fife S&R Society
East Kilbride (King’s Park Hotel, Rutherglen) – 25 Jan 84 Iain Peterson Trio
Edinburgh (The Berry Suite, Abbey Hill) – 1 Feb 84 Mike Clark
Falkirk (Park Hotel) –
Fintry (Clachan Hotel) – 23 Jan 84 Duncan McCallum SDB
Forres (Brig Motel) –
Fort William (Caol Community Club) –
Galashiels (Maxwell Hotel) –
Galston (Theo’s Restaurant, Galston) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel – Wooler) – members only
Gorebridge (Rangers FC Social Club) –
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 20 Feb 84 Iain MacPhail 30 Mar 84 Annual Dance Graeme Mitchell SDB
Islesteps (Cargenholm Hotel) –
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 25 Jan 84 Gordon Pattullo
Kintore (Crown Hotel) –
Langholm (Crown Hotel) –
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 9 Feb 84 Bobby Crowe & Angus Fitchet
Livingston (Royal British Legion Social Club) –
Lockerbie (Bluebell Hotel) – 31 Jan 84
M.A.F.I.A. (Black Bull, Milngavie) –
Morecambe (Yorkshire Hotel, Lancaster) -
New Cumnock (Crown Hotel) –
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 30 Jan 84 Jimmy Yeaman & George Stirrat
Newton St Boswells (Railway Hotel) –
North Cumbria (Huntsman Inn – Penton) (formerly called Gretna Club) – 15 Feb 84 Gordon Pattullo
North East (Royal Hotel, Keith) –
Oban (Park Hotel) –
Orkney ( venue?) –
Ormiston (Miners’ Welfare Social Club) –
Peebles (Ex-Servicemen’s Club) – 26 Jan 84 Lothian SDB
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 21 Feb 84 Bobby Coghill Trio
Premier NI (Wilson’s of Crumlin) -
Renfrew (Glynhill Hotel) -
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel)
Shetland (venue?) -
Stranraer (Buck’s Head Hotel) – 6 Feb 84 Alan Roy
Thornhill (?)
Thurso (McKay’s Hotel) –
Turriff (Royal Oak Hotel) -
Tynedale (The Royal Hotel, Hexham) –
Wick (McKay’s Hotel) –
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Armadale
3. Ayr
4. Balloch
5. Banchory
6. Callander & District
7. Castle Douglas
8. Cleland
9. Crieff & District
10. Dingwall
11. Dunblane & District
12. Dunfermline
13. Fintry
14. Forres
15. Fort William
16. Highland
17. Kelso
18. Kintore
19. Lesmahagow
20. Livingston
21. M.A.F.I.A.
22. Peebles
23. Perth & District
24. Premier
25. Rothbury
26. Shetland
27. Thornhill & District
28. Thurso
29. Wick
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT SEPT 1983 (Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Sept 1976)
3. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1980) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months)
4. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition)
5. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition)
9. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
10. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974)
11. Buchan A&F Club
12. Callander A&F Club (
13. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
14. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980)
15. Cleland (cNov 1981) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
16. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
17. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
18. Derwentside A&F Club
19. Dingwall & District (May 1979 – per first report)
20. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971)
21. Dundee & District A&F Club
22. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
23. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
24. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
25. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
26. Fintry A&F Club
27. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
28. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
29. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
30. Galston A&F Club (1969 – per first edition)
31. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
32. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
33. Highland A&F Club (Inverness)
34. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981)
35. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976)
36. Kinlochsheil A&F Club (
37. Kintore A&F Club
38. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
39. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967)
40. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
41. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – per first edition)
42. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973)
43. M.A.F.I.A. (early)
44. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
45. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
46. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
47. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1979)
48. North Cumbria A&F Club (originally Gretna started July 1965 – had to move to a venue in the North of England and changed name – eventually changed back when they returned to the Halcrow Stadium. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
49. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971)
50. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975)
51. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978)
52. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club
53. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981)
54. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970)
55. Premier A&F Club NI (cNov 1980)
56. Rothbury Accordion Club (aka Coquetdale Club - Feb 1974)
57. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978)
58. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
59. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition)
60. Thurso A&F Club (cSept 1981)
61. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982)
62. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980)
63. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
64. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
65. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
66. Club Accord
67. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
68. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
69. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
70. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
71. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
72. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
73. Gretna A&F Club (June 1966)
74. Newcastleton Accordion Club
75. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
76. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
77. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
78. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
79. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
80. Wellbank A&F Club
Advertising rates
Full Page - £70
Half Page - £35
Quarter Page - £17.50
B&F Treasurer – Mrs Mary Plunkett, 2 Dounan Road, Dunragit, Wigtownshire
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
Please welcome two new Clubs to the family. From Ayr we have them meeting on the first Sunday of the month in the Aftongrange Hotel and the Secretary is Mr John Leitch, 47 Belmont Road, Ayr tele 0292 61071
Then we welcome the Callander Club who meet in the Glengarry Hotel on the second Thursday of the month. The Secretary is Mrs Vera Black, Entrance Lodge, Moray Estates Doune, Stirlingshire Tele 0786 841011.
An idea worth considering from the Lesmahagow Club report. They make the plea that guest artistes who are not otherwise engaged should present themselves as an ordinary visitor to any club and give the usual club spot.
The wintry conditions have caused quite a considerable delay in getting copy. It will be a bonus if early clubs do get their papers on time.
Never mind, I saw a bunch of snowdrops edging their way through the snowy ground.
Kirsty’s Ceilidh a Huge success
by Kirsty
We had the best ceilidh ever. 196 tickets sold at the door and over 300 with players and entertainers. Children got in free and we had a fantastic day.
We had folks traveling from Hawick, Hexham, Oban, Mull, Arbroath and even from Wales. There were amateur and professional players arriving all day and well into the evening. Every one of them entertained the instant they were called and were received equally with great acclaim.
Praise
To mention them all would fill the ‘B&F’, but we praise them all. We sincerely and fervently hope they will turn up for us again.
We must thank Alex Fitzsimmons for starting proceedings, all dressed to kill and in fine Fintry Club form and to Eddie Rose for getting it all together.
We must also apologise to John Loch and all those other players who didn’t get a chance to perform. It’s all down to the lack of minutes in each hour.
Our next ceilidh is on 1st April, 1984. Although it is April Fools Day there will definitely be none at that ceilidh.
The total money raised towards another Guide Dog was £746. A magnificent result. Our heartfelt thanks to all those who helped in any way at all.
A special thanks to Robbie Shepherd of ‘TTF’ and his better looking half, Jill Kinnaird, Club Diarist on the same programme. We’ll maybe see you again.
Donations
To Crieff for their donation of £16.17, to Balloch £16.95 to the MAFIA £1.54, to Dunblane £2.30 and all towards the target of £1,000 for another guide dog.
To Bill Wilkie and John Hay for their help in selling tickets and to the ladies of the raffle and tickets.
Finally a very big thank you to Bobby Crowe and his SDB. Bobby, it was a great sound.
We are always open to receive donations and these will be gratefully received.
To friends and players, see you all at our next ‘do’ and with your help it can be even better.
Thanks a thousand.
Lockerbie’s 10th Anniversary
The 10th anniversary meeting of Lockerbie A&F Club was held in the Blue Bell Hotel on Tuesday, 29th November. A large audience was present to hear varied selections from the 30 plus local artistes, including Ronnie Moffat from Thornhill Club making his first appearance at Lockerbiw, and from the guest artistes for the evening, the Iain Peterson Trio from Grangemouth.
Change
The guests played many well know tunes including several composed by Iain himself. By way of a change from the normal instrumentalists, songs were sung by Mrs Cathie Johnstone and Mr Robin Brook-Smith, and were much appreciated.
During the programme a ‘Name the Tune’ quiz was held, the winner being Mrs Margaret Porteous from Moffat.
During the evening, presentations were made to Jim Harkness, the Club compere, and to Miss Christine Hunter, the Club Secretary, in recognition of all the good work they had done during the last decade.
Fiddles – the Beginnings
The music of the fiddle has been played in Scotland for more than half a millennium. The origin of the name is obscure, but possibly came from the early Romanic vidula, though and old English fithele into the modern language as fiddle and into Gaelic as fidhel (pronounced fi’ull).
The Scottish fiddle today is the same instrument today as the modern violin. Centuries ago it was much less sophisticated, having an oval or guitar-shaped body with a flat back and front, joined by ribs, and played with a bow. Gradually lutes, viols and finally violins became the popular upper-class instruments of the day ; the fiddle was rejected as old-fashioned and out-of-date. In the end the fiddle itself disappeared, but the name stayed on through its associations with Scottish dance music.
Primitive as they were, the old fiddles, with their limited range and thin, scratchy sound, were once good enough for royalty ; ‘April 19, 1497 – Item, to the tua fithelasir that sang Greysteil to ye King…..iv.s.’ King James IV’s payroll also included three other fiddlers, the first whose names have survived, Adam Boyd, Bennet, and Jame Widderspune.
A ‘fidlar’ called Cabroch was employed by James V, but he may have soon been out of a job unless he was versatile, for James began ordering viols, the new favourite, from an English maker, Richard Hume. The viols had a more pleasant sound than the fiddles, and would have been easier to play in tune since they had lengths of gut tied round the fingerboard which, like guitar frets, could help stop the string accurately.
By 1538 fiddlers had been completely displaced at court by Continental ‘violers.’ Perhaps James was yielding to the French style to which his new wife was accustomed, but other more serious forces were at work too, like this pointed attack, a poem by James’s scribe, the cleric John Bellenden :
Show now what kinds of sounds musical
Is most seemly to valiant cavaliers
As thund’ring blast of trumpet bellical
The spirits of men to hardy courage stirs
So singing, fiddling, and piping not ever is
For men of honour or of high estate
Because it spouts sweet venom in their ears
And makes their minds all effeminate
Certainly, fiddlers were not universally liked. By the time of the Reformation, any ‘Vagabonds, fiddlers (and) pipers’ not in the service of the aristocracy or a burgh who refused to leave Edinburgh were burnt on the cheek then banished. In fairness, laws of this sorts were not entirely Philistine. Scotland had been plagued for years by a floating, homeless population which invaded the town trying to make some kind of frugal living. It would have been simple enough to get or make a crude instrument which might gain a beggar a penny or two more than his competitor. But holding a fiddle didn’t make a man a musician, and many must have used instruments to camouflage are more criminal pursuits.
Unfortunately, the mention of fiddlers in various anti-vagrancy Acts may have contributed to some people having negative attitudes to them :
The poor and wandering gleeman was glad to purchase his bread by singing his ballads at the alehouse, wearing a fantastic habit, and latterly sinking into a mere crowder upon an un-tuned fiddle, accompanying his rude strains with a ruder ditty, the helpless associate of drunker revelers, and marvelously afraid of the constable and parish beadle.
Perhaps there were some as badly off as this caricature, but with the destruction of so many Scottish records by Cromwell (who had taken them to the Tower where they were accidentally burnt), those which remain are Treasurers’ Accounts, records of trials and Acts of Burghs or of Parliament, the bias being towards the criminal rather than the praiseworthy. The majority of people involved in music, whether in the service of families or burghs or self-employed, would have led ordinary lives, and remained relatively unknown.
The Reformation
Different and wider-reaching restrictions overwhelmed Scotland with the arrival of the Reformation, which sought to eliminate the Catholicism which had been the country’s religion. Music in the church – the sung mass, the playing of the organ – vanished ; the Calvinists in power went on to ban the traditional May Day games, New Year celebrations and Christmas itself, all unsanctioned by the Bible.
Gradually, men such as John Knox tried to extend their control over all amusements no matter how innocent. Dancing, however, Knox was unable to forbid even while reprimanding Mary, Queen of Scots, for enjoying it with her luters and violers. But Knox certainly made it sound a morally dangerous pastime.
Of dancing, Madam, I said that, albeit in the Scriptures I found no praise of it, and in profane writers that it is termed the gesture rather than those that are mad and in frenzy than of sober men ; yet I do not utterly condemn it, providing that two vices be avoided. (Firstly) that the principal vocation of those that use that exercise must not be neglected for the pleasure of dancing ; secondly, that they dance not, as did the Philistines their fathers, for the pleasure that they take in the displeasure of God’s people. If they do either, they shall receive the reward of dancers, and that will be to drink in Hell, unless they speedily repent, and so shall God turn their mirth into sudden sorrow.
The only musical part of Mary’s brief reign which Knox found pleasure in was her reception when she first arrived in Edinburgh ; “Fire of joy were set forth all night, and a company of the most honest, with instruments of music, and with musicians, gave their salutations at her chalmer window. The melody (as she alleged) liked her weel ; and she willed the same to be continued some nights after.”
What kind of music could have drawn praise from Knox? The psalms, naturally, although Brantome, Mary’s French historian, was much less elevated by the experience ; “An open air concert of nasty violins (mechans violins) and little rebecs, which are as bad as they can be in that country, and accompanied then with singing psalms, but so wretchedly out of tune and concord that nothing could be worse.” (Brantome’s use of the word violins suggests that violins had already appeared in Scotland, but he was writing after the event, when such instruments would have become more common).
Not all Scots immediately gave up their old lives to settle down and meekly sing psalms. Indeed, in the 1580s the Kirk felt its moral housekeeping had accomplished little “Scotland,” it complained, had “ugly heaps of all kinds of sin lying in every nook and part……..with abusing of the blessed name of God, with swearing, perjury, and lies, with profaning of the Sabbath-day with mercats, gluttony, drunken-ness, fighting, playing, dancing etc., with rebelling against magistrates and the laws of the country.”
The De’il and the Reel
But there were far greater evils facing the Kirk. Scotland, under the kingship of Mary’s son, James VI, and with the whole-hearted support of his book Demonology, suddenly discovered witches in its midst. Many psychological reasons for this kind of behaviour are given today – the judges might be called sadists, the witches hysterical or masochistic personalities, or simply those with the misfortune of having unpleasant habits which did not endear them to their neighbours. Whatever the explanation, the phenomenon seems inextricably tied up with the very repressions and resultant guilt and frustration which the Kirk helped create.
It is no surprise to find that music and dance played a part in these dangerous goings-on, since one of the underlying purposes of the witches’ meetings must have been to do, or claim to do, those things which the Kirk was most strongly against. The witch hunters’ and reformers’ fires would have been fuelled by reports like this, an extract from Newes from Scotland (1591) :
Agnes Thompson…..confessed that upon the night of All-Hallow Even last, she was accompanied (by) a great many witches to the number of two hundredth and that they all went together….to the kirke of North Barrick in Lowthian, and that after they had landed (they) took hands on the land, and daunced this reill or short dance (accompanied by ‘a small trump, called a Jewe’s trump,) until they entered into the kerke of North Barrick.
Ironically, since Agnes was strangled, then burnt, for her role, this is the first record of a reel as a type of dance being performed in Scotland. The names of the tunes they used are known, if not the music ‘Silly bit chicken’ and ‘Cummer, go ye before; Cummer, go ye before; Gif ye will not go before, Cummer, let me,’ which they all sang.
Interested? This is just an extract taken from Mary Anne Alberger’s book – ‘Scottish Fiddler’s and Their Music.’ Her book is crammed full of the history of the fiddle. The detail must have meant many, many hours checking and verifying. Yet it is written in a very readable manner. Still interested? Then contact Victor Gollancz Ltd, 14 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E 8QJ.
Mr Dave Dickman
Obituary
The sudden passing of our Vice-Chairman, Dave Dickman, on Sunday, 18th December, deeply shocked our chairman and Committee Members at Lesmahagow A&F Club.
Dave, quiet, unassuming but always at my side, a support no Club chairman can be without, a founder member of our Club, a grand musician, whose great interest in our musical heritage in Scotland led him to play his lovely fiddle music with a group known as Sounds Scottish, led by Rev. R. Vincent of Stonehouse.
This group was formed for fun and charity entertainment and he will leave a big gap. But how we in Lesmahagow A&F Club can replace such a man I don’t yet know.
Dave, after a long period in the Fire Service, then started a Model and Gift shop in Lanark, with, ever at his side, his beloved wife Betty, two people in this world made for each other.
In the short space of time that our Club has existed, that’s when I first met hi, my wife an I were part of this couples great humour and wit. Your special request, from Annie on our Committee, was granted. You were a grand partner, yes, we knew you were ill, but not to the obvious extent.
Our Club, the Scottish scene and the NAAFC have truly lost a great man. Our sympathy to Betty and Dave’s two sons, John and David. These lads and their wives will, we know, be the strength and support Betty will need and get in her time of need.
Betty, at this time, we bless you. All the Club are behind you.
Big Jack
Reel Blend
by Tom Handy
One or two good and interesting programmes to look forward to in the coming months.
My spell with this column has been somewhat awkward, as publication date and information release dates do not always coincide.
However, the radio looks a real must for the enthusiasts and must cater for all tastes.
I have enclosed the full list and wish you all the compliments of the season and good listening.
Saturday, 21st January – band, Sandy Nixon SDB. Feature, interview with accordionist and composer Willie Lawrie.
Saturday, 28th January – band, Jim Johnstone SDB. Feature, interview with John MacKay, piper and composer from Halladale.
Kathryn Wilson
By Murdo McLeod
This month our regular feature puts the spotlight on a lady member and who better than the attractive pianist Kathryn Wilson.
Brought up in the classical mould, Kathryn was fashioned, so to speak, by that teacher of note the late and lamented John Patterson of Uphall. Mr Patterson, BSc(Music) (Edinburgh), L.R.A.M. etc had more influence on local musicians than is generally acknowledged and Kathryn is delighted to express her debt of gratitude for his excellent teaching which helped her to achieve the distinction of Grade V in the Associated Board of Music when she was only 13 years of age.
It was only when her brother David, himself brought up on the classical tradition of accordion music, started to play Scottish at the local Club, Livingston, that young Kathryn decided that it wasn’t such a bad sound after all! Having been advised by brother David that “this is how they all do it,” Kathryn decided to have a go at the rhythm piano and having backed David once or twice caught the bug as they say. A lot of our readers will now know that she is the very swinging pianist who helps to give The Oakbank Sound that distinctive beat. We feel sure that John Patterson would have been pleased.
Kathryn has connections with the East Calder and Oakbank area. Local residents will recognize the face as the familiar bank clerk at the local branch of the Clydesdale in Mid-Calder. It is not only beats that Kathryn is good at counting! Mum, Mary Dick, was born in Oakbank and dad, David, an East Calder chiel, although his late mother was also from Oakbank. Grandpa Wilson, still living in East Calder, is one of Kathryn’s greatest fans. Oakbank, it may be mentioned, produced a not inconsiderable number of musicians and even yet with only one household left it can boast a no mean accordionist – John Shearer.
Undoubtedly, the most interesting moment in Kathryn’s musical career must have been when The Oakbank Sound won the top honours at last year’s Musselburgh Festival. All the hard work on those chords paid off and made it all worthwhile. The early training received from John Patterson came into its own on that memorable occasion.
Being pianist with one of the busiest bands on the Scottish music circuit must mean an interesting, if somewhat hectic life traveling as, for example, in one week between East Calder, Taynault, Auldearn and then the Albany Hotel in Glasgow. How do they manage it? By dint of two excellent roadies, Lawrence Edwardson and David Wilson Snr. Drumochter here we come! On these extended tours a dab hand at the old electric iron helps to look after five fastidious male musicians and their red shirts. The most musical laundry maid in the business! The Laundry MaID? – sounds like a good reel tune, David?
More recently Kathryn was part of another exciting experience for any musician and this was, of course, the audition, successful we are glad to report – with BBC of The Oakbank Sound. She tells us the experience of the Grand Piano and the grand surroundings of the BBC Studios was most exhilarating, but not any more so than the kick she gets from performing at the local church where, as Captain of the Boy’s Brigade, she often helps the entertainment along. And she will also, we feel sure, continue to give us pleasure at the Livingston A&F Club and long may she do so.
This then is a small tribute to another of our members who have helped to keep the flag flying for our Club over the past ten years.
Letters to the Editor
Sir – Listening to the exceptional performance of Duncan Black on the special feature on Saturday, 23rd December, with Robbie Shepherd, we heard the two principal prize-winners in the Scottish section at the Perth Festival.
It struck me that we should have more of this concert ‘delivery’ in order that one gets a chance to appreciate the rare talent of some of our exceptional Scottish musicians.
It makes a nice change from the bands, good as they are.
From an ordinary punters point of hearing this was really memorable. It would be interesting to get the experts’ impression.
Derek Hamilton’s article about Jim Donaldson made interesting reading. One has to admire this gentleman for his work in producing what is virtually a unique instrument.
Now I remember the late Will Starr shown on a record sleeve playing a four-row British chromatic. Explanation please?
Murdo MacLeod
(Easy Murdo – Thomson’s of Glasgow put on a dummy row of buttons)
Sir – Some time ago we heard an interview on ‘TTF’ in which John Ellis was talking to Robbie Shepherd.
One of the subjects John spoke about was that he always played good tunes, not the rubbish that was played at Perth Festival Competitions. It would seem that these ‘slabbery’ tunes will not be around for very long according to him.
However, after the broadcast of 31st December, I would think the Mr Ellis should eat his words, as I am sure that many people would agree that his choice of so many unheard-of tunes did nothing for his fans.
While there is nothing wrong with less-well-known tunes being broadcast, it is always a good thing to include some of the more popular dances and tunes, or are they too common for his band to play?
With such a vast number of non-musical tunes in the broadcast, it was one of the poorest broadcasts we have heard for a long time.
Sad to say, the standard of playing would not have set the heather on fire. This is only natural, as the band line-up has again changed.
I don’t know what John is trying to prove by playing so many of these ‘slabbery,’ sub-standard type of tunes when there are plenty good musical compositions in use today.
When people go to a dance they like to dance to tunes that they know and can sing as well.
It is also rather pointless changing pipe tunes from the key of A to Bb, it simply does nothing for them.
I hope we can have some good tunes on the next broadcast John.
Ian McCallum
Carnbo
Kinross
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Dee Motel) – 31 Jan 84
Alnwick (Nag’s Head) – members only
Armadale (Masonic Arms Hotel) – 25 Jan 84 Allan Smith & the Doublet SDB
Ayr (Aftongrange Hotel) – 5 Feb 84 John Huband & the Tayside Sound
Balloch (Griffin Hotel, Alexandria) – 19 Feb 84 Bobby Coghill Trio
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 30 Jan 84 Eddie Edmonds SDB
Banff (Royal Oak Hotel) – 26 Jan 84 Macduff S&R Society
Beith (Anderson Hotel) –
Belford (Community Club) – 23 Feb 84 John Leslie
Biggar (Clydesdale Hotel) –
Bridge of Allan (Walmer Hotel) -
Buchan (Buchaness Hotel) –
Callendar (Glengarry Hotel) – 9 Feb 84 Bobby Harvey
Campbeltown (Royal Hotel) –
Castle Douglas (Ernespie Hotel) –
Cleland (Dalrymple House) –
Coupar Angus (Royal Hotel) –
Crieff & District (Arduthie Hotel) –
Dalriada (Royal Hotel, Lochgilphead) –
Derwentside (Working Men’s Club, Consett) –
Dingwall (venue? ) –
Dunblane (Hydro) – 14 Feb 84 Fraser McGlynn Trio
Dundee (Queen’s Hotel, Nethergate) – 2 Feb 84 Colin Finlayson SDB
Dunfermline (Northern Roadhouse) – 7 Feb 84 Fife S&R Society
East Kilbride (King’s Park Hotel, Rutherglen) – 25 Jan 84 Iain Peterson Trio
Edinburgh (The Berry Suite, Abbey Hill) – 1 Feb 84 Mike Clark
Falkirk (Park Hotel) –
Fintry (Clachan Hotel) – 23 Jan 84 Duncan McCallum SDB
Forres (Brig Motel) –
Fort William (Caol Community Club) –
Galashiels (Maxwell Hotel) –
Galston (Theo’s Restaurant, Galston) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel – Wooler) – members only
Gorebridge (Rangers FC Social Club) –
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 20 Feb 84 Iain MacPhail 30 Mar 84 Annual Dance Graeme Mitchell SDB
Islesteps (Cargenholm Hotel) –
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 25 Jan 84 Gordon Pattullo
Kintore (Crown Hotel) –
Langholm (Crown Hotel) –
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 9 Feb 84 Bobby Crowe & Angus Fitchet
Livingston (Royal British Legion Social Club) –
Lockerbie (Bluebell Hotel) – 31 Jan 84
M.A.F.I.A. (Black Bull, Milngavie) –
Morecambe (Yorkshire Hotel, Lancaster) -
New Cumnock (Crown Hotel) –
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 30 Jan 84 Jimmy Yeaman & George Stirrat
Newton St Boswells (Railway Hotel) –
North Cumbria (Huntsman Inn – Penton) (formerly called Gretna Club) – 15 Feb 84 Gordon Pattullo
North East (Royal Hotel, Keith) –
Oban (Park Hotel) –
Orkney ( venue?) –
Ormiston (Miners’ Welfare Social Club) –
Peebles (Ex-Servicemen’s Club) – 26 Jan 84 Lothian SDB
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 21 Feb 84 Bobby Coghill Trio
Premier NI (Wilson’s of Crumlin) -
Renfrew (Glynhill Hotel) -
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel)
Shetland (venue?) -
Stranraer (Buck’s Head Hotel) – 6 Feb 84 Alan Roy
Thornhill (?)
Thurso (McKay’s Hotel) –
Turriff (Royal Oak Hotel) -
Tynedale (The Royal Hotel, Hexham) –
Wick (McKay’s Hotel) –
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Armadale
3. Ayr
4. Balloch
5. Banchory
6. Callander & District
7. Castle Douglas
8. Cleland
9. Crieff & District
10. Dingwall
11. Dunblane & District
12. Dunfermline
13. Fintry
14. Forres
15. Fort William
16. Highland
17. Kelso
18. Kintore
19. Lesmahagow
20. Livingston
21. M.A.F.I.A.
22. Peebles
23. Perth & District
24. Premier
25. Rothbury
26. Shetland
27. Thornhill & District
28. Thurso
29. Wick
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT SEPT 1983 (Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Sept 1976)
3. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1980) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months)
4. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition)
5. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition)
9. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
10. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974)
11. Buchan A&F Club
12. Callander A&F Club (
13. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
14. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980)
15. Cleland (cNov 1981) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
16. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
17. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
18. Derwentside A&F Club
19. Dingwall & District (May 1979 – per first report)
20. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971)
21. Dundee & District A&F Club
22. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
23. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
24. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
25. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
26. Fintry A&F Club
27. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
28. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
29. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
30. Galston A&F Club (1969 – per first edition)
31. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
32. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
33. Highland A&F Club (Inverness)
34. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981)
35. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976)
36. Kinlochsheil A&F Club (
37. Kintore A&F Club
38. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
39. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967)
40. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
41. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – per first edition)
42. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973)
43. M.A.F.I.A. (early)
44. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
45. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
46. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
47. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1979)
48. North Cumbria A&F Club (originally Gretna started July 1965 – had to move to a venue in the North of England and changed name – eventually changed back when they returned to the Halcrow Stadium. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
49. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971)
50. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975)
51. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978)
52. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club
53. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981)
54. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970)
55. Premier A&F Club NI (cNov 1980)
56. Rothbury Accordion Club (aka Coquetdale Club - Feb 1974)
57. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978)
58. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
59. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition)
60. Thurso A&F Club (cSept 1981)
61. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982)
62. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980)
63. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
64. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
65. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
66. Club Accord
67. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
68. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
69. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
70. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
71. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
72. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
73. Gretna A&F Club (June 1966)
74. Newcastleton Accordion Club
75. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
76. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
77. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
78. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
79. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
80. Wellbank A&F Club
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