Box and Fiddle
Year 29 No 01
September 2005
Price £2.20
44 Page Magazine
12 month subscription £20 + p&p £6.50 (UK)
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
Well, summer’s nearly over and Clubs are opening their doors and dusting down their PA systems ready for another successful season. Judging by the Club syllabuses that we’ve received, there’s going to be some great entertainment going on over the winter months. We’re compiling next year’s Box and Fiddle Calendar, so hopefully you’ve sent us your diary dates for inclusion – it’s a free advert remember! We’ve almost made the final choice of photographs, but we would still like to see a few more submitted. The calendars will be available to order next month.
We were saddened to learn of the death of Lady Anne Shand, Sir Jimmy’s widow, and our sympathies go to her family. We also lost two Club stalwarts recently – John Anderson and John Reid and this issue carries obituaries to them both.
Next month’s B&F will include the club Directory, so if there have been any changes to your details, venue, personnel, contact numbers etc, please make sure that you’ve informed our Secretary, Lorna Mair. In November the Guest Artist List will be published, so any changes or additions, please let me have them now.
Karin Ingram
John Anderson (Obituary)
by Charlie Todd
It was with a sense of stunned disbelief that Biggar awoke on the morning of Friday 1st July to find that John Anderson no longer walked among us. Recently retired as Chairman of Biggar Accordion and Fiddle Club a tragic accident whilst working on the restoration of his beloved old Rover had deprived us all of one of Biggar’s great characters. . The enormity of the loss felt was evident at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Biggar on Thursday 7th July when over 500 mourners heard the Rev. Jim Francis lead a celebration of John’s life.
John was a ‘war baby’ born in Motherwell in December 1944. His mother was a gifted musician who taught piano privately but sadly died when John was just three years of age. Thereafter he was brought up by his granny in the Cambusnethan area of Wishaw, near to the studio of accordion teacher Jean Brown. Both John and a fellow pupil at Wishaw High School, Alistair Gillespie, started lessons with Jean but John was the first to admit that he had inherited none of the mother’s musical ability. Hard practice might have overcome that, but looking back, he always knew there were too many other distractions. By contrast lifelong friend Alistair went on to become a fine accordionist, a Junior British Champion, an accordion teacher and eventually a fellow resident of Biggar. Admittedly some inspiration was gained in the early days from sitting outside the ‘Alexander’ household IN Cambusnethan listening to young Tom practicing.
John’s connection with Biggar started with family holidays at a ‘holiday hut’, one of a number sited at Boghall Farm, near Biggar. It was at one of the many village hall dances in the Biggar area that John first met his wife-to-be Joy in 1965. They were married in 1968, with daughter Sheena coming along a year later and son Iain ten years later. It was in mid 1974 while they were both attending a meeting of the ‘original’ Carlops A&F Club (a village between Biggar and Edinburgh) – the only one for miles around at that time – that John was approached by Alex MacArthur who said that he had bought the Clydesdale in Biggar and that “they” would be starting an Accordion and Fiddle Club of their own. He was as good as his word, moving into the Hotel in September 1974 and starting the Club the following month. In the early days John was a ’helper’ at the Club collecting and transporting extra chairs from the Church Hall, erecting the ‘stage’ (an old piece of flooring sitting on empty beer crates) etc and readily admitted he was far to timid to stand up in front of an audience but gradually as the years passed he assumed more of the organising duties, then some of the MC duties and by the time Alex and Evelyn left Biggar for The Farmers Arms in Thornhill in 1985 John was ready to take over the helm.
With Joy acting as Secretary/Treasurer, Tom Hope stepping up to Vice Chairman and wife Ray helping with the door/catering, there were two changes of venue, a brief stay at the Toftcombs Hotel, before settling in the Biggar Municipal Hall and the scene was set for the next 20 years, indeed right up until April of this year when John and Joy retired and handed over to Blair Gardiner. There were many memorable nights during those long year, marred only by the untimely death of the Club’s Founder Chairman, Alex MacArthur in 1989.
John usually only played at the Club if time permitted, being the first to stand down in favour of other players. One of his great strengths was that he knew he wasn’t a good player, indeed he ‘played’ on that. As the genuine mistakes of the early days disappeared, as had his nervousness in front of an audience, he substituted deliberate errors as part of his act. Without doubt his party-piece and signature tune and the tune with which his name will always be associated was “The Grandfather Clock”.
In ‘real life’ John had been Senior Janitor at Biggar High School for 18 years. The Rev Francis joked that there was a certain amount of doubt about who actually ran the school – John or the Rector. John ensured a safe environment for the innumerable children who passed through the school over those years – there was never any playground bullying when John was around. Earlier in life he was a PSV Driver with Central SMT. We were reminded by the Rev John Graham, a lifetime friend, and one time Conductor on the double decker John drove of amusing incidents such as an elderly male passenger rushing the length of the bus, which had just pulled away, and hammering on the window behind John’s seat. “What’s wrong” John asked as he half turned in his seat “ma dug, ma dug” said the man pointing to his short legged pet doing it’s best to run alongside the bus. Oops!!
John was also a quietly religious man who had served over 25 years as Biggar Kirk’s ‘Beadle’ – in effect the Church Officer – responsible for the opening, closing, cleaning, heating, and repairing of the Church building. He calmed the jangled nerves of brides-to-be, grooms-in-waiting and particularly children on ‘big’ days. Indeed one of John’s great abilities was to be the age of the person he was with – and if that happened to be three years or thirteen months then that was fine with John.
It was his various roles in the School, the Kirk and the Accordion and Fiddle Club that brought John into contact with almost everyone in the town of Biggar and the rural district beyond. Always unassuming, but ever helpful, we are all the poorer for his passing. Our deepest sympathy is extended to Joy, Sheena, Keith and family and Iain and Laura.
John Reid (Obituary)
by Karyn McCulloch
Everyone in the Accordion and fiddle Club scene was shocked and saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of John Reid from Ayrshire. He died at home on Saturday, 2nd July 2005. His funeral service took place in Dreghorn Crematorium on Friday, 8th July at 1pm where a very large congregation had gathered – so much so, that two dozen people or more had to stand outside.
John lived in Dalry in Ayrshire and was well known and well liked – both as a farmer and as a musician. He was ever present at the various Accordion and Fiddle clubs both in the local area and farther afield – including Galston, Mauchline, Beith, Renfrew and Stonehouse. No matter which Club you went to, john would be there.
It was no surprise therefore, that John was nominated in the ‘Club Supporter of the Year’ category in the BAFFIs, two years running – in 2004 and 2005. He was, in fact, the very worthy winner this year. Speaking to Karin Ingram after the award ceremony in Perth in June, John had said, “That mean’s I’ll need to write another ‘Thank You’ letter in to the magazine!” I also spoke to him that same day in Perth and can assure you that he was absolutely over the moon to have won.
John always played something ‘lively’ at the Clubs on his accordion – and occasionally he would give us a wee tune on the ‘moothie’. His favourite tunes included The Lass o’ Bon Accord and The Jacqueline Waltz. He would regularly have the audience in stitches by telling jokes and stories – often aimed at his long-standing friend (and keyboard player) Gordon Walker. The two were notorious for creating a cheery atmosphere wherever they went and would ‘take the mickey’ out of each other regularly.
Music played a huge part in John’s life – he could even be found in the middle of a field – in his tractor – with Scottish music blaring out of the cassette player!
Whenever we think of John I have no doubt that we will remember him as the big gentle cheery man that he was. John’s passing has left a huge gap in the Accordion & Fiddle Club world and we will all miss his greatly. Our sympathies go out to his wife Jean, the family and his many friends.
Royal Command Performance
by Thomasena Hall
Around the middle of May ………….
Pas de Bas
by Bobby MacLeod
The whole book is reproduced elsewhere in this archive.
The Irish Connection
by Clyde Johnston
At the UK Championships……………
Michael Philip
by Andrew Warren
Accordionist Michael Philip is an extremely well-known figure on the Accordion & Fiddle Club circuit. An excellent accordionist and prolific composer, he has countless competition successes to his name. He has won the All Scotland Accordion Championships at Perth in both Traditional and Pipe section (no easy task). “I have also won the Own Composition five times at Perth (s record still to be broken) and, after getting through to the final seven times, I eventually won the traditional title in 2000”, said Michael. At the Musselburgh Festival he has an equally impressive record winning the Traditional and Pipe sections as well as the Own Composition four times.
“I won the Veterans’ section at Perth last year”, he said, “but have now decided to stop competing”.
With one of his student placed as a runner-up in the Traditional section at Perth last year, Michael has already begun to pass on his winning techniques to his young students. Currently teaching four pupils, he says he has no plans to take on any more students. “I haven’t got a lot of time to teach, however, if someone was keen enough, I would be prepared to take them on – time’s precious”, he said.
He attributes the start of his composing to inspiration gained when visiting the Oban Festival many years ago. “The very first tune I composed was called The Oban Festival, which won the All Scotland Accordion Championships at Perth and the Musselburgh Festival Own Composition”, he recalled. “However, when I entered it for Oban the judge said it should have got 1st for the name but ended up placing it 3rd – it won everything else bar Oban”, he laughed.
Michael plays regularly with his own showband, Conundrum, and dance band, Michael Philip’s Scottish Dance Band. Conundrum tends to take up most of his weekends especially during the summer. “We do a variety of music and song for weddings and corporate events – a mixture of ceilidh and ‘covers’ depending on what is required”, said Philip. “The musicianship is of a pretty high standard so you can’t help but enjoy working with musicians like that”.
“The traditional band has a fairly settled line up with Willie Johnstone on fiddle, Suzanne Croy on bass, Nicol McLaren, second accordion, Graham Berry on piano and Malcolm Ross on drums”.
“Due to being extremely busy working with Conundrum I took a break from the Accordion and Fiddle Club circuit for quite some time although still did the competition work. The band didn’t really work in Accordion and Fiddle Clubs – it was like Pink Floyd hitting the Scottish scene!
“It wasn’t until I was invited to perform at an Accordion and fiddle Club much later that I got back into the scene. I really enjoyed playing at the Club and, to be honest, I hadn’t had a buzz like that for about five years. That was the turning point for me and I now do a couple of Clubs a month. Next season I’ve got gigs at various Clubs including Beith, Montrose, Dingwall and Belford – a mix across the country. I also play at the odd Folk Club – on my own – performing my compositions and recently supported a bluegrass duo in Kirkcaldy”.
Whilst Michael enjoys the music at the Folk Clubs he says he has no performances planned but would be happy to do more if asked.
He has featured on many recordings over the years; more recently working on some interesting community based projects. “I was asked to do some of the instrumental work on an album called Farewell to the Coal Mines, a project looking at life surrounding the pits – closures, etc. I was also asked to record music for another project about the 700 year history of Kirkcaldy Links Market”.
“Having recently recorded another album with Conundrum, the next project I am thinking of doing is a CD featuring my own compositions and using the traditional unit (i.e. my dance band) to do that”.
“I haven’t done anything for a while”, said Michael. “I did a recording back in the ‘90s called Live at the Riverside Club –it’s still selling yet, you can get it on the Internet to this day!”
Michael released his new book, The Cardenden Collection, a collection of 68 self-penned compositions, in February of this year. “The book also features 15 tunes using the bagpipe scale – actually Dysert and Dundonald Pipe Band have recently recorded one of the tunes – which is a good sign. There’s a mixture of material in the book – some tricky tunes, some easier stuff….traditional tunes and folk reels. I write all the time – I don’t know what it is, since releasing the book I have actually written another 40 tunes – I’ve just composed a French waltz which is something I haven’t done before”.
“An unusual thing happened at the Oban Festival this year”, he remarked. “In the Champion of Champions section the girl who was third played two of my tunes, from the book, the boy that won played one and my pupil didn’t play any but came second – so the tunes are starting to get played”.
“I tend to compose more than practice, although I have to practice for the Accordion Clubs. I’m not playing the material all the time due to performing with Conundrum, so when I do the Scottish material I have to rehearse. I’ve been asked to do a broadcast for Take the Floor with the dance band so I’ll probably do that at the start of the year to coincide with the new album. When I was at the Shetland Festival last year and interviewed on the radio – it was quite embarrassing actually – I was asked, “How do you feel when you are in a session and everybody stops to listen to your tunes?’ “The problem I have playing in a session is that I write so many new tunes I don’t have a chance to practice anyone else’s – so I have to play my own’, I replied”.
Thank you to music magazine 24/7 for allowing us to print this article.
Is Anybody Out There?
by Finlay Forbes
Six years ago I wrote to the B&F complaining about the poor radio and even poorer television coverage of Scottish Dance music in the B&F tradition. Six years on, the coverage has certainly not improved but this lack of progress may be due more to resigned acceptance by lovers of our traditional dance music than to embedded resistance on the part of media moguls. There is little doubt that the paucity of exposure on today’s media is due to some highly successful lobbying in the past by the corduroy breeks and beards brigade that dominated the diluted folk music in the sixties and seventies. Bank then, anything that failed to comply with this self-appointed clique’s narrow and largely baseless definition of what they regarded a genuine folk music was written off as ‘Heather and Haggis’ and therefore totally unfit for human consumption. ‘Heather and Haggis’ was, and still is, a mindless denigration but its mindlessness somehow struck a chord with our ‘thought police’ and media types who at the time, were so seduced by the superficiality of the case that they failed to discern the Neanderthal speciousness of it all. But, as one of the icons of the sixties folk movement said, “The times they are a-changing”. Dumbing down of the mass media has reached the point where normally placid people are beginning to take exception to being short-changed on intellectual content and programme quality to the point where they are starting to complain. Now may be a good time for those of us who lobe the ‘B&F’ tradition to exert some pressure. In the past, the corduroy clad strummers aided to some extent by The School of Scottish Studies were largely unchallenged in their claims to the high ground of authenticity.
At the time, too many of us accepted the ‘Heather and Haggis’ argument without question, but even if it was valid then, which is doubtful, is it still valid decades later? Heather is not exactly an uncommon plant around Scotland and haggis is a highly nutritious commodity so where’s the problem? Broadcasting controllers and their retinue of robotic sidekicks try to tell us that the folk scene is where the true spirit of the Scots tradition is to be found and that the old style of Scottish Country Dance Band has had its day. But does that argument really stand up to scrutiny? Does the true Scots tradition really lie in the bland ersatz concoctions of public house ploughmen and campus coal miners that pass for folk music these days? Is this really the only or even the best that Scotland has to offer the world in the name of traditional music?
I happen to have a deep and passionate love for Scottish folk songs and the Scots language that so many of them preserve. I grew up with the bothy ballads and have spent many an idyllic hour or three in smoky pubs listening to traditional songs. I only mention this to make it clear that I am not in the business of denigrating our national song heritage or questioning its artistic merits. What I am questioning is whether the ‘folkies’ really have the right to claim the high moral ground of traditional authenticity (or authentic tradition even!) After all, the current folk tradition so prized by the media has its roots in attempts by middle-class intellectuals to identify with the sons and daughters of honest toil without necessarily becoming too involved in the latter commodity. Even in its heyday, it was always something of an affection and like most affections, needed some kind of imaginary cause to justify itself and divert and unwelcome challenges to its validity. In Scotland, that cause was the destruction of ‘Heather and Haggis’. Nobody ever bothered to define ‘Heather and Haggis’. It was simply a blanket derogation applied to anything that didn’t fit in with the new folk movement’s idea of Scottish music. In fact, most of what these ego driven guardians of tradition found acceptable has little to do with Scotland as it was then and even less to do with Scotland as it is now. The image that they cooked up was even more absurd than the one that it sought to replace. The Corries fought the ’45 Rebellion all over again. They did it very well but in doing so they added not one whit of relevance to the Jacobite cause. Hamish Henderson wrote songs, albeit very good ones, about wars that had passed and industries that were either dead or moribund. Three chord wonders with guitars sang lustily in bad Doric about draught horses and feeing markets. Others sang in marginally better Doric about pit heids and shipyards. Is this stuff any more representative of 21st century Scotland than tunes designed to accompany dances that people still perform? As far as I am aware, the tractor reached even the remotest parts of Aberdeenshire around 40 years ago. Feeing markets are pretty rare now and the tragic demise of deep pit coal mining is one of the sadder features of modern Scottish life. I am not saying that these songs aren’t good or worth singing. Personally, I think they are great and should be sung right lustily and often. What I question is their ability to reflect Scotland as it really is instead of Scotland as it might once have been. At least the late Sir Jimmy Shand, one of the supposed emblems of heather and haggis, was a real miner. I suspect that most of the people who extol the virtues of miners in song have never been near a coal pit in their lives. The whole thing is as much an exercise in fake imagery as Down in the Glen and My Ain Folk ever were. The only difference is that the media controllers are still in thrall to the false image. ‘Clydesidery’ and ‘Mince and Middens’ are alive, well and continuing to create an image of Scotland that has all the reality of ‘Brigadoon’.
Having said all that, it would make more sense for the separate strands of Scottish musical culture to come together for mutual preservation rather than slug it out destructively over who is right and who is wrong. We should value our diversity rather than squabble over largely imaginary claims of artistic and cultural purity. The much maligned ‘White Heather Club’ managed to accommodate such diverse acts as Andy Stewart, Joe Gordon, Jimmy Shand, The Brand Sisters, Robert Wilson and a youthful Sydney Devine on one bill. Surely it is not beyond the wit of our great nation to come up with a more modern format that could do the same thing for our current stars in all fields. There is certainly no shortage of talent.
Maybe we need to be a bit more aggressive in marketing our music. The threat of ‘Heather and Haggis’ has made us far too apologetic about what we have to offer. ‘Our kind of music’ is both genuinely Scottish and artistically valid and certainly more palatable than the matchlessly nauseating but growing phenomenon of dyed in the wool Scottish folkies pretending to be Americans. Surely a set of reels by Ian Muir is as culturally relevant as a song about ‘Bonnie Price Charlie’. At least the dance tunes, apart from being of superb quality, are honest and unpretentious. A song romanticising a bungling, brainless political opportunist who wrecked Highlanders’ lives with his grandiose impracticality is neither of those things. The skills of our top musicians deserve better coverage and higher rewards than they are getting at the moment but they are unlikely to get them unless all of us believe in the artistic value of our music.
Perhaps the problem with getting a television slot lies in the limited visual appeal of the traditional box and fiddle band. Mercifully, they don’t do banal, hip wiggling dance sequences or indulge in any of the other extra musical antics that seem indispensable to modern manufactured mass entertainment. Close ups of flying fingers and jinking elbows would have limited appeal to a mass audience but this could be overcome with a few imaginative dance sequences based on but not hidebound by traditional forms. The recent run of ‘B&F’ programmes was marvelous, but it was on too late, was shown only in Grampian and STV areas and didn’t really touch on the enjoyment that many of us have every week, dancing to our great bands.
Scottish Country Dancing, the mainstay of most of our bands, is not all that telegenic. Over the years it has assumed a rather frumpy and snooty image. Even the best teams look stilted and constrained. It needs some fresh thought in ingenious choreography to turn it in to quality modern visual entertainment but that is hardly mission impossible. Look at what ‘Riverdance’ managed to make out of Irish dancing. Scotland’s dancing tradition is at least as good and could prove to be as spectacular. Is there anybody out there?
CD Reviews – See Hear with Judith Linton
A Highland Dram – Daniel McPhee – CDPAN014 – Pan Records
St Bernard’s Waltz – Marian Anderson SDB – HRMCD102 – Highlander Music
Live in Moffat – Willie McRobert SDB – MCPS – Streaming Pictures
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 20.30 with Robbie Shepherd
Repeats
3rd Sept 05 – Colin Dewar SDB (Fort Royal Inn, Ballymena April 2005)
10th Sept 05 – Special Outside Broadcast Medley (Short Programme)
17th Sept 05 – Jennifer Forrest SDB (Fyvie Castle, June 2005)
24th Sept 05 – Ian Muir SDB (Ross Bandstand, Edinburgh)
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Westburn Park Lounge) – 27th Sept 05 - tbc
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle) 14th Sept 05 – Iain Cathcart
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 18th Sept 05 – Sandy Nixon SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 4th Sept 05 – Billy Anderson & Albany
Armadale (Masonic Hall) – 1st Sept 05 - tbc
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 18th Sept 05 – John Stuart SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 26th Sept 05 - tbc
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 28th Sept 05 – Steven Carcary
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) – 19th Sept 05 – Michael Philip SDB
Belford (Community Centre) – 29th Sept 05 – Michael Philip SDB
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 18th Sept 05 – Alasdair MacCuish & the Black Rose Ceilidh Band
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 13th Sept 05 – Nicky McMichan SDB
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) -
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 8th Sept 05 – Perdy & Joan
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 6th Sept 05 – West Telferton CB
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary’s Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 15th Sept 05 – Jim Gold SDB
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) -
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel) 1st Sept 05 - tbc
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club) 14th Sept 05 – Bon Accords
Dalriada (Argyll Hotel, Lochgilphead)
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 – Bill Black SDB
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 21st Sept 05 – Lawrie Accordion Orchestra
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 13th Sept 05 – Gregor Lowrey Duo
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
Duns (Masonic Lodge, Newtown St) 19th Sept 05 – Roya MacLean
East Kilbride (Masonic Hall, Kittoch St) –
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Bill Black SDB
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 26th Sept 05 – David Vernon
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 25th Sept 05 – Dick Black Band
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 14th Sept 05 – William Marshall Trio
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel, Wooler) – 15th Sept 05 – Ray Carse
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 7th Sept 05 – Karen Hannah & Alan Small
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 27th Sept 05 – Colin Dewar Trio
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 4th Sept 05 – John Douglas SDB
Haddington (Railway Inn) - 11th Sept 05 – Tom Orr SDB
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 19th Sept 05 – Marian Anderson Trio
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) -
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) -
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 6th Sept 05 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Kelso (Cross Keys Hotel) – 28th Sept 05 – Willie McFarland Band
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 – Steven Carcary Trio
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 26th Sept 05 – Roy Hendrie SDB
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 14th Sept 05 – Lindsay Weir Trio
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) –
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 1st Sept 05 – Donnie & Dianne
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 20th Sept 05 – Jean McConnachie Trio
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 27th Sept 05 – Stuart Anderson Trio
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) -
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 - tbc
Newburgh (The Ship Inn) - 29th Sept 05 – Orwell CB
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 4th Sept 05 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 26th Sept 05 – Deirdre Adamson
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) – 6th Sept 05 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) –
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Club) – 29th Sept 05 – Ian Holmes SDB
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Ian Muir Trio
Phoenix (Argyll Arms hotel, Ardrishaig) 7th Sept 05 - tbc
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) -
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) –
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) -
Scottish Accordion Music (Banchory) - 11th Sept 05 – All Players Welcome
Selkirk (Cricket Club) -
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) -
Thornhill (Bowling Club Hall) - 13th Sept 05 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 5th Sept 05 - tbc
Turriff (Royal British Legion) – 1st Sept 05 – Garioch Blend
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) – 15th Sept 05 – Glenelvan SDB
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn)
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Marian Anderson Trio
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Alnwick
2. Banchory
3. Blairgowrie
4. Button Key
5. Campsie
6. Castle Douglas
7. Fintry
8. Forfar
9. Glendale
10. Glenrothes
11. Gretna
12. Lewis & Harris
13. Montrose
14. Thornhill
15. Turriff
16. Tynedale
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2004
(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 early 08-09
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. Brittania B&F Club ( joined 07-08
14. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
15. Button Key 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. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – present)
29. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
30. Ellon A&F Club (
31. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
32. Forfar A&F Club (
33. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
34. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
35. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
36. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
37. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
38. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
39. 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)
40. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 - )
41. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
42. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
43. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
44. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
45. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
46. Kintore A&F Club (
47. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier
48. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
49. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
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. Maine Valley A&F Club (
54. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
55. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
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. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
66. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
67. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
68. Selkirk A&F Club (
69. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
70. Stonehouse A&F Club (first report June 05 -
71. Sutherland A&F Club (
72. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
73. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
74. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
75. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
76. West Barnes ( - present)
77. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
78. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
79. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
80. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
81. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
82. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
83. Buchan A&F Club
84 Callander A&F Club (
85 Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
86 Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
87 Club Accord
88 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
89. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
90. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
91. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
92. Derwentside A&F Club
93. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
94. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
95. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
96. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
97. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
98. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
99. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
100. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
101. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
102. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
103. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
104. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
105. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
106. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
107. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
108. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
109. Mull A&F Club
110. Newcastleton Accordion Club
111. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
112. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
113. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
114. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
115. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
116. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
117. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
118. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
119. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
120. Tranent A&F Club
121. Vancouver
122. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
123. Wellbank A&F Club
124. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
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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
Well, summer’s nearly over and Clubs are opening their doors and dusting down their PA systems ready for another successful season. Judging by the Club syllabuses that we’ve received, there’s going to be some great entertainment going on over the winter months. We’re compiling next year’s Box and Fiddle Calendar, so hopefully you’ve sent us your diary dates for inclusion – it’s a free advert remember! We’ve almost made the final choice of photographs, but we would still like to see a few more submitted. The calendars will be available to order next month.
We were saddened to learn of the death of Lady Anne Shand, Sir Jimmy’s widow, and our sympathies go to her family. We also lost two Club stalwarts recently – John Anderson and John Reid and this issue carries obituaries to them both.
Next month’s B&F will include the club Directory, so if there have been any changes to your details, venue, personnel, contact numbers etc, please make sure that you’ve informed our Secretary, Lorna Mair. In November the Guest Artist List will be published, so any changes or additions, please let me have them now.
Karin Ingram
John Anderson (Obituary)
by Charlie Todd
It was with a sense of stunned disbelief that Biggar awoke on the morning of Friday 1st July to find that John Anderson no longer walked among us. Recently retired as Chairman of Biggar Accordion and Fiddle Club a tragic accident whilst working on the restoration of his beloved old Rover had deprived us all of one of Biggar’s great characters. . The enormity of the loss felt was evident at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Biggar on Thursday 7th July when over 500 mourners heard the Rev. Jim Francis lead a celebration of John’s life.
John was a ‘war baby’ born in Motherwell in December 1944. His mother was a gifted musician who taught piano privately but sadly died when John was just three years of age. Thereafter he was brought up by his granny in the Cambusnethan area of Wishaw, near to the studio of accordion teacher Jean Brown. Both John and a fellow pupil at Wishaw High School, Alistair Gillespie, started lessons with Jean but John was the first to admit that he had inherited none of the mother’s musical ability. Hard practice might have overcome that, but looking back, he always knew there were too many other distractions. By contrast lifelong friend Alistair went on to become a fine accordionist, a Junior British Champion, an accordion teacher and eventually a fellow resident of Biggar. Admittedly some inspiration was gained in the early days from sitting outside the ‘Alexander’ household IN Cambusnethan listening to young Tom practicing.
John’s connection with Biggar started with family holidays at a ‘holiday hut’, one of a number sited at Boghall Farm, near Biggar. It was at one of the many village hall dances in the Biggar area that John first met his wife-to-be Joy in 1965. They were married in 1968, with daughter Sheena coming along a year later and son Iain ten years later. It was in mid 1974 while they were both attending a meeting of the ‘original’ Carlops A&F Club (a village between Biggar and Edinburgh) – the only one for miles around at that time – that John was approached by Alex MacArthur who said that he had bought the Clydesdale in Biggar and that “they” would be starting an Accordion and Fiddle Club of their own. He was as good as his word, moving into the Hotel in September 1974 and starting the Club the following month. In the early days John was a ’helper’ at the Club collecting and transporting extra chairs from the Church Hall, erecting the ‘stage’ (an old piece of flooring sitting on empty beer crates) etc and readily admitted he was far to timid to stand up in front of an audience but gradually as the years passed he assumed more of the organising duties, then some of the MC duties and by the time Alex and Evelyn left Biggar for The Farmers Arms in Thornhill in 1985 John was ready to take over the helm.
With Joy acting as Secretary/Treasurer, Tom Hope stepping up to Vice Chairman and wife Ray helping with the door/catering, there were two changes of venue, a brief stay at the Toftcombs Hotel, before settling in the Biggar Municipal Hall and the scene was set for the next 20 years, indeed right up until April of this year when John and Joy retired and handed over to Blair Gardiner. There were many memorable nights during those long year, marred only by the untimely death of the Club’s Founder Chairman, Alex MacArthur in 1989.
John usually only played at the Club if time permitted, being the first to stand down in favour of other players. One of his great strengths was that he knew he wasn’t a good player, indeed he ‘played’ on that. As the genuine mistakes of the early days disappeared, as had his nervousness in front of an audience, he substituted deliberate errors as part of his act. Without doubt his party-piece and signature tune and the tune with which his name will always be associated was “The Grandfather Clock”.
In ‘real life’ John had been Senior Janitor at Biggar High School for 18 years. The Rev Francis joked that there was a certain amount of doubt about who actually ran the school – John or the Rector. John ensured a safe environment for the innumerable children who passed through the school over those years – there was never any playground bullying when John was around. Earlier in life he was a PSV Driver with Central SMT. We were reminded by the Rev John Graham, a lifetime friend, and one time Conductor on the double decker John drove of amusing incidents such as an elderly male passenger rushing the length of the bus, which had just pulled away, and hammering on the window behind John’s seat. “What’s wrong” John asked as he half turned in his seat “ma dug, ma dug” said the man pointing to his short legged pet doing it’s best to run alongside the bus. Oops!!
John was also a quietly religious man who had served over 25 years as Biggar Kirk’s ‘Beadle’ – in effect the Church Officer – responsible for the opening, closing, cleaning, heating, and repairing of the Church building. He calmed the jangled nerves of brides-to-be, grooms-in-waiting and particularly children on ‘big’ days. Indeed one of John’s great abilities was to be the age of the person he was with – and if that happened to be three years or thirteen months then that was fine with John.
It was his various roles in the School, the Kirk and the Accordion and Fiddle Club that brought John into contact with almost everyone in the town of Biggar and the rural district beyond. Always unassuming, but ever helpful, we are all the poorer for his passing. Our deepest sympathy is extended to Joy, Sheena, Keith and family and Iain and Laura.
John Reid (Obituary)
by Karyn McCulloch
Everyone in the Accordion and fiddle Club scene was shocked and saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of John Reid from Ayrshire. He died at home on Saturday, 2nd July 2005. His funeral service took place in Dreghorn Crematorium on Friday, 8th July at 1pm where a very large congregation had gathered – so much so, that two dozen people or more had to stand outside.
John lived in Dalry in Ayrshire and was well known and well liked – both as a farmer and as a musician. He was ever present at the various Accordion and Fiddle clubs both in the local area and farther afield – including Galston, Mauchline, Beith, Renfrew and Stonehouse. No matter which Club you went to, john would be there.
It was no surprise therefore, that John was nominated in the ‘Club Supporter of the Year’ category in the BAFFIs, two years running – in 2004 and 2005. He was, in fact, the very worthy winner this year. Speaking to Karin Ingram after the award ceremony in Perth in June, John had said, “That mean’s I’ll need to write another ‘Thank You’ letter in to the magazine!” I also spoke to him that same day in Perth and can assure you that he was absolutely over the moon to have won.
John always played something ‘lively’ at the Clubs on his accordion – and occasionally he would give us a wee tune on the ‘moothie’. His favourite tunes included The Lass o’ Bon Accord and The Jacqueline Waltz. He would regularly have the audience in stitches by telling jokes and stories – often aimed at his long-standing friend (and keyboard player) Gordon Walker. The two were notorious for creating a cheery atmosphere wherever they went and would ‘take the mickey’ out of each other regularly.
Music played a huge part in John’s life – he could even be found in the middle of a field – in his tractor – with Scottish music blaring out of the cassette player!
Whenever we think of John I have no doubt that we will remember him as the big gentle cheery man that he was. John’s passing has left a huge gap in the Accordion & Fiddle Club world and we will all miss his greatly. Our sympathies go out to his wife Jean, the family and his many friends.
Royal Command Performance
by Thomasena Hall
Around the middle of May ………….
Pas de Bas
by Bobby MacLeod
The whole book is reproduced elsewhere in this archive.
The Irish Connection
by Clyde Johnston
At the UK Championships……………
Michael Philip
by Andrew Warren
Accordionist Michael Philip is an extremely well-known figure on the Accordion & Fiddle Club circuit. An excellent accordionist and prolific composer, he has countless competition successes to his name. He has won the All Scotland Accordion Championships at Perth in both Traditional and Pipe section (no easy task). “I have also won the Own Composition five times at Perth (s record still to be broken) and, after getting through to the final seven times, I eventually won the traditional title in 2000”, said Michael. At the Musselburgh Festival he has an equally impressive record winning the Traditional and Pipe sections as well as the Own Composition four times.
“I won the Veterans’ section at Perth last year”, he said, “but have now decided to stop competing”.
With one of his student placed as a runner-up in the Traditional section at Perth last year, Michael has already begun to pass on his winning techniques to his young students. Currently teaching four pupils, he says he has no plans to take on any more students. “I haven’t got a lot of time to teach, however, if someone was keen enough, I would be prepared to take them on – time’s precious”, he said.
He attributes the start of his composing to inspiration gained when visiting the Oban Festival many years ago. “The very first tune I composed was called The Oban Festival, which won the All Scotland Accordion Championships at Perth and the Musselburgh Festival Own Composition”, he recalled. “However, when I entered it for Oban the judge said it should have got 1st for the name but ended up placing it 3rd – it won everything else bar Oban”, he laughed.
Michael plays regularly with his own showband, Conundrum, and dance band, Michael Philip’s Scottish Dance Band. Conundrum tends to take up most of his weekends especially during the summer. “We do a variety of music and song for weddings and corporate events – a mixture of ceilidh and ‘covers’ depending on what is required”, said Philip. “The musicianship is of a pretty high standard so you can’t help but enjoy working with musicians like that”.
“The traditional band has a fairly settled line up with Willie Johnstone on fiddle, Suzanne Croy on bass, Nicol McLaren, second accordion, Graham Berry on piano and Malcolm Ross on drums”.
“Due to being extremely busy working with Conundrum I took a break from the Accordion and Fiddle Club circuit for quite some time although still did the competition work. The band didn’t really work in Accordion and Fiddle Clubs – it was like Pink Floyd hitting the Scottish scene!
“It wasn’t until I was invited to perform at an Accordion and fiddle Club much later that I got back into the scene. I really enjoyed playing at the Club and, to be honest, I hadn’t had a buzz like that for about five years. That was the turning point for me and I now do a couple of Clubs a month. Next season I’ve got gigs at various Clubs including Beith, Montrose, Dingwall and Belford – a mix across the country. I also play at the odd Folk Club – on my own – performing my compositions and recently supported a bluegrass duo in Kirkcaldy”.
Whilst Michael enjoys the music at the Folk Clubs he says he has no performances planned but would be happy to do more if asked.
He has featured on many recordings over the years; more recently working on some interesting community based projects. “I was asked to do some of the instrumental work on an album called Farewell to the Coal Mines, a project looking at life surrounding the pits – closures, etc. I was also asked to record music for another project about the 700 year history of Kirkcaldy Links Market”.
“Having recently recorded another album with Conundrum, the next project I am thinking of doing is a CD featuring my own compositions and using the traditional unit (i.e. my dance band) to do that”.
“I haven’t done anything for a while”, said Michael. “I did a recording back in the ‘90s called Live at the Riverside Club –it’s still selling yet, you can get it on the Internet to this day!”
Michael released his new book, The Cardenden Collection, a collection of 68 self-penned compositions, in February of this year. “The book also features 15 tunes using the bagpipe scale – actually Dysert and Dundonald Pipe Band have recently recorded one of the tunes – which is a good sign. There’s a mixture of material in the book – some tricky tunes, some easier stuff….traditional tunes and folk reels. I write all the time – I don’t know what it is, since releasing the book I have actually written another 40 tunes – I’ve just composed a French waltz which is something I haven’t done before”.
“An unusual thing happened at the Oban Festival this year”, he remarked. “In the Champion of Champions section the girl who was third played two of my tunes, from the book, the boy that won played one and my pupil didn’t play any but came second – so the tunes are starting to get played”.
“I tend to compose more than practice, although I have to practice for the Accordion Clubs. I’m not playing the material all the time due to performing with Conundrum, so when I do the Scottish material I have to rehearse. I’ve been asked to do a broadcast for Take the Floor with the dance band so I’ll probably do that at the start of the year to coincide with the new album. When I was at the Shetland Festival last year and interviewed on the radio – it was quite embarrassing actually – I was asked, “How do you feel when you are in a session and everybody stops to listen to your tunes?’ “The problem I have playing in a session is that I write so many new tunes I don’t have a chance to practice anyone else’s – so I have to play my own’, I replied”.
Thank you to music magazine 24/7 for allowing us to print this article.
Is Anybody Out There?
by Finlay Forbes
Six years ago I wrote to the B&F complaining about the poor radio and even poorer television coverage of Scottish Dance music in the B&F tradition. Six years on, the coverage has certainly not improved but this lack of progress may be due more to resigned acceptance by lovers of our traditional dance music than to embedded resistance on the part of media moguls. There is little doubt that the paucity of exposure on today’s media is due to some highly successful lobbying in the past by the corduroy breeks and beards brigade that dominated the diluted folk music in the sixties and seventies. Bank then, anything that failed to comply with this self-appointed clique’s narrow and largely baseless definition of what they regarded a genuine folk music was written off as ‘Heather and Haggis’ and therefore totally unfit for human consumption. ‘Heather and Haggis’ was, and still is, a mindless denigration but its mindlessness somehow struck a chord with our ‘thought police’ and media types who at the time, were so seduced by the superficiality of the case that they failed to discern the Neanderthal speciousness of it all. But, as one of the icons of the sixties folk movement said, “The times they are a-changing”. Dumbing down of the mass media has reached the point where normally placid people are beginning to take exception to being short-changed on intellectual content and programme quality to the point where they are starting to complain. Now may be a good time for those of us who lobe the ‘B&F’ tradition to exert some pressure. In the past, the corduroy clad strummers aided to some extent by The School of Scottish Studies were largely unchallenged in their claims to the high ground of authenticity.
At the time, too many of us accepted the ‘Heather and Haggis’ argument without question, but even if it was valid then, which is doubtful, is it still valid decades later? Heather is not exactly an uncommon plant around Scotland and haggis is a highly nutritious commodity so where’s the problem? Broadcasting controllers and their retinue of robotic sidekicks try to tell us that the folk scene is where the true spirit of the Scots tradition is to be found and that the old style of Scottish Country Dance Band has had its day. But does that argument really stand up to scrutiny? Does the true Scots tradition really lie in the bland ersatz concoctions of public house ploughmen and campus coal miners that pass for folk music these days? Is this really the only or even the best that Scotland has to offer the world in the name of traditional music?
I happen to have a deep and passionate love for Scottish folk songs and the Scots language that so many of them preserve. I grew up with the bothy ballads and have spent many an idyllic hour or three in smoky pubs listening to traditional songs. I only mention this to make it clear that I am not in the business of denigrating our national song heritage or questioning its artistic merits. What I am questioning is whether the ‘folkies’ really have the right to claim the high moral ground of traditional authenticity (or authentic tradition even!) After all, the current folk tradition so prized by the media has its roots in attempts by middle-class intellectuals to identify with the sons and daughters of honest toil without necessarily becoming too involved in the latter commodity. Even in its heyday, it was always something of an affection and like most affections, needed some kind of imaginary cause to justify itself and divert and unwelcome challenges to its validity. In Scotland, that cause was the destruction of ‘Heather and Haggis’. Nobody ever bothered to define ‘Heather and Haggis’. It was simply a blanket derogation applied to anything that didn’t fit in with the new folk movement’s idea of Scottish music. In fact, most of what these ego driven guardians of tradition found acceptable has little to do with Scotland as it was then and even less to do with Scotland as it is now. The image that they cooked up was even more absurd than the one that it sought to replace. The Corries fought the ’45 Rebellion all over again. They did it very well but in doing so they added not one whit of relevance to the Jacobite cause. Hamish Henderson wrote songs, albeit very good ones, about wars that had passed and industries that were either dead or moribund. Three chord wonders with guitars sang lustily in bad Doric about draught horses and feeing markets. Others sang in marginally better Doric about pit heids and shipyards. Is this stuff any more representative of 21st century Scotland than tunes designed to accompany dances that people still perform? As far as I am aware, the tractor reached even the remotest parts of Aberdeenshire around 40 years ago. Feeing markets are pretty rare now and the tragic demise of deep pit coal mining is one of the sadder features of modern Scottish life. I am not saying that these songs aren’t good or worth singing. Personally, I think they are great and should be sung right lustily and often. What I question is their ability to reflect Scotland as it really is instead of Scotland as it might once have been. At least the late Sir Jimmy Shand, one of the supposed emblems of heather and haggis, was a real miner. I suspect that most of the people who extol the virtues of miners in song have never been near a coal pit in their lives. The whole thing is as much an exercise in fake imagery as Down in the Glen and My Ain Folk ever were. The only difference is that the media controllers are still in thrall to the false image. ‘Clydesidery’ and ‘Mince and Middens’ are alive, well and continuing to create an image of Scotland that has all the reality of ‘Brigadoon’.
Having said all that, it would make more sense for the separate strands of Scottish musical culture to come together for mutual preservation rather than slug it out destructively over who is right and who is wrong. We should value our diversity rather than squabble over largely imaginary claims of artistic and cultural purity. The much maligned ‘White Heather Club’ managed to accommodate such diverse acts as Andy Stewart, Joe Gordon, Jimmy Shand, The Brand Sisters, Robert Wilson and a youthful Sydney Devine on one bill. Surely it is not beyond the wit of our great nation to come up with a more modern format that could do the same thing for our current stars in all fields. There is certainly no shortage of talent.
Maybe we need to be a bit more aggressive in marketing our music. The threat of ‘Heather and Haggis’ has made us far too apologetic about what we have to offer. ‘Our kind of music’ is both genuinely Scottish and artistically valid and certainly more palatable than the matchlessly nauseating but growing phenomenon of dyed in the wool Scottish folkies pretending to be Americans. Surely a set of reels by Ian Muir is as culturally relevant as a song about ‘Bonnie Price Charlie’. At least the dance tunes, apart from being of superb quality, are honest and unpretentious. A song romanticising a bungling, brainless political opportunist who wrecked Highlanders’ lives with his grandiose impracticality is neither of those things. The skills of our top musicians deserve better coverage and higher rewards than they are getting at the moment but they are unlikely to get them unless all of us believe in the artistic value of our music.
Perhaps the problem with getting a television slot lies in the limited visual appeal of the traditional box and fiddle band. Mercifully, they don’t do banal, hip wiggling dance sequences or indulge in any of the other extra musical antics that seem indispensable to modern manufactured mass entertainment. Close ups of flying fingers and jinking elbows would have limited appeal to a mass audience but this could be overcome with a few imaginative dance sequences based on but not hidebound by traditional forms. The recent run of ‘B&F’ programmes was marvelous, but it was on too late, was shown only in Grampian and STV areas and didn’t really touch on the enjoyment that many of us have every week, dancing to our great bands.
Scottish Country Dancing, the mainstay of most of our bands, is not all that telegenic. Over the years it has assumed a rather frumpy and snooty image. Even the best teams look stilted and constrained. It needs some fresh thought in ingenious choreography to turn it in to quality modern visual entertainment but that is hardly mission impossible. Look at what ‘Riverdance’ managed to make out of Irish dancing. Scotland’s dancing tradition is at least as good and could prove to be as spectacular. Is there anybody out there?
CD Reviews – See Hear with Judith Linton
A Highland Dram – Daniel McPhee – CDPAN014 – Pan Records
St Bernard’s Waltz – Marian Anderson SDB – HRMCD102 – Highlander Music
Live in Moffat – Willie McRobert SDB – MCPS – Streaming Pictures
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 20.30 with Robbie Shepherd
Repeats
3rd Sept 05 – Colin Dewar SDB (Fort Royal Inn, Ballymena April 2005)
10th Sept 05 – Special Outside Broadcast Medley (Short Programme)
17th Sept 05 – Jennifer Forrest SDB (Fyvie Castle, June 2005)
24th Sept 05 – Ian Muir SDB (Ross Bandstand, Edinburgh)
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Westburn Park Lounge) – 27th Sept 05 - tbc
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle) 14th Sept 05 – Iain Cathcart
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 18th Sept 05 – Sandy Nixon SDB
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 4th Sept 05 – Billy Anderson & Albany
Armadale (Masonic Hall) – 1st Sept 05 - tbc
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 18th Sept 05 – John Stuart SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 26th Sept 05 - tbc
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 28th Sept 05 – Steven Carcary
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) – 19th Sept 05 – Michael Philip SDB
Belford (Community Centre) – 29th Sept 05 – Michael Philip SDB
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 18th Sept 05 – Alasdair MacCuish & the Black Rose Ceilidh Band
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 13th Sept 05 – Nicky McMichan SDB
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) -
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 8th Sept 05 – Perdy & Joan
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 6th Sept 05 – West Telferton CB
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary’s Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 15th Sept 05 – Jim Gold SDB
Crathes (Crathes Hall, Banchory) -
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel) 1st Sept 05 - tbc
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club) 14th Sept 05 – Bon Accords
Dalriada (Argyll Hotel, Lochgilphead)
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 – Bill Black SDB
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 21st Sept 05 – Lawrie Accordion Orchestra
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 13th Sept 05 – Gregor Lowrey Duo
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
Duns (Masonic Lodge, Newtown St) 19th Sept 05 – Roya MacLean
East Kilbride (Masonic Hall, Kittoch St) –
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Bill Black SDB
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 26th Sept 05 – David Vernon
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 25th Sept 05 – Dick Black Band
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 14th Sept 05 – William Marshall Trio
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Galston (Barr Castle Social Club) –
Glendale (Black Bull Hotel, Wooler) – 15th Sept 05 – Ray Carse
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) - 7th Sept 05 – Karen Hannah & Alan Small
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) - 27th Sept 05 – Colin Dewar Trio
Gretna (Halcrow Stadium) - 4th Sept 05 – John Douglas SDB
Haddington (Railway Inn) - 11th Sept 05 – Tom Orr SDB
Highland (Drumossie Hotel) – 19th Sept 05 – Marian Anderson Trio
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) -
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) -
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 6th Sept 05 – Charlie Kirkpatrick Trio
Kelso (Cross Keys Hotel) – 28th Sept 05 – Willie McFarland Band
Kintore (Torryburn Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 – Steven Carcary Trio
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 26th Sept 05 – Roy Hendrie SDB
Langholm (Crown Hotel) – 14th Sept 05 – Lindsay Weir Trio
Lesmahagow (Masonic Hall) –
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 1st Sept 05 – Donnie & Dianne
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 20th Sept 05 – Jean McConnachie Trio
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 27th Sept 05 – Stuart Anderson Trio
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) -
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 7th Sept 05 - tbc
Newburgh (The Ship Inn) - 29th Sept 05 – Orwell CB
Newmill-on-Teviot (Newmill Country Inn) - 4th Sept 05 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 26th Sept 05 – Deirdre Adamson
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) – 6th Sept 05 – Nicol McLaren SDB
Oban (McTavish’s Kitchen) –
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Club) – 29th Sept 05 – Ian Holmes SDB
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Ian Muir Trio
Phoenix (Argyll Arms hotel, Ardrishaig) 7th Sept 05 - tbc
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) -
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) –
Rothbury (Queen’s Head) -
Scottish Accordion Music (Banchory) - 11th Sept 05 – All Players Welcome
Selkirk (Cricket Club) -
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) -
Thornhill (Bowling Club Hall) - 13th Sept 05 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 5th Sept 05 - tbc
Turriff (Royal British Legion) – 1st Sept 05 – Garioch Blend
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) – 15th Sept 05 – Glenelvan SDB
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn)
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 20th Sept 05 – Marian Anderson Trio
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Alnwick
2. Banchory
3. Blairgowrie
4. Button Key
5. Campsie
6. Castle Douglas
7. Fintry
8. Forfar
9. Glendale
10. Glenrothes
11. Gretna
12. Lewis & Harris
13. Montrose
14. Thornhill
15. Turriff
16. Tynedale
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2004
(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 early 08-09
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. Brittania B&F Club ( joined 07-08
14. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
15. Button Key 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. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – present)
29. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
30. Ellon A&F Club (
31. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
32. Forfar A&F Club (
33. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
34. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
35. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
36. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
37. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
38. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
39. 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)
40. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 - )
41. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
42. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
43. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
44. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
45. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
46. Kintore A&F Club (
47. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier
48. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
49. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
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. Maine Valley A&F Club (
54. Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
55. Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
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. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
66. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
67. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
68. Selkirk A&F Club (
69. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
70. Stonehouse A&F Club (first report June 05 -
71. Sutherland A&F Club (
72. Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
73. Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
74. Turriff A&F Club (March 1982 - present)
75. Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
76. West Barnes ( - present)
77. Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
78. Acharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
79. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
80. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
81. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
82. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
83. Buchan A&F Club
84 Callander A&F Club (
85 Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
86 Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
87 Club Accord
88 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
89. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
90. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
91. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
92. Derwentside A&F Club
93. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
94. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
95. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
96. Dundee & District A&F Club (1970? – 1995?)
97. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
98. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
99. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
100. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
101. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
102. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
103. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
104. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
105. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
106. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
107. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
108. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
109. Mull A&F Club
110. Newcastleton Accordion Club
111. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
112. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
113. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
114. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
115. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
116. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
117. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
118. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
119. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
120. Tranent A&F Club
121. Vancouver
122. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
123. Wellbank A&F Club
124. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
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