Box and Fiddle
Year 27 No 01
September 2003
Price £2.00
40 Page Magazine
3 month subscription £6 + p&p £1.80
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
Karin Ingram
Welcome back to all of our readers who buy The Box and Fiddle at their Clubs. If any of you would like back issues of the summer months please contact us. Summer’s lead articles have included Musselburgh, Iain MacPhail (NAAFC Guest of Honour), Colin Dewar in Skye, Colin Campbell and the NAAFC AGM and Celebrity Luncheon.
This month we lead with a piece about our Guest Artiste of the Year, Graeme Mitchell, as he celebrates 21 years in the Scottish Traditional Music scene.
Our music has lost two of its great ambassadors recently – Bert Murray and Will Atkinson. Our sympathies go to their families and friends, and the magazine carries their Obituaries this month.
Our own Reviewer, Judith Linton, celebrated her 40th birthday last month, and her mum, Ella, has given us an insight into what she was like as a child. Jude will kill me when she sees the photos we’ve included! Joking aside, I’d like to wish her all the happiness in the world – she deserves it.
This month I’m looking forward to the unveiling of the Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture in Auchtermuchty on the 12th, the Scottish Traditional Music Awards on the 13th and The Inverness Button Box Gathering on the 18th. Hopefully I might meet up with some of you along the way.
Please keep your articles coming in, and remember we like to have photos too. Given the choice, we prefer to use ‘real’ photos whenever possible. Digital ones (sent by e-mail, or on CD) are never quite as clear on the printed page, and we cannot use computer printouts or slides.
Thanks again to all of the B&F Team, and welcome on board to Karyn McCulloch.
Graeme Mitchell - 21 Years On
by Karyn McCulloch
The name Graeme Mitchell is ‘weel-kent’ in the Scottish Music and Dance circuit, from ceilidhs and dances to Accordion and Fiddle Clubs. However, perhaps not many people know when and how his musical life began.
Graeme started playing the accordion when he was ten years old. His first teacher was Jean MacConnachie, the same lady who now stays in Dumfries and has her own successful band. Graeme’s sister Sandra also went to Jean foe lessons and he remembers her trying to persuade him to “go first” because she wanted to see ‘Top of the Pops’. Jean gave up her private pupils to teach music in the secondary school, Sandra gave up the box for ‘Top of the Pops’, so Graeme inherited the ‘big box’. He then had a variety of different tutors, namely Sam Thompson from Keith and Jimmy Martin came up to Elgin from Perth to provide lessons in the Bishopsmill Hall. Graeme’s father (who played the fiddle and gave him great encouragement) then read an article in a newspaper about pupils being taught by Peter Farnan from Bucksburn. He made enquiries and undertook to drive the young lad through to Bucksburn from Cairnie on a weekly basis to receive lessons from Peter – who was a very strict disciplinarian and settled for nothing less than total commitment. He had a unique teaching style and Graeme learnt a lot.
Bill Shearer, an uncle of Graeme’s father, was always keen to support what he was doing on the accordion and he took him to the North East Accordion and Fiddle Club, which was held in the Seafield Hotel, Keith. Graeme would have been about twelve or thirteen and he seems to remember it being a special members night. He didn’t play that night – Bill wanted him to see what was involved and hoped that he might consider joining – and play his 48 bass Sorrento accordion at the Club on a regular basis. The guest artiste for the evening was Jim Johnstone and his Band. Graeme remembers sitting with Bill in the front row and he can honestly say that he was enthralled with the sound created by two accordions, piano, bass and drums. Randal Webster, amateur archivist and recording enthusiast (and the same gentleman Graeme later composed the very successful Randal’s Reel for), has a recording of that evening. It displays very well the unmistakable Johnstone swing that Graeme later came to admire so much. He admits that Jim Johnstone is his favourite player, “the complete all-rounder – a very talented man indeed”.
After this, he started going to the A&F Club with his parents (Sandy and Aileen) and there were plenty of other young players doing their bit each month, people like Maureen Rutherford, Eric Bell and Stuart Anderson from Bucksburn, who used to attend the Club regularly (incidentally the Stuart Anderson mentioned here is, in fact, the first person I ever saw playing an accordion – and he just happens to be the reason I play the ‘box’ today!)
Graeme continued to attend lessons with Peter Farnan and he competed in competitions up and down the country, both as a soloist and also in trios with Maureen Rutherford and Billy Raeburn from Huntly on fiddle. He had “a fair degree of success”, which culminated in 1977 when he won the All Scotland Accordion Championship in Perth, at the age of seventeen. In fact, Graeme was the first person to play the two tunes that Peter composed – which have become standard competition pieces today – namely the strathspey, Rita Duncan and the reel, Jim Money.
Today the Accordion & Fiddle Club scene seems to be generally quite good, but Graeme would like to see more of the younger players back attending the Clubs regularly. There seems to be far too much emphasis placed on “who is better than who”. The players – and their parents – tend to live almost competitively ALL THE TIME. Parents should, of course, encourage their kids to do well, but these young kids should also be able to encourage each other. /there is a time and a place for being competitive – but it is not at an Accordion and Fiddle Club. A feeling that is probably echoed all over the country.
In more recent years, Graeme has been at the other side of the competition stage – adjudicating at various Festivals and Competitions, although he admits that he doesn’t particularly enjoy adjudicating. He prefers to hear people playing more “earthy” music – the competition pieces tend to be really technical. On a personal note, Graeme’s own preference is playing 6/8 marches on his Hohner Gola accordion, which is the same age as him (that’s a secret!).
At seventeen, Graeme started working as a Trainee Technician in Aberdeen. He had a driving licence and was given the opportunity to join a Showband, which he declined; however a short time later, he started to play with Bill Black. He remembers “running up and down the road” from Aberdeen to Perth at weekends, in an assortment of vehicles and with an assortment of different mechanical problems! He traveled all over the country with Bill – and the unofficial ceilidhs they had together were just as good as the more formal ones (although the Box and Fiddle magazine would need to become a lot more liberal a publication to tolerate the stories Graeme could tell about the next five years!)
In the middle of all this, he left his job in Aberdeen and decided to study full time at the Aberdeen College of Education, as it was known then. He was also given the opportunity by Freeland Barbour and Sandy Coghill to record Cairnie’s Canter. He knew Sandy from the competition circuit and used to attend the dances at the Lion Hotel, Auldearn where the Wallochmore Ceilidh Band, and indeed Bill Black, played regularly. He still played with Bill up to the last year of his teaching course. Graeme graduated in 1982 and was offered a job back home, teaching in the Gordon Schools, Huntly. He took the job and unfortunately had to leave the band.
Also, when he was about seventeen, Graeme met (through Ian Duncan from Keith) a gent he came to admire to much. His name was Ronnie Cooper from Shetland. Ronnie used to attend the Keith TMSA Festival and they used to have endless tunes together. He would drag Graeme to a piano and they would sit and play for hours. Graeme never considered himself a soloist but he found that what Ronnie did on piano, he really thrived on. It was melodic, rhythmical and above all very complimentary. Next thing he knew, he had been invited to Shetland for the first time to play at the Shetland A&F Club – and Ronnie played along with him. Graeme didn’t go to Shetland thinking that he would show then something new. He knew fine that there was an assortment of musicians there who had forgotten more than he ever knew. He enjoyed the “marathons” with Ronnie though. “What a man!!”
Again, through the competition circuit and the Lion Hotel, Graeme met Neil McMillan from Loch Lomond and spent “many a few days” at Neil and Fiona’s, when he had only been invited there to play for one night – such was the hospitality. Neil introduced him to people like Colin Finlayson, Rikki Franci, Gus Millar and Dochie McCallum. The Mull Festivals also started around this time and he was able to hear Bobby MacLeod playing the accordion. “Wonderful”.
In the early eighties in the North East of Scotland there wasn’t much work available for a Scottish Dance Band. There was work to be found for a Box Player in a Band, but it wasn’t what Graeme wanted to play. So this was when he decided to form his own band. Freeland Barbour was then producer of ‘Take the Floor’ and he suggested that the band should do a broadcast. However, Graeme decided to wait and see if he could formulate a sound rather than just pick a few musicians and sit down and play.
So Graeme – along with Brian Cruickshank (who had developed an interest in the bass fiddle), Gordon Duguid (second accordion) and Billy Brown (drums) practiced on a weekly basis for quite some time. Graeme wanted to use the experience he had gained while playing with Ronnie Cooper. He wanted the sound to be simple and he wanted it to be unobtrusive. These are qualities he still believes in. This wasn’t totally achieved in the early stages but the broadcast went ahead anyway. The band enlisted the help of the vastly more experienced David Bowen on piano and an amazingly talented young fiddler by the name of Judi Davidson from Banchory. There was a positive response from the broadcast and so they recorded the LP Fine Fettle. The band ‘gigged’ around but were never really busy. Various circumstances made Graeme feel like giving up the idea of having a band and perhaps moving to an area where he could get more opportunity to play. He had to remember that this strange hobby wasn’t his living and perhaps he was placing too much emphasis on it.
The resurgence of ‘old time dancing’ certainly changed the overall attitude to dancing in the North East. Graeme believes that somehow, culturally, it is now quite acceptable for youngsters to be involved in ceilidh dancing. In the North East now it is very popular to have, as part of your wedding, a ceilidh band providing the music. The company perhaps require to be talked through the dances but, as long as they are willing to participate, he is happy with that. Graeme feels that things have changed drastically – for the better.
Graeme and his band have done some foreign trips but because he is a teacher (and yes, he’s heard all the jokes about the amount of holidays teachers get!!) he can’t get away at St Andrew’s time to play abroad. He did, however, manage a trip to Poland in 1998. More recently, the band went to Switzerland {in the summer of 2001) and got stranded in Amsterdam with no luggage – dressed only in shorts and T-shirts. Graeme says he’s saving the story of that “saga tour” for a rainy day!! Graeme often gets asked about his composing. Generally, he says, he can’t sit down and compose a tune “like somebody would bake a cake” Although he has managed to pen somewhere between forty and fifty tunes – which is not bad going – he has only ever “written on request” once and he was probably motivated by the fact that he really wanted to do it for the person. That person was Robbie Shepherd M.B.E. and the BBC asked him to do it. Robbie had a huge influence on Graeme when he was in Aberdeen. He totally respects his advice at all times. On numerous occasions he was on the receiving end of Mr Shepherd and his wife Esma’s immense hospitality.
The rest of the tunes in the book published of Graeme’s original compositions are for a variety of characters and places that mean something to him personally. His own favourite is ‘Donnie the Post’. This tune was written for the late Donnie MacDonald from Spean Bridge, who made Graeme laugh so much when he “had a dram”. “He looked like Penfold from ‘Dangermouse’ and he drank Haig whisky and ate soup – AT THE SAME TIME!! Life needs characters like that”. In Graeme’s opinion “the ultimate test for any composition is how many people play the tune”.
Personnel within the band had not changed since the first five or six years and they continued to broadcast and play quite consistently – and they certainly weren’t short of requests by enthusiasts to do a CD. Graeme and his band hadn’t made a commercially available recording for quite some time, as he never seemed to be able to get round to it. Stuart Forbes of Shielburn Associates was very keen to do something with the band and so they recorded the Lasting Impression CD. Long before this, Duncan Christie had joined Messrs Cruickshank and Duguid as the boys Graeme could rely on to do all the gig work. For broadcasts, Neil McMillan was brought in to take the piano role, mainly because Neil knows Graeme and the band really well and he knows the sound Graeme likes. The same, of course, can be said for Brian, Gordon and Duncan. People often ask Graeme how he gets the tight sound. His response is simple – he is working with the same personnel all the time. They know what he likes and it is a mark of their professionalism that they strive for that same “buzz” when it’s all clicking along good-style. Susan MacIntosh, on fiddle, has an immense slot to fill within the band – and she does that admirably. Susan is also a tremendous solo player and the quality of music created with fiancé Scott Gordon on piano is up there amongst the very best.
As well as being a Technical Teacher in his ‘day job’, Graeme also teaches accordion one day a month in Inverness, as well as having his own private pupils in Huntly and surrounding areas. His advice to youngsters learning to play the accordion is to listen to ‘the greats’ – and try not to think about rock music while playing traditional music!
Due to his geographic location, it is virtually impossible for Graeme and his Band to visit some of the Accordion and Fiddle Clubs. Because of this he didn’t expect an award in this year’s BAFFI’s. It was a great surprise to Graeme – and shock – when he won the award for Guest Artiste of the Year.
Graeme’s work with his band takes up a huge amount of his time, although he enjoys it “most of the time” and the craic with the lads is grand. However, he feels that the way that he likes to play and how he likes his band to sound seems “a bit dated” compared to some other bands of today. Given that it was the traditional music loving public who voted in the BAFFI’s, it would seem that they do not agree with that thought!
So, here we are twenty-one years on and as stated on the sleeve notes of the new CD, In Full Swing, it has been the band’s intention, for some time now, to record an evening’s dancing. They invited some of the people who had consistently given them work over the years to come and celebrate. The rest of the company was made up of experienced dancers and young members of the Banchory Strathspey and Reel Society, whom again the band has had a long association with. Jennifer Forrest and Doug Maskew managed to produce a recording that represents very much the type of night Graeme Mitchell and his Scottish Dance Band really enjoy playing for. It is a new venture for Brian, Gordon, Duncan and Graeme himself, and they hope people will enjoy listening to it.
So, after twenty-one years of playing to thousands and thousands of people, both at home and abroad – does Graeme still get nervous before gigs? His answer – Yes, Yes and a thousand more Yes’s!!!!”
There is, however, one musical ambition that remains unfulfilled for Graeme. He tells me he would love to learn to play the pipes and be able to play a set of jigs for a Strip the Willow – with piano, bass, drums and second accordion backing him. This would be ‘Epic’.
In conclusion, may I take this opportunity in offering my own congratulations to Graeme – and the rest of the band – in winning the first ever BAFFI Award for Best Guest Artiste.
Also, I must thank Graeme for his huge input to this article, both with the writing and the supply of photographs – this was a massive help to me, since it was a wee bit of a “rushed job”. All the best Graeme. Here’s to the next twenty-one years!
Will Atkinson - Obituary
by Ernie Gordon
Following a short illness Will Atkinson died peacefully in his sleep at Berwick Infirmary at 09.30hrs on Wednesday 30th July 2003, with his immediate family around him. I am sure that all our thoughts go out to Will’s family at this particular time.
So typical of the man, he enjoyed playing a few tunes with visiting friends while in hospital, right up to the time before his passing, which is the absolute measure of this wonderful, musical, country man.
The burial service took place at Wooler Parish Church on Wednesday 5th August, movingly conducted by the Rev Bob Burston before a packed congregation of family and friends, gilded with the strains of Will’s favourite music during and following the service so ably provided by Alistair Anderson and a number of Will’s personal musical friends. A fantastic floral tribute, arranged by Will’s granddaughter Sarah bedecked his coffin on its final journey, so wonderfully apt, depicting in superb fashion the first few bars of her Granddad’s very first composition The Glen Aln Hornpipe. Together with the sunshine it made the occasion such a perfect farewell in every respect.
The final chapter of ‘The Three Musical Shepherds’ is now complete, as Will is the last to have his name added to the ‘Roll of Honour’ of traditional music greats as he now joins his other two friends of many years’ standing – the late Joe Hutton and Willie Taylor, and a whole host more.
I can see a great reunion taking place, a lot of ‘craic’ to bring up-to-date now that they are all finally together. Just imagine listening in on the conversation with Jimmy Shand, Will Hannah, Will Starr and the galaxy of greats who have gone before him!!
How ironic, even timely, that he was able to derive such pleasure assisting me with his book and compiling the necessary material these past few months. I can assure you all, he was extremely ‘chuffed’ when he received the very first copy from the printers. In fact he was always immensely proud every time he played on stage or wherever, in his own inimitable, modest but brilliant way, eager to perfect each and every tune so as to do it justice and always eager to give help and advise to anyone who sought his services.
Will has left a marvelous legacy for us all in the traditional music world simply by being who he was, for he will forever be remembered as ‘The Wonderful Musical Country Man’.
Judith Linton
by Ella Linton
Our daughter Judith was born in 1963 and showed no signs of musical talent until she was about ten years old (does she yet?!?)
One of her earliest hobbies was cycling – until she fell off and broke both her wrists. She spent several weeks in plaster in Leith hospital. Next she tried her had at orienteering. Her weekends were spent running through the woods with map and compass, but she soon tired of this and decided that Wimbledon beckoned. She persuaded us to buy her a tennis racquet and shoes and, after about three practice sessions, considered herself a fully fledged tennis player. The racquet and shoes disappeared back into their boxes, never to see the light of day!
Next Judith attended Highland, tap and ballet dancing classes in Duns. Again she had to have all the gear – Highland pumps, and tap and ballet shoes. They’re probably still in their boxes to this day! (She was a size three then and a very dainty dancer. Don’t believe her if she tries to tell you that she can’t dance!)
Living in the country Judith could ride a horse from a fairly early age. She was never really comfortable with the idea of hunting, but thought she’s better give it a try to see if she was being unfairly judgmental. She certainly looked the business, all decked out in full hunting regalia, but as usual things did not run smoothly. Her horse, Sox, took a dislike to one of the hounds, which did not greatly impress the Master of the Foxhounds. Sox had evidently decided that he disapproved of hunting too and poor Judith spent more time lying on the ground than sitting on horseback.
My nephew gave us a very old, but powerful, motorbike for our son, John. Judith’s brother never mastered the bike, but Judith was a wizard on it – riding flat out through the fields (occasionally, like her horse, the bike threw her to the ground too!) In later years she mastered the skills of Land Rover, tractor and quad bike driving. She used to drive through deep snow drifts from our isolated farm to Duns to bring home shopping. To this day bad weather won’t put her off reaching her destination. She always drove her quad bike very fast in the fields. One time she and her four border collies all ended up upside down in the burn and had to walk home soaking wet. The tractor was needed to remove said bike from the burn – those collies must have had nerves of steel!
And so to music….Judith decided that she quite fancied being a trumpet player. My ears have never really recovered from the noise – thankfully that hobby was short-lived too. I was so pleased to see the trumpet lying peacefully in its box.
Next on the hobby agenda came dog showing. Judith had a great affinity with animals (she was an extremely good shepherd) and trained out Doberman Pinscher, Simba, who had been rescued from the Cat and Dog Home. She exhibited Simba with reasonable success – at her first Show she won Reserve Best in Show. Full of confidence, the pair entered another show. It was a wet day and the judge was kitted out in oilskin coat and hat. Simba obviously didn’t think much of the judge’s fashion taste and tried to bite a chunk out of the coat! Her glittering show career came to an abrupt end, but she was Judith’s pride and joy and lived to a ripe old age, happy on the farm (although always rather quick with her teeth).
Judith also had brief dalliances with Shetland pony showing and gymnastics.
One day Judith arrived home from school proudly clutching a violin. The noise resembled the trumpet! My aunt played the violin beautifully, but we despaired of Judith ever following suit. Many months of screeching and scraping followed before she played anything vaguely recognizable. Judith begged us to buy her a fiddle, which we agreed to do one Christmas. Remembering how short-lived her previous hobbies had been, we had no intention of spending a lot of money. Her first fiddle cost the princely sum of £15 and we waited for it to be thrown in the cupboard beside the tennis racquet and trumpet. How wrong we were!
Judith trained at the International Cello Centre with the late Jane Cowan, first weekly, then later, after leaving school, as a residential pupil for three years. She devoted hours and hours of practice to classical music. I remember once going to hear Judith play a classical piece in a church in Duns. I listened proudly and applauded her enthusiastically, then all of a sudden she started playing again – apparently this was known as a ‘movement’ and poor Judith was “black-affronted” to hear her ignorant mother making such an idiot of herself! All eyes in the church seemed to be looking at me, and the man sitting next to me told me to be quiet. I never fully appreciated Judith’s classical talent – and I attended no more concerts!
At last Judith moved to Scottish traditional music. This was our heritage, and we could understand it. I enjoyed listening to the dance music on the radio, and was a great fan of Jimmy Shand. My late cousin, Bill Stenhouse, had his own Scottish Dance Band. He so much admired Judith, and kept up-to-date with all she was achieving in the Scottish Music scene. My aunt was a beautiful singer, as well as playing the fiddle, and was extremely proud of Judith. She gave her lots of the music that she had acquired over the years.
One piece of advice that I can give to parents is that the more I told Judith to put the noisy fiddle away in its case and help in the house, the more she practised. When I was learning to play the piano as a child, my parents insistence that I practised only had the effect of putting me off for life. In 1980 Judith spent three weeks with the late Tom Anderson in Shetland. She had met Tom in Edinburgh at a fiddle course that she had attended to gain experience – what better way to start than with Shetland music! Tom invited her to Shetland to join in with the Shetland Sessions and have some lessons from him.
In 1985 she met up with the Scottish pianist Muriel Johnstone, a prolific composer, who for many years has been associated with the musical arrangements of the RSCDS publications of music and dances. She gave Judith her first opportunity to play in a real Scottish Dance Band. This was all new to Judith, for having played classical music for so many years, her bowing technique for Scottish fiddle music was all wrong, and she says it took her about eight years to be able to play a strathspey in a Scottish style and not in the style of Bach (who wasn’t exactly noted for his strathspeys!)
In 1987 she started to enter fiddle competitions – winning some and losing others. The losing didn’t put her off, as she knew the other competitors had been on the circuit for years. At the age of twenty-four she found herself the oldest competitor, yet the one with the least experience of playing Scottish fiddle music. Her biggest competition was the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship in 1991, where she was one of the seven finalists. As a result of reaching the finals, the Director of BBC Scotland’s TV farming programme ‘Landward’ asked if she would be interested in doing a documentary about her fiddling and farming. Judith jumped at the offer and it was broadcast in April 1992.
We are all very proud of Judith’s musical career and all she has achieved. Unfortunately my mother did not live long enough to witness her success, but Judith dedicated her first cassette to her. Judith’s late grandparents adored her and they greatly encouraged her talents when she was younger.
Judith’s playing has taken her all over the world. She has performed in the USA, Israel, Russia, Malaysia – the list is endless. She is in great demand to play (as well as record and broadcast) with Scottish Dance Bands; she has a ceilidh band – the Kadugan Ceilidh Band – and she runs her own music promotions agency. She also teaches fiddle at the RSCDS Summer School and has a regular guest spot on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’ reviewing recent CD releases. Add to this the hours spent doing Reviews for the Box and Fiddle each month and we begin to wonder where she finds the time to see us all!
Happy Birthday Judith, now you’ve reached the grand old age of forty. We hope you have many more years of playing the fiddle to come. All the noise and practising have been worthwhile.
Bert Murray M.B.E. - Obituary
by Robbie Shepherd
Everyone in the traditional music scene was saddened to hear of the recent death of Bert Murray MBE. Robbie Shepherd wrote this obituary and we make no apologies for leaving it in the Doric. The article is reprinted by kind permission of the Aberdeen Press and Journal.
For a’ that had lugs
There wis magical poo’r
In’s bow an in’s fingers
The Fiddler – John M Caie
A freenship, tho the memories bide, cam tae an eyn last wick an we pey’d oor hinmaist respecs tae ‘The Auld fiddler’ Bert Murray MBE, in’s ninetirth eer.
We wid aften reca foo we first becam acquaint. There wis Esma an me wi The Garlogie Four haein wir wikkeyn’s music the the sma Garlogie Bar an fyles on a Setterday nicht fin playin up Deeside, in wid come Bill Slessor’s band includin the handsome figure o’ Bert an’s fiddle.
We shar’t mony a stage since syne an little did I think nearly half a century on that I wid be sittin at his funeral service haarknin tae the pair o them on cassette – Bert on fiddle wi Esma on piano – waftin oot the Strains o Danny Boy.
At’s jist een o the memories I’ll cherish o a remarkable man, a real faimily man an a true inspiration tae a that haud oor prood fiddle tradition sae dear.
We hae his beuk written in 1983 fan he reach’t the three-score-eers-an-ten that gaes a fascinatin account – nae o the fiddling strangely – bit o life in Aiberdeen fae fin he wis a bairn.
Born in a tenement in Prospect Terrace in Ferryhill, he describes the crampit space o the sunks wi a twa rooms an closet, a faimily o faither, mither an nine bairns. Sleepin arrangements meant fower loons huddl’t thegither wi a tyke (mattress) fu o caff laid on timmer spars. The playin o the fiddle wis sae naitural tae him bit mony ithers, the introduction tae how the bow an the rossit wis unexpectit.
It wis his brither Gordon that wis lent the fiddle fae skweel an wis nane teen on wi’t ata preferring tae gyang outside wi a fitba. The nine-eer-aul Bert wid sneak open the case, tak oot the fiddle an in nae time ata, much tae the amazement o’s fowks, wid warsle oot a tune or twa.
Es naitural ability seen saw him winnin competitions, in much demand as a soloist or band fiddler, culminatin wi Scottish Dance Music broadcasts wi Annie Shand Scott an the antrin solo spot. His first broadcast wis wi Neil MacLean back in the thirties an the days o BBC in Belmont Street.
He laid the fiddle tae rest fin his wife Isobel took ill, an it wisna till a year efter she died in 1984 that he happen’t tae switch on the wireless rae find me playin a brand new LP fae the Cape Breton Symphony an in particular the tune ‘Trip to Windsor’, as he describit jist a three eer syne on radio, “his hauns an feet an aathing were goin”.
Jist as he hid at the age o nine, sae here he wis at the age o 72 haulin that fiddle oot aneth the bed the verra neist day an rediscover’t the freenship o the fiddle.
There wis naething he likit better than tae hear again the bairns maakin music an he wis a regular at Festivals aa ower. Mang his proudest moments maun hae been the invitations tae gyang tae Capr Breton, swappin tunes wi the best o them ower there, the hooses an open door fin a fiddler’s on the go.
There wis tee the honour fae the NAAFC fin the young fiddlers were challenged tae play Bert’s ain compositions at an annual competition. Michty, the pride in his hairt can just be imagin’t as he sat that day in the Brunton Halls in Musselburgh. We are thankful tee for the meticulous nature o the man. He composed 748 original compositions – ay, that mony – an pit them aa on tape. Noo there’s some legacy tae leave ahin an I ken the faimily are anxious that they be pit tyae gweed use in educational circles.
His hinmaist recordin was at the age o 82, on a cassette wi Marie-Louise Napier wi a tune he ca’d The Days That Are Gone.
Ay, his daily darg is deen bit oh the memories!
Tae feenish on a licht note, Esma wis mindin’s on the time she made that cassette wi him as play’t at the funeral service. His breathin wisna deein muckle for the recordin engineer’s nerves an he feenish’t up scrapin the bow wi a hankie tied roon’s nose like a cowboy. Canna picter Bert as a Hill Billy!
Greeting From Inverness
by Margo Maclennan
Where has the summer gone?........
Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture Project
by John Thomson (Secretary)
Hopefully, everyone who so kindly contributed to the above, either by making a donation of money or raising money by their tremendous ability to entertain the public, has been personally informed of the time, date and place of the Sculpture unveiling ceremony. However, I would be most grateful if you would publish that the Sculpture will be unveiled by Lord Elgin at 11am on Friday, 12th September 2003 at Upper Green, Auchtermuchty, so that any of your readers who, in some way, helped the project but are not known to the Project Committee by name, will be aware of the unveiling details. Thanking you, most sincerely, in anticipation.
Blazin’ in Beauly
‘Blazin in Beauly’ is a fiddle school with a difference………
Summer School at St Andrews
by Edna Cottrell
I have not long returned from the Family Reunion (sorry, Summer School) …………..
The Piping Shrike
by Peter Elmes
Australian Scottish Country Dancing Winter School, Adelaide, 13th – 20th July, 2003
From a musicians perspective, the 28th……..
Northbeat Island Fling
by Rob Corcoran
The recent Island Fling on Skye raised the roof……………..
Stirling University Summer Schools
by Eoin Robertson
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the founding of the ………
CD Reviews – See Hear with Judith Linton
Industrial Strength – West Telferton Caledonain Dance Band – SHIELCD019 – Shielburn Associates
The Scotia Suite of Scottish Country Dances – Devised by Roy goldring – Music composed and arranged by Muriel Johnstone
Changed Days, Same Roots – The Pozzies – CDTRAX249 – Greentrax Recordings Ltd
It’s About Time – Calum MacKinnon and Muriel Johnstone – SK01 – Skerryvore Records
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 20.30 with Robbie Shepherd
Repeats
6th Sept 03 – John Renton SDB (Dolphin Leisure Centre, Dunoon – March 2001)
13th Sept 03 – The Cullivoe Band (Cullivoe Hall, Yell, Shetland – 1990)
20th Sept 03 – Duncan Black SDB (Albert Hall stirling – 1996 – with Anne Lorne Gillies & Laura McGhee)
27th Sept 03 – The Occasionals (BP Social Club, Grangemouth – Dec 2001 with Phamie Gow Trio)
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Westburn Park Lounge) –
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle) 10th Sept 03 – David Vernon
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 21st Sept 03 – Dick Black SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 7th Sept 03 – Graeme Mitchell SDB
Armadale (Masonic Hall) – 4th Sept 03 – John Renton SDB
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 21st Sept 03 – Hector McFadyen
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 31st Sept 03 – Iain Cathcart SDB
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 24th Sept 03 – Wayne Robertson CB – 30th Birthday
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) – 15th Sept 03 – Johnny Duncan Duo
Belford (Community Centre) – 25th Sept 03 – Shirley Cathcart
Biggar (Municipal Hall) –
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 9th Sept 03 – Iain MacPhail SDB
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) -
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 11th Sept 03 – Bill McHardy & Friends
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 2nd Sept 03 – Ray Carse
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary’s Social Club) - 4th Sept 03 – Bon Accords
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) –
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 18th Sept 03 – Sandy Nixon SDB
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) -
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel) 4th Sept 03 – Dick Black Band
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club)
Dalriada (Argyll Arms Hotel, Lochgilphead) 16th Sept 03 – Colin Garvin Trio
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 3rd Sept 03 – West Telferton SDB
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) –
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 9th Sept 03 – Dick Black SDB
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
East Kilbride (Masonic Hall, Kittoch St) – 25th Sept 03 – Club Night
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 23rd Sept 03 - tbc
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 22nd Sept 03 – John Renton SDB
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 28th Sept 03 – Clyde Valley CB
Forres (Victoria Hotel) –
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel, Wooler) – 18th Sept 03 – John Crawford Trio
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 3rd Sept 03 – Willie McFarlane Band
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 30th Sept 03 – Tom Alexander
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) -
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) –
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) -
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) -
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) –
Kelso (Cross Keys Hotel) – 24th Sept 03 – Archie McVicar Trio
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) – 3rd Sept 03 – Graeme Mitchell SDB
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 22nd Sept 03 – Scott Leslie SDB
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 10th Sept 03 – Tom Orr
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) – 11th Sept 03 – Gary Forrest SDB
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 4th Sept 03 – Marian Anderson SDB
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 16th Sept 03 – 30th Birthday Party
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 30th Sept 03 – Clyde Valley CB
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) -
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 3rd Sept 03 – Richard Smith SDB
Newburgh (The Ship Inn) - 25th Sept 03 – West Telferton Cale SDB
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 7th Sept 03 – Open Day 2.30pm
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 29th Sept 03 – Gary Forrest SDB
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) – 2nd Sept 03 – Dick Black Band
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) –
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Club) – 25th Sept 03 – Livingston Club
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 16th Sept 03 – Neil MacEachern SDB
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) -
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) –
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) -
Scottish Accordion Music (Banchory) - 14th Sept 03 – All Players Welcome
Selkirk (Cricket Club) -
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) -
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) -
Thornhill (Bowling Club Hall) - 9th Sept 03 – The McDonald Family
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 8th Sept 03 – Glencraig SDB
Turriff (Royal British Legion) – 4th Sept 03 – Johnny Duncan
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) – 18th Sept 03 – Sandy Legget Trio
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn)
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) –
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Alnwick
2. Annan
3. Armadale
4. Banchory
5. Blairgowrie
6. Dunblane
7. Ellon
8. Fintry
9. Forfar
10. Forres
11. Glendale
12. Glenrothes
13. Lesmahagow
14. Lewis & Harris
15. Montrose
16. Peebles
17. Thornhill
18. Turriff
19. Tynedale
20. Wick
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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