Box and Fiddle
Year 26 No 05
January 2003
Price £2.00
44 Page Magazine
7 month subscription £14 + p&p £4.20
Editor – Karin Ingram, Hawick
B&F Treasurer – Charlie Todd, Thankerton
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
As we come to the end of another year, I should like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who puts your Box and Fiddle together, and ensures that it reaches you on time (usually!!)
Judith Linton
Heather McLean
Alasdair Graham
Charlie Gore
Our regular columnists – Margo MacLennan, Jean Lumsden & Dave Francis
Culross the Printers
The National Executive
Karin Ingram
Alistair McCulloch
Fiddle Maestro, Performer, Composer & Teacher
by Karin Ingram
How old were you when you started playing the fiddle?
I started playing in 1981 aged nine. I was given a half sized fiddle by my late grandmother and took my first lessons at primary school in Cumnock. A few months later my family moved to Ayr and I was taught by Wallace Galbraith until I was 18. After working in a bank for 4 years I went to study music at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and studied under Douglas Lawrence until 1998.
Did you study Scots Fiddle at University?
Yes, I was able to concentrate on Scots Fiddle as opposed to classical violin for my first study. The course was a BA Applied Music, which is now extremely popular and attracts musicians from different musical backgrounds such as jazz and rock as well as classical. I graduated with first class honours in 1998, majoring in fiddle performance and research into different fiddling styles in the form of a thesis.
When did you start becoming interested in fiddle music?
As soon as I could play a few notes I wanted to play fiddle tunes. I studied classical violin for 10 years, which was very important, but my heart lay in playing traditional music. I suppose it was inevitable as I was exposed to Scottish music from a very early age, mainly through my dad, John, who plays the pipes and fiddle. I remember dad teaching me the names of tunes when I was 5 or 6 years old and quizzing me on them. I could apparently recognize 100 tunes before my seventh birthday.
Six months after I started playing, my dad took me along to the Ayr and Prestwick Strathspey and Reel Society. I was the youngest member for years and started performing solos at their concerts when I was about 12. I played regularly with the Society until I was 19.
Did you compete in fiddle competitions?
Yes, I won the angus fitchet Trophy at the Musselburgh Festival three time, the West of Scotland Festival several time, the Land o’ burns Festival a couple of times and the Mull Festival. I was also invited to compete in the Glenfiddich Championship at Blair Castle a number of times. I didn’t ever compete regularly, usually two or three times a year until I was in my early twenties. Nowadays, I find myself being asked to adjudicate at fiddle festivals and these have included Kirriemuir, Oban, Musselburgh, The Mod and The Glenfiddich.
Have you been a member of any Fiddle Orchestras?
Oh yes, in 1982 my teacher, Wallace Galbraith, founded The Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra. The AFO is a youth fiddle orchestra with an age range of about 10 to about 20 and has a membership of around 120, made up mainly of string players from schools in Ayrshire. I was leader of the orchestra from 1988 until 1991 and continued to play whenever possible until 1995. I also arranged and composed a great deal of music for the orchestra. At the beginning of 2002 I was appointed joint musical director and now, when time permits, I conduct rehearsals and concerts.
I was, of course, also a member of The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, which was founded by John Mason. I joined in 1985 and was a soloist for many years, a position I had to stand down from recently due to pressure of commitments. The SFO has seven or so main concerts every year and I have had the privilege of performing in some of the country’s finest concert halls including The Usher Hall (Edinburgh), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Aberdeen Music Hall, Birmingham Town Hall, York Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall and Barbican in London.
You mentioned writing music. Do you regularly compose?
I have never been able to churn out one tune after another, however I have probably written around 80 tunes. I find it difficult to know whether a tune will be successful or not, other people really need to be the judges. I am quite self-critical and if I am not sure of tune myself I probably won’t let anyone hear it. Recently I have undertaken a few commissions including The Cabrach Suite, which was written for the 100th birthday of Mrs Janet Roberts, great aunt of Mr Sandy Grant Gordon, managing director of William Grant and Sons of Glenfiddich.
I am currently in the process of compiling a collection of 40 of my tunes, which will be released in the coming months. The majority of the tunes have already been commercially recorded by either solo fiddlers, folk groups, fiddle orchestras or dance bands.
Do you have a favourite tune of your own?
Difficult to say, they are so varied. The slow air Hazelwood is a tune that gives me a lot of pleasure and The Doolin Reel is probably my favourite master tune. My most successful tunes to date have been Riverside Lodge, Liz Kane and The Amherst Two-Step.
Are you a full-time musician?
Yes, I have a very varied working life. As well as regularly performing in various guises I also teach music. I am employed for two and a half days a week at Ayr College as course leader for the general music course. I am also an instrumental instructor at Strathclyde University where I teach fiddle students. Every Wednesday night I teach for an organisation called Glasgow Fiddle Workshop, which has a huge membership and caters for fiddle players of varying abilities. Finally, I have 8 or 9 private pupils who come to my house each week.
Can you tell me more about your performing?
I perform in different guises for different situations.
As a solo fiddler I regularly perform at concerts and Accordion and Fiddle Clubs, usually accompanied by Morag MacAskill from Milngavie. I also play in a fiddle / guitar duo which is much more folk based and is ideal for music festivals, concerts and short tours. I enjoy variety and have done a fair bit of session work and touring with various bands and artistes including Peter Morrison, Moira Kerr, Chris Armstrong and Donald Black. I have probably appeared on around 30 commercial albums and have recorded for BBC, Ulster and Border TV.
What about bands?
I am a member of the band ‘Coila’ which sort of evolved from the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra. We have been togther for over 10 years and the current line up is William Weir on accordion, Andrew McGarva on fiddle, Gavin Welsh on drums, and myself. With this line up we perform at ceilidhs all over Great Britain and abroad. The band can also be augmented into a concert band and we often work with Douglas Whyte on keyboards, Dave Cowan on bass guitar and occasionally Dougie Pincock on pipes, whistles and flute. With the 7-piece line-up, we don’t really play for ceilidh dancing which makes it possible to play more complex, modern arrangements in concert situations. Coila is more of a contemporary folk group than a dance band.
Where have Coila played?
Outwith the ceilidh scene, we have performed at a lot of festivals such as Celtic Connections, Shetland Folk Festival, Mayfest, Arran, Bute, Killin, Barra and Jura Festivals as well as functions like the premier of the movie ‘Rob Roy’ in Edinburgh and the International Rotary Convention at Ibrox Stadium. We have also played in venues such as Eden Court in Inverness and the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow. Farther afield we have performed in France, Greece and Canada.
Do you play in any other bands?
I am a member of the band ‘Canterach’ which is a pipe and fiddle driven group supported by guitar / vocals, percussion and keyboards. We recorded a CD on the Lochshore label a couple of years ago and have performed in Hungary, Switzerland and Spain.
Have you played with any Scottish Dance Bands?
Yes, I have performed and broadcast with Iain Cathcart’s band for a long time, which is always good fun. I have also been a member of Alasdair MacCuish’s Black Rose Ceilidh Band. Amongst others I have had stints with The Jura Ceilidh Band and the bands of Gary Blair and Ian Thomson.
Do you have any favourite dance bands?
My all time favourites would have to be The Wallachmor Ceilidh Band and The Hamefarers.
Are you influenced by the modern folk scene?
Yes, very much so. I listen to a lot of traditional music and attend concerts when I can. My favourite Scottish band is Capercaillie. I find their music tasteful and so well arranged. All the members are fantastic musicians in their own right. I also have a lot of respect for Phil Cunningham who is a fantastic tune writer and pipers like Gordon Duncan and Fred Morrison. When I was younger I listened a lot to groups like The Battlefield Band, Boys of the Lough and Silly Wizzard.
Outwith Scotland I love the playing of Michael McGoldrick, a Mancunain who plays ulliean pipes, flute and whistles and Carlos Nunez, a brilliant Spanish piper. Other favourites I have include Alan Kelly, a piano accordionist from Galway, the Cape Breton group The Barra McNeiull’s and Irish group Lunasa and Altan.
Who are your favourite fiddlers?
I have quite a few.
Scotland – Willie Huner, Douglas Lawrence, Aly Bain and Charlie McKerron.
Ireland – Cathal Hayden, Sean Maguire and Tommy Peoples
North America – Graham Townsend, Natalie McMaster and Jerry Holland.
Of the new generation of fiddlers I think Chris Stout and Bryan Gear, both from Shetland, are great players as well as Dezi Donnelly from Manchester.
Do you have any concerns for the future of the Accordion & Fiddle circuit?
I think it is vitally important that Scottish Dance music is made attractive to young people. If you look at the many traditional music festivals such as Celtic Connections, Fiddle 2002, initiatives such as the BA Scottish Music Degree at the R.S.A.M.D., the Feis movement, organizations such as the Adult Learning Project in Edinburgh and Glasgow Fiddle Workshop, all have no problem encouraging young people to participate in traditional music. The same cannot be said for the Accordion & Fiddle Club circuit. Why should this be? I think it is partly to do with the exposure enjoyed by certain types of folk music and also the fact that the music has developed in a way that appeals to young people. The traditional Scottish Dance band has remained relatively unchanged since the days of Jimmy Shand and the set format may appear dated to ‘outsiders’ and youngsters. I realise that aspects such as tempo and correct number of bars cannot be compromised, however I personally see nothing wrong with introduction of other instruments and experimentation with the back line. It is not unusual to hear the same tune played by Wolfstone and Iain MacPhail. The melody is no different, it is the backing that makes the difference, be it the chords, drumbeat or the rhythmic pattern of the accompaniment. I know change will be very difficult to effect, however I believe that unless the dance band scene is willing to embrace other musical styles it will eventually become stagnant. The quality of musicianship in the Accordion and Fiddle scene deserves greater coverage.
Do you listen to other types of music?
Apart from traditional music I enjoy listening to classical music, jazz, pop, in fact I think it is important as a musician to listen to many different types of music. I particularly enjoy orchestral music, especially Russian music from composers like Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Schostakovich. I also love jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Stephane Grappelli. I find much of today’s chart music too manufactured although I really like Shania Twain and Robbie Williams. I prefer listening to older popular music like Queen, Abba and, of course, The Beatles.
Do you often travel abroad to perform?
Yes, I have been fortunate enough to tour several times in Canada and the USA. I have also seen a fair bit of Europe including Norway, Iceland, The Faroes, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Greece. Farther afield I have performed in Dubai and Venezuela.
What now?
I am currently working on the recording of my second solo album, which will be released early in 2003. I will also be publishing a collection of my own compositions. In July, I will be touring in Australia and New Zealand with the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra, which I am really looking forward to.
Stanley Weekend 2002
by Bill Black
Once again the ‘Stanley Ceilidh’ has come and gone, and it turned out to be a really huge success. Supporters, both performing and otherwise, made their way to The Tayside Hotel, Stanley, from all corners of Britain to be part of, and take part in, this feat of music and dance. They came from the Shetland Isles, from the Outer Hebrides, from ARgyllshire, from Inverness-shire, from the Border counties, from the South of England and from Northern Ireland, and from everywhere else in between to make up one big happy family who were obviously out to enjoy themselves and also to be treated to the very best in Scottish Dance music.
The main purpose of this function, apart from the enjoyment, is to try and raise a little money, which may in some way make life a bit more comfortable and happy for children who are a little less fortunate in life than we are. The money raised this year is going to Rachel House in Kinross, which is a home for terminally ill youngsters. It is a marvelous place, and we cannot give enough praise to those dedicated staff who look after their patients so well.
Apart from the money raised over the weekend, we have had some fantastic donations towards this charity. Not least was the unbelievable sum of £1,143 raised by Edmund MacKenzie from Plockton, in Wester Ross, when he took part in a sponsored cycle from the North to the South of Skye. This may not seem too much of an achievement until you realise that Edmund is a blind person. Earlier in the year Edmund also organised a dance at The Tinglecreek Hotel near Plockton, in conjunction with the Kinlochshiel A&F Club abd raised £250 towards this year’s charity. I would now like to say my own special thanks to you Edmund for this superb effort, it is very much appreciated.
There was also a lovely donation from two lovely women from Glasgow who were at the ceilidh for the very first time. They are Jan Morrison and her daughter Janice Thompson. They very kindly donated, between them, £100 to our collection. Our sincere thanks to you both and may we wish you many years of health and happiness and hope to see you back again.
The members of the dancing class at Boreland near Lockerbie also dug deep and gave us another £200 donation. Thank you all very much and may you have many years of happy dancing ahead.
To the new owners of The Tayside Hotel, their management team and their entire staff, may I convey on behalf of everyone I spoke to a really big thank you for your friendly service and the lovely food we all enjoyed and your ready co-operation in all matters relating to the ceilidh weekend; also for the super prize of dinner, bed and breakfast for two, which we auctioned and raised £50.
I would like to say a special thank you once again to Mabel Gray for donating that superb food and drink hamper for the Friday night raffle. Mabel has donated this beautiful hamper for a good number of years now and it is really very much appreciated. The hamper itself raised the huge sum of £306 and we were delighted to see it go to those great supporters from Northern Ireland, hope it was still intact when you got back across the pond.
To all those who donated raffle prizes for Saturday night, thank you all very much indeed. There were around 50 prizes and all were very much appreciated. The raffle itself raised in the region of £385.
A very special thanks must go to Dave millward and Ian and Lilias Gray who took control of the collection on the Friday night as well as the raffle, and also the same on Saturday night along with manning the door. Al;so to Mabel Gray from drawing the raffle and the runners we had for handing out the prizes, all did a great job and it was very much appreciated. My since thanks to one and all.
Now to the Saturday night dance. I’m almost lost for words, which would adequately describe the atmosphere in the hall that night. The whole place was jumping and all due to the brilliant performance of the Iain Cathcart SDB, what a sound! There was Iain on lead box, James Coutts on second box, Alastair McCulloch on fiddle, Graham Berry on keyboard, Mark MacDougall on bass guitar and George Gray on drums, what a team!
They played dances to suit all tastes and everybody went to bed pounds lighter but really on a high. Everyone I met on the Sunday morning, without exception, commented on the fantastic sound of the band the night before. My sincere thanks Iain, not only for the dance, but for your great support of the ceilidh over so many years.
One of the most important ingredients for the success of a weekend like this is the backing musicians.
On keyboard – Mabel Gray, Judith Robertson, Owen Fielding and all those young lads who can double up on keyboard as well as accordion.
On drums – Robert MacFadyen, George Gray, Ian Adamson, George Darling and Scott Gordon who can turn his hand to almost and instrument.
On bass guitar – Mark MacDougall.
My sincere thanks to all of you for so willingly helping out and making the weekend such a success.
Now for a list of all musicians who took part over the weekend :-
On accordion – Colin Johnston, Violet Morrison, Rob McCombie, James Corbett, Colin Garvin, Lindsay Weir, Neil Galloway, David Cunningham, Alison Fraser, Lynn Christie, Iain Cathcart, Shirley Cathcart, Scott Gordon, Bruce Peebles, Lynn Gould, Jimmy Peat, Ian Cameron, Jock Loch and George Work, and of course I managed a wee tune myself.
On fiddle – Ian Robertson, Susan MacIntosh, Carol Dobson and Mark MacDougall.
If I have missed anyone out of my thank-you list, please accept my sincere apologies because your presence was very much appreciated. We also had in attendance one or two fiddlers and box players who didn’t have a tune. Well, all I can say is, come back next year and join in the fun. One of the feature I most enjoy about this weekend is that the whole competition element is completely disregarded, and everyone is just playing for the sheer enjoyment of it. Quite an impressive list of musicians and I can assure you they all played their hearts out, every one was brilliant, thank you one and all.
After all expenses were paid we will have a grand total in the region of £3,256 to hand over to Rachel House within the next couple of weeks.
Plans are already well in hand for next year’s Stanley Ceilidh, which will be held on the 7th, 8th & 9th, November, again in The Tayside Hotel. For the Saturday night dance we have a very welcome return visit of Alan Nicolson and his Band from the Shetland Isles, something to look forward to. My advice to anyone who may want bed and breakfast for that weekend would be to get it booked up now.
In conclusion, on behalf of Anne and myself, I would like to sincerely tank everyone for their support and we look forward to greeting you again next year.
A Celebration of Ranco Accordions
by JS
Ranco Day
Sunday, the 3rd of November 2002 was the special Ranco Day at The Windygates Institute, hosted by the Button-Key Club. This tuned out to be a very interesting and entertaining afternoon with Jon Crawford, Tommy Ford and Ken Hopkins to name but a few of the players who brought along their accordions and gave us an insight into the development over the years. Her is a ‘History of Ranco Accordions’ written by John Crawford, which I am sure many readers will find interesting. Many thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to our tea ladies who kept us going with their excellent homemade soup etc throughout the day.
History of Ranco Accordions
by John Crawford
Antonio, Fratello and Guiseppe Ranco began building accordions in Vercelli, northern Italy in 1890; they were the first to manufacture accordions in that area.
Antonio and Fratello were, I think, brothers as was Guiseppe. The factory opened in 1912. They were pioneers in the art of accordion construction. They made many different models, including Specials for some of the top accordion players all over the world.
Ranco manufactured piano and button instruments, two and three row diatonics and three,. Four, five and six row Continentals with B or c systems. They also made models with piano keys and two or three rows of buttons on the outside of the keyboard.
Some of the special features of the Ranco accordions were ;
The treble and bass pallets were floating, so as they could lie at and angle and ensure perfect bedding with no loss of air.
Specials had leather on the sound board, which helped to seal and quieten the pallet noise.
The reed plates were made from Duralium, not aluminium. This metal gives a far better tone to the instrument than any other metal; the reed tongues are Swiss cobalt steel.
The reed plates are fitted on the bridges to the bare wood, and are pinned and glued, no wax was used.
A thin acoustic membrane placed on the solid wood of the casework increases the tonal strength of the instrument to a considerable extent.
This amplification system could penetrate to the furthest corners of the largest auditorium; this was necessary in the days before electric amplification.
All Ranco accordions were guaranteed for 5 years, for defects and workmanship.
Antonio Ranco had three sons, Antonio Jnr, Luigi and Guglielmo. Luidi went on his own and built accordions to order. He built a 3-row, 3 voice, 72 bass diatonic for Emile Vacher which he used for his first 78s. Guglielmo also went on his own and made good instruments. Antonio Jnr had a son called Guiseppe, who is now building accordions. Antonio Jnr died in 1966.
In 1926 the Ranco brothers employed over 60 workers. It was a sad day when the Ranco factory closed down, but it was a boost for Hohner and others – in particular the Morino and Atlantic models at that time. Antonio Snr did not allow his sons to use the Ranco name on the reeds; only Antonio Jnr was permitted to do so. In 1935 you couls buy a 4 voice Ranco for £57. The Supervox was and still is the best Ranco ever built. They were available in four and five voices. I hope the instruments today are of the same quality.
Collectors’ Pieces
by Charlie Gore
Charlie Gore edited and published ‘The Scottish Fiddle Music Index’ in 1994. This was the first attempt ever made to index the titles of the 12,000 or so traditional tunes, songs, airs and miscellaneous music published in the printed collections of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The chief value of the Index to researchers, musicians and students of the tradition is that it has made it possible to locate any tune listed and to identify an accessible source for the music (mostly based on collections held at the National Library of Scotland).
The Final Fling
Last month, I tried to piece together a picture of the older Scottish fiddle tradition in decline; through its struggle to make itself heard in the face of the dominant accordion sound; finally, in the 1950s, the dramatic entry of Shetland and Ireland into the picture and the ensuing ‘rebirth’ of enthusiasm for what was still to be loosely known as ‘the tradition’, but would in fact go on to become something very new and different under various manufactured titles linking to the international folk scene, ‘Celtic music’, ‘Highland music’, ‘Ceilidh music’, ‘Tartan rock’ and so on into ever deeper into comedy and ‘spin’.
For that loyal group devoted to their traditional dancing and strict tempo, the accordion band or solo piano still hold centre stage. The tradition of the Gows, Marshall and Skinner, ancestor of that same dance tradition but well equipped to outlive it, has its following and continues to delight quietly and without flamboyance, against the skirling, heuching and screeching of its competitors which, in their various ways, tend to hog the limelight and absorb and educational or promotional backing available.
The half dozen considerable collections of music I listed last month, along with Skinner’s own personal contribution and the military pipe music manuals, became the source for dance music in the next century. The Athole Collection, Kerr’s ‘Merry Melodies’, K. N. MacDonald (Skye), Lowe, Glen and Surenne provide among them literally thousands of strathspeys and reels, yet that is almost all they provide, along with a few pages of Scottish jigs, hornpipes, Irish jigs and reel, some old and new ballroom pieces and country dances sets. In one case (Surenne’s ‘Dance Music of Scotland’ 1851) reels and strathspeys make up all 244 titles. At that time, Skinner was also making his input (over 600 in total) enriching the repertoire withy his great reels and strathspeys, quicksteps, airs, laments and performance pieces. The military pipe manuals were beginning to interest fiddlers and accordion bands alike and the RSCDS began to add their quota from the 1920s.
The continuing partnership of Scottish country dance with traditional dance steps and rhythms is crucial. Strict-tempo was the watchword of the leaders of dance in the 20th century, as no doubt it was in the earlier period. And so it remains to this day, but to contemporary folk musicians strict-tempo is no more than a dirty word. Breakneck speed and a range of highly eccentric ornamentation are the hallmarks of the ‘new sound’. There’s a lot more in it of the technique developed by the descendents of emigrant Scots and Irish fiddlers in North America than of the purer Scottish original. This of course ties in well with the fashion for ‘ceilidh dancing’ where rules are few and a good time may be had by all under thirty. The one thing it is not, however, is traditional. One way to maintain a liaison between the old and new might be a concentrated effort to get traditional dancers and potential fiddlers into training together. A word picture is hardly likely to convey the essence of something as subtle as the foot movements of a strathspey. You have to be there and play to it. Anyone who has been present or performed at a display of Canadian step dancing will appreciate the ways in which dance influences the musician’s style. Some of the older musicians of Cape Breton, where step dancing is alive and well, are ready to confirm that the style of fiddling of the region is specially tailored to it. As in every national musical tradition, there is something uniquely worth preserving, but that should not lead to preserving it in aspic! Demonstrations of country dancing on television a few years back were so conceived as to leave the impression that dance is ‘corsetted’ by strict-tempo. There was no humour (except for the viewer) and very little evidence of what might be described as a fiddler’s ‘instinct for the dance’. In the average accordion line-up, the fiddler or fiddlers, if present at all, tended to be seen but not heard.
Returning to the repertory, the fiddlers of Scotland seem to have forgotten, or decided to ignore, the wealth of other music of the earlier centuries that missed the selection process begun by Lowe, Kerr and their contemporaries. The printed material that was never re-issued is preserved on the shelves of the great libraries, but how many of today’s ranking fiddlers go looking for new (old) material there? Gae few, by my reckoning! If they did go, and found material to their personal taste, asking to be played, the rest of the fiddling world would do what it has always done and follow suit. Hearing a tune played well is the best way of ensuring that it becomes a favourite. Besides thousands more reels and strathspeys, there are the slow airs and laments, the jigs, the quicksteps, oddities of every description (going back centuries to before music was even written down, let alone published). But it was not by any means that this music was necessarily inferior to the material selected. In a lot of cases it was simply because it didn’t qualify for inclusion as ‘dance music’. Later, there could have been a comparable trawl through the books for other kinds of music for republishing, but times have moved on and that has only happened to a very limited extent. The resulting loss to the repertoire of potentially playable music, not selected then, little heard and rarely even seen since, is truly incredible. Any good musician in the 21st century with a mind to go looking in the right places has a feast of surprises in store! I hope I live long enough to hear some of them played again by the next generation of great Scottish Traditional fiddlers.
Nathanial Gow’s Compliments to his Brother
There’s a distinct flavour of piobaireachd in the second 8 bars of this slow air. It appears in ‘Gow’s Sixth Book of Reels’, published in 1822 and not (as far as we know) ever republished. One of its unique features is that, apart from half a dozen reels and a couple of strathspeys, its 36 pages contain only tunes marked ‘Slow’, one reason why it might have been set aside by the late 19th century collectors and since forgotten. Some of the tunes are well worth investigation.
Pennycuick House
Stranger still is the neglect of the music of Neil Gow Junior, grandson of Niel and son of Nathanial, who seemed to be well established in the family tradition when he died tragically young in 1823. The father proudly assembled the son’s compositions posthumously in ‘A Collection od Airs, Reels and Strathspeys…..’ which eventually appeared in 1835, four years after his own death in 1831.
I would like to publish a couple of hundred more examples, but time and space forbid.
The 3rd National Accordion Fun Festival
by Neil Copland
The 3rd National Accordion Fun Festival was held in The Normandy Hotel, ……..
The Violin Shop
Close to Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery………….
Calling All Fiddlers
Charlie McKerron, fiddler with top Scottish band Capercaillie, is one of the driving forces behind a new Website…………………
Happy Birthday Leicester RSCDS
by Barbara Sharp
Silver Anniversary Ball
More than 100 people……..
Festival of the Sea
by Pam Buchanan
One of Europe’s great maritime Festivals ……….
The Piping Shrike
by Jean Lumsden
South Australia hosted The Festival Cup 2002…………………………
Greeting from Inverness
by Margo MacLennan
By the time you read this report…………………..
CD Reviews
From Eriskay to Donegal – Eriskay Lilt – Don & Kathleen MacDonald
James Scott Skinner – The Strathspey King – Temple Records - COMD2084
Book Review
McBain’s Scottish Country Dance Band 1947-1980 Remembered
Take the Floor – Saturdays with Robbie Shepherd
28th Dec 02 – Fergie MacDonald & Guests (OB from Coigach Community Hall, Achiltibuie)
4th Jan 03 – Ian Thomson SDB + Concert Set – Fiddlers Bid live in The Queens Hall
11th Jan 03 – Fraser McGlynn Duo
18th Jan 03 – Donald MacLeod SDB
25th Jan 03 – Kenny Thomson & the Wardlaw SDB – Burns Night OB from Ayr Town Hall with guests The Ayrshire Voices & Alistair McCulloch
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Westburn Park Lounge) – 28th Jan 03 – Marian Anderson SDB
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle)
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 19th Jan 03 – Roger Dobson SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) -
Armadale (Masonic Hall) –
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 19th Jan 03 – Iain MacPhail SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) –
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 22nd Jan 03 – Strathbogie Fiddlers
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) – 20th Jan 03 – James Coutts SDB
Belford (Community Centre) – 30th Jan 03 - tba
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 12th Jan 03 – West Telferton SDB
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 14th Jan 03 – The Colliston Sound
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) - 14th Jan 03 – Hertfordshire Accordion Club
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 9th Jan 03 – Roger Dobson SDB
19th Jan 03 – Shand Morino Gathering
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 – John Morgan & Paul Phillips – ‘The Homelanders’
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary’s Social Club) - 9th Jan 03 – Fiddlers Von Trapp
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – William Marshall
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 16th Jan 03 – George Stirrat SDB
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) - 12th Jan 03 – All players welcome
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel) 17th Jan 03 – Dance to Willie Simpson & Gordon Pattullo
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club)
Dalriada (Argyll Arms Hotel, Lochgilphead)
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Sutherland A&F Club
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 15th Jan 03 – Jimmy Lindsay SDB
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 14th Jan 03 – Lindsay Weir Trio
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
East Kilbride (The Village Inn) – 30th Jan 03 – Roy Hendrie Trio
Ellon (Station Hotel) –
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 27th Jan 03 – Seamus O’Sullivan
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 26th Jan 03 – AGM & Club Night
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Graeme Mitchell SDB (25th Anniversary)
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel, Wooler) – 16th Jan 03 – Colin Dewar Trio
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 – Club Night
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 28th Jan 03 – Bruce Lindsay SDB
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 5th Jan 03 – Members’ Night
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 20th Jan 03 – Jock Fraser SDB
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) - 8th Jan 03 – Archie MacAllister Trio
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 9th Jan 03 – Local Artiste Night
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 7th Jan 03 – Galloway SDB
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 29th Jan 03 – Neil Hardie SDB
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) –
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 27th Jan 03 – Brian Griffin Duo
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Locals’ Club Night
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 9th Jan 03 – Tom Orr SDB
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 9th Jan 03 – David Bowen Trio
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 21st Jan 03 – Glenelvin SDB
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 28th Jan 03 – Ross MacPherson Trio
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 21st Jan 03 – Gordon Pattullo
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – James Coutts SDB
Newburgh (The Ship Inn) - 30th Jan 03 – Gordon Pattullo
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 5th Jan 03 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 27th Jan 03 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) – 10th Jan 03 – Dance to Charlie Kirkpatrick’s SDB
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Green Tree Hotel) –
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – Duncan Black SDB
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 - tba
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 14th Jan 03 – Alison Smith & Marie Fielding
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) - 9th Jan 03 – Club Night
Selkirk (Cricket Club) - 9th Jan 03 – Robin Waitt
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 9th Jan 03 – Local night
27th Jan 03 0 Pre Up-Helly-Aa Night
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 18th Jan 03 – Wyvis Sound
Thornhill (Masonic Hall) - 14th Jan 03 – Dick Black SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 6th Jan 03 – Iain Anderson Trio
Turriff (Royal British Legion) –
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn) 9th Jan 03 – John Morgan
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – Ceilidh / Band Night
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Annan
2. Arbroath
3. Armadale
4. Banff
5. Beith & District
6. Blairgowrie
7. Bromley
8. Button-Key
9. Castle Douglas
10. Coalburn
11. Cults
12. Dingwall
13. Dunblane
14. East Kilbride
15. Fintry
16. Forfar
17. Forres
18. Glendale
19. Glenrothes & District
20. Gretna
21. Highland
22. Islesteps
23. Kintore
24. Lanark
25. Lewis & Harris
26. Livingston
27. Lockerbie
28. Montrose
29. Newburgh
30. Newmill
32. Newtongrange
33. Oban
34. Premier
35. Shetland
36. West Barnes
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2002
(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. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Closed
6. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
7. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
8. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
9. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
10. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
11. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
12. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
13. Bromley A&F Club
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campbeltown A&F Club (
16. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
17. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
18. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
19. Coalburn A&F Club (
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
29. Ellon A&F Club (
30. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
31. Forfar A&F Club (
32. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
33. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
34. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
35. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
36. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
37. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
38. 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)
39. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
40. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
41. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
42. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
43. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
44. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
45. Kintore A&F Club (
46. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed
47. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – present)
48. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
49. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
50. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
51. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
52. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
53. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
54. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
55. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
56. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded
57. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999
58. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
59. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
60. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
61. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
62. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
63. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
64. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
65. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
66. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
67. Selkirk A&F Club (
68. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
69. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 - )
70. Sutherland A&F Club (
71. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
72. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
73. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
74. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
75. Vancouver
76. West Barnes ( - present)
77. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
78. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – )
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
79. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
80. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
81. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
82. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
83. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
84. Buchan A&F Club
85. Callander A&F Club (
86. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
87. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
88. Club Accord
89. Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
90. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
91. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
92. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
93. Derwentside A&F Club
94. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
95. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
96. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
97. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
98. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
99. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
100. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
101. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
102. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
103. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
104. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
105. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
106. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
107. Mull A&F Club
108. Newcastleton Accordion Club
109. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
110. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
111. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
112. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
113. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
114. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
115. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
116. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
117. Tranent A&F Club
118. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
119. Wellbank A&F Club
Advertising rates
Full Page - £120
Half Page - £60
Quarter Page - £30
B&F Treasurer – Charlie Todd, Thankerton
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
As we come to the end of another year, I should like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who puts your Box and Fiddle together, and ensures that it reaches you on time (usually!!)
Judith Linton
Heather McLean
Alasdair Graham
Charlie Gore
Our regular columnists – Margo MacLennan, Jean Lumsden & Dave Francis
Culross the Printers
The National Executive
Karin Ingram
Alistair McCulloch
Fiddle Maestro, Performer, Composer & Teacher
by Karin Ingram
How old were you when you started playing the fiddle?
I started playing in 1981 aged nine. I was given a half sized fiddle by my late grandmother and took my first lessons at primary school in Cumnock. A few months later my family moved to Ayr and I was taught by Wallace Galbraith until I was 18. After working in a bank for 4 years I went to study music at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and studied under Douglas Lawrence until 1998.
Did you study Scots Fiddle at University?
Yes, I was able to concentrate on Scots Fiddle as opposed to classical violin for my first study. The course was a BA Applied Music, which is now extremely popular and attracts musicians from different musical backgrounds such as jazz and rock as well as classical. I graduated with first class honours in 1998, majoring in fiddle performance and research into different fiddling styles in the form of a thesis.
When did you start becoming interested in fiddle music?
As soon as I could play a few notes I wanted to play fiddle tunes. I studied classical violin for 10 years, which was very important, but my heart lay in playing traditional music. I suppose it was inevitable as I was exposed to Scottish music from a very early age, mainly through my dad, John, who plays the pipes and fiddle. I remember dad teaching me the names of tunes when I was 5 or 6 years old and quizzing me on them. I could apparently recognize 100 tunes before my seventh birthday.
Six months after I started playing, my dad took me along to the Ayr and Prestwick Strathspey and Reel Society. I was the youngest member for years and started performing solos at their concerts when I was about 12. I played regularly with the Society until I was 19.
Did you compete in fiddle competitions?
Yes, I won the angus fitchet Trophy at the Musselburgh Festival three time, the West of Scotland Festival several time, the Land o’ burns Festival a couple of times and the Mull Festival. I was also invited to compete in the Glenfiddich Championship at Blair Castle a number of times. I didn’t ever compete regularly, usually two or three times a year until I was in my early twenties. Nowadays, I find myself being asked to adjudicate at fiddle festivals and these have included Kirriemuir, Oban, Musselburgh, The Mod and The Glenfiddich.
Have you been a member of any Fiddle Orchestras?
Oh yes, in 1982 my teacher, Wallace Galbraith, founded The Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra. The AFO is a youth fiddle orchestra with an age range of about 10 to about 20 and has a membership of around 120, made up mainly of string players from schools in Ayrshire. I was leader of the orchestra from 1988 until 1991 and continued to play whenever possible until 1995. I also arranged and composed a great deal of music for the orchestra. At the beginning of 2002 I was appointed joint musical director and now, when time permits, I conduct rehearsals and concerts.
I was, of course, also a member of The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, which was founded by John Mason. I joined in 1985 and was a soloist for many years, a position I had to stand down from recently due to pressure of commitments. The SFO has seven or so main concerts every year and I have had the privilege of performing in some of the country’s finest concert halls including The Usher Hall (Edinburgh), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Aberdeen Music Hall, Birmingham Town Hall, York Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall and Barbican in London.
You mentioned writing music. Do you regularly compose?
I have never been able to churn out one tune after another, however I have probably written around 80 tunes. I find it difficult to know whether a tune will be successful or not, other people really need to be the judges. I am quite self-critical and if I am not sure of tune myself I probably won’t let anyone hear it. Recently I have undertaken a few commissions including The Cabrach Suite, which was written for the 100th birthday of Mrs Janet Roberts, great aunt of Mr Sandy Grant Gordon, managing director of William Grant and Sons of Glenfiddich.
I am currently in the process of compiling a collection of 40 of my tunes, which will be released in the coming months. The majority of the tunes have already been commercially recorded by either solo fiddlers, folk groups, fiddle orchestras or dance bands.
Do you have a favourite tune of your own?
Difficult to say, they are so varied. The slow air Hazelwood is a tune that gives me a lot of pleasure and The Doolin Reel is probably my favourite master tune. My most successful tunes to date have been Riverside Lodge, Liz Kane and The Amherst Two-Step.
Are you a full-time musician?
Yes, I have a very varied working life. As well as regularly performing in various guises I also teach music. I am employed for two and a half days a week at Ayr College as course leader for the general music course. I am also an instrumental instructor at Strathclyde University where I teach fiddle students. Every Wednesday night I teach for an organisation called Glasgow Fiddle Workshop, which has a huge membership and caters for fiddle players of varying abilities. Finally, I have 8 or 9 private pupils who come to my house each week.
Can you tell me more about your performing?
I perform in different guises for different situations.
As a solo fiddler I regularly perform at concerts and Accordion and Fiddle Clubs, usually accompanied by Morag MacAskill from Milngavie. I also play in a fiddle / guitar duo which is much more folk based and is ideal for music festivals, concerts and short tours. I enjoy variety and have done a fair bit of session work and touring with various bands and artistes including Peter Morrison, Moira Kerr, Chris Armstrong and Donald Black. I have probably appeared on around 30 commercial albums and have recorded for BBC, Ulster and Border TV.
What about bands?
I am a member of the band ‘Coila’ which sort of evolved from the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra. We have been togther for over 10 years and the current line up is William Weir on accordion, Andrew McGarva on fiddle, Gavin Welsh on drums, and myself. With this line up we perform at ceilidhs all over Great Britain and abroad. The band can also be augmented into a concert band and we often work with Douglas Whyte on keyboards, Dave Cowan on bass guitar and occasionally Dougie Pincock on pipes, whistles and flute. With the 7-piece line-up, we don’t really play for ceilidh dancing which makes it possible to play more complex, modern arrangements in concert situations. Coila is more of a contemporary folk group than a dance band.
Where have Coila played?
Outwith the ceilidh scene, we have performed at a lot of festivals such as Celtic Connections, Shetland Folk Festival, Mayfest, Arran, Bute, Killin, Barra and Jura Festivals as well as functions like the premier of the movie ‘Rob Roy’ in Edinburgh and the International Rotary Convention at Ibrox Stadium. We have also played in venues such as Eden Court in Inverness and the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow. Farther afield we have performed in France, Greece and Canada.
Do you play in any other bands?
I am a member of the band ‘Canterach’ which is a pipe and fiddle driven group supported by guitar / vocals, percussion and keyboards. We recorded a CD on the Lochshore label a couple of years ago and have performed in Hungary, Switzerland and Spain.
Have you played with any Scottish Dance Bands?
Yes, I have performed and broadcast with Iain Cathcart’s band for a long time, which is always good fun. I have also been a member of Alasdair MacCuish’s Black Rose Ceilidh Band. Amongst others I have had stints with The Jura Ceilidh Band and the bands of Gary Blair and Ian Thomson.
Do you have any favourite dance bands?
My all time favourites would have to be The Wallachmor Ceilidh Band and The Hamefarers.
Are you influenced by the modern folk scene?
Yes, very much so. I listen to a lot of traditional music and attend concerts when I can. My favourite Scottish band is Capercaillie. I find their music tasteful and so well arranged. All the members are fantastic musicians in their own right. I also have a lot of respect for Phil Cunningham who is a fantastic tune writer and pipers like Gordon Duncan and Fred Morrison. When I was younger I listened a lot to groups like The Battlefield Band, Boys of the Lough and Silly Wizzard.
Outwith Scotland I love the playing of Michael McGoldrick, a Mancunain who plays ulliean pipes, flute and whistles and Carlos Nunez, a brilliant Spanish piper. Other favourites I have include Alan Kelly, a piano accordionist from Galway, the Cape Breton group The Barra McNeiull’s and Irish group Lunasa and Altan.
Who are your favourite fiddlers?
I have quite a few.
Scotland – Willie Huner, Douglas Lawrence, Aly Bain and Charlie McKerron.
Ireland – Cathal Hayden, Sean Maguire and Tommy Peoples
North America – Graham Townsend, Natalie McMaster and Jerry Holland.
Of the new generation of fiddlers I think Chris Stout and Bryan Gear, both from Shetland, are great players as well as Dezi Donnelly from Manchester.
Do you have any concerns for the future of the Accordion & Fiddle circuit?
I think it is vitally important that Scottish Dance music is made attractive to young people. If you look at the many traditional music festivals such as Celtic Connections, Fiddle 2002, initiatives such as the BA Scottish Music Degree at the R.S.A.M.D., the Feis movement, organizations such as the Adult Learning Project in Edinburgh and Glasgow Fiddle Workshop, all have no problem encouraging young people to participate in traditional music. The same cannot be said for the Accordion & Fiddle Club circuit. Why should this be? I think it is partly to do with the exposure enjoyed by certain types of folk music and also the fact that the music has developed in a way that appeals to young people. The traditional Scottish Dance band has remained relatively unchanged since the days of Jimmy Shand and the set format may appear dated to ‘outsiders’ and youngsters. I realise that aspects such as tempo and correct number of bars cannot be compromised, however I personally see nothing wrong with introduction of other instruments and experimentation with the back line. It is not unusual to hear the same tune played by Wolfstone and Iain MacPhail. The melody is no different, it is the backing that makes the difference, be it the chords, drumbeat or the rhythmic pattern of the accompaniment. I know change will be very difficult to effect, however I believe that unless the dance band scene is willing to embrace other musical styles it will eventually become stagnant. The quality of musicianship in the Accordion and Fiddle scene deserves greater coverage.
Do you listen to other types of music?
Apart from traditional music I enjoy listening to classical music, jazz, pop, in fact I think it is important as a musician to listen to many different types of music. I particularly enjoy orchestral music, especially Russian music from composers like Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Schostakovich. I also love jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Stephane Grappelli. I find much of today’s chart music too manufactured although I really like Shania Twain and Robbie Williams. I prefer listening to older popular music like Queen, Abba and, of course, The Beatles.
Do you often travel abroad to perform?
Yes, I have been fortunate enough to tour several times in Canada and the USA. I have also seen a fair bit of Europe including Norway, Iceland, The Faroes, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Greece. Farther afield I have performed in Dubai and Venezuela.
What now?
I am currently working on the recording of my second solo album, which will be released early in 2003. I will also be publishing a collection of my own compositions. In July, I will be touring in Australia and New Zealand with the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra, which I am really looking forward to.
Stanley Weekend 2002
by Bill Black
Once again the ‘Stanley Ceilidh’ has come and gone, and it turned out to be a really huge success. Supporters, both performing and otherwise, made their way to The Tayside Hotel, Stanley, from all corners of Britain to be part of, and take part in, this feat of music and dance. They came from the Shetland Isles, from the Outer Hebrides, from ARgyllshire, from Inverness-shire, from the Border counties, from the South of England and from Northern Ireland, and from everywhere else in between to make up one big happy family who were obviously out to enjoy themselves and also to be treated to the very best in Scottish Dance music.
The main purpose of this function, apart from the enjoyment, is to try and raise a little money, which may in some way make life a bit more comfortable and happy for children who are a little less fortunate in life than we are. The money raised this year is going to Rachel House in Kinross, which is a home for terminally ill youngsters. It is a marvelous place, and we cannot give enough praise to those dedicated staff who look after their patients so well.
Apart from the money raised over the weekend, we have had some fantastic donations towards this charity. Not least was the unbelievable sum of £1,143 raised by Edmund MacKenzie from Plockton, in Wester Ross, when he took part in a sponsored cycle from the North to the South of Skye. This may not seem too much of an achievement until you realise that Edmund is a blind person. Earlier in the year Edmund also organised a dance at The Tinglecreek Hotel near Plockton, in conjunction with the Kinlochshiel A&F Club abd raised £250 towards this year’s charity. I would now like to say my own special thanks to you Edmund for this superb effort, it is very much appreciated.
There was also a lovely donation from two lovely women from Glasgow who were at the ceilidh for the very first time. They are Jan Morrison and her daughter Janice Thompson. They very kindly donated, between them, £100 to our collection. Our sincere thanks to you both and may we wish you many years of health and happiness and hope to see you back again.
The members of the dancing class at Boreland near Lockerbie also dug deep and gave us another £200 donation. Thank you all very much and may you have many years of happy dancing ahead.
To the new owners of The Tayside Hotel, their management team and their entire staff, may I convey on behalf of everyone I spoke to a really big thank you for your friendly service and the lovely food we all enjoyed and your ready co-operation in all matters relating to the ceilidh weekend; also for the super prize of dinner, bed and breakfast for two, which we auctioned and raised £50.
I would like to say a special thank you once again to Mabel Gray for donating that superb food and drink hamper for the Friday night raffle. Mabel has donated this beautiful hamper for a good number of years now and it is really very much appreciated. The hamper itself raised the huge sum of £306 and we were delighted to see it go to those great supporters from Northern Ireland, hope it was still intact when you got back across the pond.
To all those who donated raffle prizes for Saturday night, thank you all very much indeed. There were around 50 prizes and all were very much appreciated. The raffle itself raised in the region of £385.
A very special thanks must go to Dave millward and Ian and Lilias Gray who took control of the collection on the Friday night as well as the raffle, and also the same on Saturday night along with manning the door. Al;so to Mabel Gray from drawing the raffle and the runners we had for handing out the prizes, all did a great job and it was very much appreciated. My since thanks to one and all.
Now to the Saturday night dance. I’m almost lost for words, which would adequately describe the atmosphere in the hall that night. The whole place was jumping and all due to the brilliant performance of the Iain Cathcart SDB, what a sound! There was Iain on lead box, James Coutts on second box, Alastair McCulloch on fiddle, Graham Berry on keyboard, Mark MacDougall on bass guitar and George Gray on drums, what a team!
They played dances to suit all tastes and everybody went to bed pounds lighter but really on a high. Everyone I met on the Sunday morning, without exception, commented on the fantastic sound of the band the night before. My sincere thanks Iain, not only for the dance, but for your great support of the ceilidh over so many years.
One of the most important ingredients for the success of a weekend like this is the backing musicians.
On keyboard – Mabel Gray, Judith Robertson, Owen Fielding and all those young lads who can double up on keyboard as well as accordion.
On drums – Robert MacFadyen, George Gray, Ian Adamson, George Darling and Scott Gordon who can turn his hand to almost and instrument.
On bass guitar – Mark MacDougall.
My sincere thanks to all of you for so willingly helping out and making the weekend such a success.
Now for a list of all musicians who took part over the weekend :-
On accordion – Colin Johnston, Violet Morrison, Rob McCombie, James Corbett, Colin Garvin, Lindsay Weir, Neil Galloway, David Cunningham, Alison Fraser, Lynn Christie, Iain Cathcart, Shirley Cathcart, Scott Gordon, Bruce Peebles, Lynn Gould, Jimmy Peat, Ian Cameron, Jock Loch and George Work, and of course I managed a wee tune myself.
On fiddle – Ian Robertson, Susan MacIntosh, Carol Dobson and Mark MacDougall.
If I have missed anyone out of my thank-you list, please accept my sincere apologies because your presence was very much appreciated. We also had in attendance one or two fiddlers and box players who didn’t have a tune. Well, all I can say is, come back next year and join in the fun. One of the feature I most enjoy about this weekend is that the whole competition element is completely disregarded, and everyone is just playing for the sheer enjoyment of it. Quite an impressive list of musicians and I can assure you they all played their hearts out, every one was brilliant, thank you one and all.
After all expenses were paid we will have a grand total in the region of £3,256 to hand over to Rachel House within the next couple of weeks.
Plans are already well in hand for next year’s Stanley Ceilidh, which will be held on the 7th, 8th & 9th, November, again in The Tayside Hotel. For the Saturday night dance we have a very welcome return visit of Alan Nicolson and his Band from the Shetland Isles, something to look forward to. My advice to anyone who may want bed and breakfast for that weekend would be to get it booked up now.
In conclusion, on behalf of Anne and myself, I would like to sincerely tank everyone for their support and we look forward to greeting you again next year.
A Celebration of Ranco Accordions
by JS
Ranco Day
Sunday, the 3rd of November 2002 was the special Ranco Day at The Windygates Institute, hosted by the Button-Key Club. This tuned out to be a very interesting and entertaining afternoon with Jon Crawford, Tommy Ford and Ken Hopkins to name but a few of the players who brought along their accordions and gave us an insight into the development over the years. Her is a ‘History of Ranco Accordions’ written by John Crawford, which I am sure many readers will find interesting. Many thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to our tea ladies who kept us going with their excellent homemade soup etc throughout the day.
History of Ranco Accordions
by John Crawford
Antonio, Fratello and Guiseppe Ranco began building accordions in Vercelli, northern Italy in 1890; they were the first to manufacture accordions in that area.
Antonio and Fratello were, I think, brothers as was Guiseppe. The factory opened in 1912. They were pioneers in the art of accordion construction. They made many different models, including Specials for some of the top accordion players all over the world.
Ranco manufactured piano and button instruments, two and three row diatonics and three,. Four, five and six row Continentals with B or c systems. They also made models with piano keys and two or three rows of buttons on the outside of the keyboard.
Some of the special features of the Ranco accordions were ;
The treble and bass pallets were floating, so as they could lie at and angle and ensure perfect bedding with no loss of air.
Specials had leather on the sound board, which helped to seal and quieten the pallet noise.
The reed plates were made from Duralium, not aluminium. This metal gives a far better tone to the instrument than any other metal; the reed tongues are Swiss cobalt steel.
The reed plates are fitted on the bridges to the bare wood, and are pinned and glued, no wax was used.
A thin acoustic membrane placed on the solid wood of the casework increases the tonal strength of the instrument to a considerable extent.
This amplification system could penetrate to the furthest corners of the largest auditorium; this was necessary in the days before electric amplification.
All Ranco accordions were guaranteed for 5 years, for defects and workmanship.
Antonio Ranco had three sons, Antonio Jnr, Luigi and Guglielmo. Luidi went on his own and built accordions to order. He built a 3-row, 3 voice, 72 bass diatonic for Emile Vacher which he used for his first 78s. Guglielmo also went on his own and made good instruments. Antonio Jnr had a son called Guiseppe, who is now building accordions. Antonio Jnr died in 1966.
In 1926 the Ranco brothers employed over 60 workers. It was a sad day when the Ranco factory closed down, but it was a boost for Hohner and others – in particular the Morino and Atlantic models at that time. Antonio Snr did not allow his sons to use the Ranco name on the reeds; only Antonio Jnr was permitted to do so. In 1935 you couls buy a 4 voice Ranco for £57. The Supervox was and still is the best Ranco ever built. They were available in four and five voices. I hope the instruments today are of the same quality.
Collectors’ Pieces
by Charlie Gore
Charlie Gore edited and published ‘The Scottish Fiddle Music Index’ in 1994. This was the first attempt ever made to index the titles of the 12,000 or so traditional tunes, songs, airs and miscellaneous music published in the printed collections of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The chief value of the Index to researchers, musicians and students of the tradition is that it has made it possible to locate any tune listed and to identify an accessible source for the music (mostly based on collections held at the National Library of Scotland).
The Final Fling
Last month, I tried to piece together a picture of the older Scottish fiddle tradition in decline; through its struggle to make itself heard in the face of the dominant accordion sound; finally, in the 1950s, the dramatic entry of Shetland and Ireland into the picture and the ensuing ‘rebirth’ of enthusiasm for what was still to be loosely known as ‘the tradition’, but would in fact go on to become something very new and different under various manufactured titles linking to the international folk scene, ‘Celtic music’, ‘Highland music’, ‘Ceilidh music’, ‘Tartan rock’ and so on into ever deeper into comedy and ‘spin’.
For that loyal group devoted to their traditional dancing and strict tempo, the accordion band or solo piano still hold centre stage. The tradition of the Gows, Marshall and Skinner, ancestor of that same dance tradition but well equipped to outlive it, has its following and continues to delight quietly and without flamboyance, against the skirling, heuching and screeching of its competitors which, in their various ways, tend to hog the limelight and absorb and educational or promotional backing available.
The half dozen considerable collections of music I listed last month, along with Skinner’s own personal contribution and the military pipe music manuals, became the source for dance music in the next century. The Athole Collection, Kerr’s ‘Merry Melodies’, K. N. MacDonald (Skye), Lowe, Glen and Surenne provide among them literally thousands of strathspeys and reels, yet that is almost all they provide, along with a few pages of Scottish jigs, hornpipes, Irish jigs and reel, some old and new ballroom pieces and country dances sets. In one case (Surenne’s ‘Dance Music of Scotland’ 1851) reels and strathspeys make up all 244 titles. At that time, Skinner was also making his input (over 600 in total) enriching the repertoire withy his great reels and strathspeys, quicksteps, airs, laments and performance pieces. The military pipe manuals were beginning to interest fiddlers and accordion bands alike and the RSCDS began to add their quota from the 1920s.
The continuing partnership of Scottish country dance with traditional dance steps and rhythms is crucial. Strict-tempo was the watchword of the leaders of dance in the 20th century, as no doubt it was in the earlier period. And so it remains to this day, but to contemporary folk musicians strict-tempo is no more than a dirty word. Breakneck speed and a range of highly eccentric ornamentation are the hallmarks of the ‘new sound’. There’s a lot more in it of the technique developed by the descendents of emigrant Scots and Irish fiddlers in North America than of the purer Scottish original. This of course ties in well with the fashion for ‘ceilidh dancing’ where rules are few and a good time may be had by all under thirty. The one thing it is not, however, is traditional. One way to maintain a liaison between the old and new might be a concentrated effort to get traditional dancers and potential fiddlers into training together. A word picture is hardly likely to convey the essence of something as subtle as the foot movements of a strathspey. You have to be there and play to it. Anyone who has been present or performed at a display of Canadian step dancing will appreciate the ways in which dance influences the musician’s style. Some of the older musicians of Cape Breton, where step dancing is alive and well, are ready to confirm that the style of fiddling of the region is specially tailored to it. As in every national musical tradition, there is something uniquely worth preserving, but that should not lead to preserving it in aspic! Demonstrations of country dancing on television a few years back were so conceived as to leave the impression that dance is ‘corsetted’ by strict-tempo. There was no humour (except for the viewer) and very little evidence of what might be described as a fiddler’s ‘instinct for the dance’. In the average accordion line-up, the fiddler or fiddlers, if present at all, tended to be seen but not heard.
Returning to the repertory, the fiddlers of Scotland seem to have forgotten, or decided to ignore, the wealth of other music of the earlier centuries that missed the selection process begun by Lowe, Kerr and their contemporaries. The printed material that was never re-issued is preserved on the shelves of the great libraries, but how many of today’s ranking fiddlers go looking for new (old) material there? Gae few, by my reckoning! If they did go, and found material to their personal taste, asking to be played, the rest of the fiddling world would do what it has always done and follow suit. Hearing a tune played well is the best way of ensuring that it becomes a favourite. Besides thousands more reels and strathspeys, there are the slow airs and laments, the jigs, the quicksteps, oddities of every description (going back centuries to before music was even written down, let alone published). But it was not by any means that this music was necessarily inferior to the material selected. In a lot of cases it was simply because it didn’t qualify for inclusion as ‘dance music’. Later, there could have been a comparable trawl through the books for other kinds of music for republishing, but times have moved on and that has only happened to a very limited extent. The resulting loss to the repertoire of potentially playable music, not selected then, little heard and rarely even seen since, is truly incredible. Any good musician in the 21st century with a mind to go looking in the right places has a feast of surprises in store! I hope I live long enough to hear some of them played again by the next generation of great Scottish Traditional fiddlers.
Nathanial Gow’s Compliments to his Brother
There’s a distinct flavour of piobaireachd in the second 8 bars of this slow air. It appears in ‘Gow’s Sixth Book of Reels’, published in 1822 and not (as far as we know) ever republished. One of its unique features is that, apart from half a dozen reels and a couple of strathspeys, its 36 pages contain only tunes marked ‘Slow’, one reason why it might have been set aside by the late 19th century collectors and since forgotten. Some of the tunes are well worth investigation.
Pennycuick House
Stranger still is the neglect of the music of Neil Gow Junior, grandson of Niel and son of Nathanial, who seemed to be well established in the family tradition when he died tragically young in 1823. The father proudly assembled the son’s compositions posthumously in ‘A Collection od Airs, Reels and Strathspeys…..’ which eventually appeared in 1835, four years after his own death in 1831.
I would like to publish a couple of hundred more examples, but time and space forbid.
The 3rd National Accordion Fun Festival
by Neil Copland
The 3rd National Accordion Fun Festival was held in The Normandy Hotel, ……..
The Violin Shop
Close to Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery………….
Calling All Fiddlers
Charlie McKerron, fiddler with top Scottish band Capercaillie, is one of the driving forces behind a new Website…………………
Happy Birthday Leicester RSCDS
by Barbara Sharp
Silver Anniversary Ball
More than 100 people……..
Festival of the Sea
by Pam Buchanan
One of Europe’s great maritime Festivals ……….
The Piping Shrike
by Jean Lumsden
South Australia hosted The Festival Cup 2002…………………………
Greeting from Inverness
by Margo MacLennan
By the time you read this report…………………..
CD Reviews
From Eriskay to Donegal – Eriskay Lilt – Don & Kathleen MacDonald
James Scott Skinner – The Strathspey King – Temple Records - COMD2084
Book Review
McBain’s Scottish Country Dance Band 1947-1980 Remembered
Take the Floor – Saturdays with Robbie Shepherd
28th Dec 02 – Fergie MacDonald & Guests (OB from Coigach Community Hall, Achiltibuie)
4th Jan 03 – Ian Thomson SDB + Concert Set – Fiddlers Bid live in The Queens Hall
11th Jan 03 – Fraser McGlynn Duo
18th Jan 03 – Donald MacLeod SDB
25th Jan 03 – Kenny Thomson & the Wardlaw SDB – Burns Night OB from Ayr Town Hall with guests The Ayrshire Voices & Alistair McCulloch
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Westburn Park Lounge) – 28th Jan 03 – Marian Anderson SDB
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle)
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 19th Jan 03 – Roger Dobson SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) -
Armadale (Masonic Hall) –
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 19th Jan 03 – Iain MacPhail SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) –
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 22nd Jan 03 – Strathbogie Fiddlers
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) – 20th Jan 03 – James Coutts SDB
Belford (Community Centre) – 30th Jan 03 - tba
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 12th Jan 03 – West Telferton SDB
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 14th Jan 03 – The Colliston Sound
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) - 14th Jan 03 – Hertfordshire Accordion Club
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 9th Jan 03 – Roger Dobson SDB
19th Jan 03 – Shand Morino Gathering
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 – John Morgan & Paul Phillips – ‘The Homelanders’
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary’s Social Club) - 9th Jan 03 – Fiddlers Von Trapp
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – William Marshall
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 16th Jan 03 – George Stirrat SDB
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) - 12th Jan 03 – All players welcome
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel) 17th Jan 03 – Dance to Willie Simpson & Gordon Pattullo
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club)
Dalriada (Argyll Arms Hotel, Lochgilphead)
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Sutherland A&F Club
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 15th Jan 03 – Jimmy Lindsay SDB
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 14th Jan 03 – Lindsay Weir Trio
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
East Kilbride (The Village Inn) – 30th Jan 03 – Roy Hendrie Trio
Ellon (Station Hotel) –
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 27th Jan 03 – Seamus O’Sullivan
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 26th Jan 03 – AGM & Club Night
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Graeme Mitchell SDB (25th Anniversary)
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel, Wooler) – 16th Jan 03 – Colin Dewar Trio
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 – Club Night
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 28th Jan 03 – Bruce Lindsay SDB
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 5th Jan 03 – Members’ Night
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 20th Jan 03 – Jock Fraser SDB
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) - 8th Jan 03 – Archie MacAllister Trio
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 9th Jan 03 – Local Artiste Night
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 7th Jan 03 – Galloway SDB
Kelso (Ednam House Hotel) – 29th Jan 03 – Neil Hardie SDB
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) –
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 27th Jan 03 – Brian Griffin Duo
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – Locals’ Club Night
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 9th Jan 03 – Tom Orr SDB
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 9th Jan 03 – David Bowen Trio
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 21st Jan 03 – Glenelvin SDB
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 28th Jan 03 – Ross MacPherson Trio
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 21st Jan 03 – Gordon Pattullo
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 8th Jan 03 – James Coutts SDB
Newburgh (The Ship Inn) - 30th Jan 03 – Gordon Pattullo
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 5th Jan 03 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 27th Jan 03 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) – 10th Jan 03 – Dance to Charlie Kirkpatrick’s SDB
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Green Tree Hotel) –
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – Duncan Black SDB
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) - 7th Jan 03 - tba
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 14th Jan 03 – Alison Smith & Marie Fielding
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) - 9th Jan 03 – Club Night
Selkirk (Cricket Club) - 9th Jan 03 – Robin Waitt
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 9th Jan 03 – Local night
27th Jan 03 0 Pre Up-Helly-Aa Night
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 18th Jan 03 – Wyvis Sound
Thornhill (Masonic Hall) - 14th Jan 03 – Dick Black SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 6th Jan 03 – Iain Anderson Trio
Turriff (Royal British Legion) –
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn) 9th Jan 03 – John Morgan
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 21st Jan 03 – Ceilidh / Band Night
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Annan
2. Arbroath
3. Armadale
4. Banff
5. Beith & District
6. Blairgowrie
7. Bromley
8. Button-Key
9. Castle Douglas
10. Coalburn
11. Cults
12. Dingwall
13. Dunblane
14. East Kilbride
15. Fintry
16. Forfar
17. Forres
18. Glendale
19. Glenrothes & District
20. Gretna
21. Highland
22. Islesteps
23. Kintore
24. Lanark
25. Lewis & Harris
26. Livingston
27. Lockerbie
28. Montrose
29. Newburgh
30. Newmill
32. Newtongrange
33. Oban
34. Premier
35. Shetland
36. West Barnes
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2002
(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. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Closed
6. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
7. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
8. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
9. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
10. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
11. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
12. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
13. Bromley A&F Club
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campbeltown A&F Club (
16. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
17. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
18. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
19. Coalburn A&F Club (
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980)
29. Ellon A&F Club (
30. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
31. Forfar A&F Club (
32. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
33. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
34. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
35. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
36. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
37. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
38. 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)
39. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
40. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
41. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
42. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
43. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
44. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
45. Kintore A&F Club (
46. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed
47. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – present)
48. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
49. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
50. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
51. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
52. Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
53. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
54. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
55. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
56. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded
57. Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999
58. Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
59. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
60. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
61. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
62. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
63. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
64. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
65. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
66. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
67. Selkirk A&F Club (
68. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
69. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 - )
70. Sutherland A&F Club (
71. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
72. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
73. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
74. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
75. Vancouver
76. West Barnes ( - present)
77. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
78. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – )
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
79. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
80. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
81. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
82. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
83. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
84. Buchan A&F Club
85. Callander A&F Club (
86. Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
87. Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
88. Club Accord
89. Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
90. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
91. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
92. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
93. Derwentside A&F Club
94. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
95. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
96. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
97. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
98. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
99. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
100. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
101. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
102. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
103. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
104. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
105. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
106. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
107. Mull A&F Club
108. Newcastleton Accordion Club
109. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
110. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
111. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
112. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
113. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
114. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
115. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
116. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
117. Tranent A&F Club
118. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
119. Wellbank A&F Club
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