Stewart wins Gold; Lee another Silver Star; Silver Double for Bruce; Hayes wins A-Grade MSR at Inverness

Inverness, Scotland – September 1, 2011 – On the first day of events at Inverness, Niall Stewart added the Northern Meeting Gold Medal to his growing collection of big prizes. He won the Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal in 2008.

Gordon Bruce took a rare Silver Medal double with a win in that contest. After winning at Oban, he was allowed to compete in the competition after originally not being accepted. Only John Patrick (1996) and Cameron Drummond (2009) have achieved the feat before.  Andrew Hayes started the day of results with a win in the A-Grade MSR, making him eligible throughout his life to compete in the Former Winners Silver Star MSR.

Jack Lee of Surrey, British Columbia, later in the night won his fourth Silver Star Former Winners March, Strathspey & Reel title at Inverness. Minutes after pipes|drums announced the news of his win, Lee sent the magazine a message saying that he learned of his victory by opening the site at his hotel in Inverness, as he had left Eden Court Theatre when the contest went late into the night. It was 30 years to the day that Lee won his first Silver Star.

Highland Society of London Gold Medal
1st Niall Stewart, Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, “Tulach Ard”
2nd Faye Henderson, Kirriemuir, Scotland, “Keppoch’s March”
3rd Innes Smith, Bridge of Allan, Scotland, “Lament for Finlay”
4th Simon McKerrell, Glasgow, “Lament for Finlay”
5th Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh, “Mrs. Smith’s Salute”

Judges: Ian Duncan, Iain Morrison, Tom Speirs

Silver Medal
1st Gordon Bruce, Glasgow, “The Battle of Aldearn” #1
2nd David Wilton, Glasgow, “The End of the Great Bridge”
3rd Jamie Forrester, London, “Glengarry’s March”
4th Stuart Easton, New Zealand, “The Battle of Strome”
5th Alastair Lee, Vancouver, “Glengarry’s March”

Judges: John MacDougall, Malcolm McRae, Bill Wotherspoon

A-Grade MSR
1st Andrew Hayes, Ottawa
2nd Alastair Dunn, Glasgow
3rd Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh
4th Will Nichols, Blaine, Washington
5th Callum Beaumont, Bo’ness, Scotland

Judges: Walter Cowan, Bill Livingstone, Stuart Shedden

Silver Star Former Winners MSR
1st Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia,   “John MacDonald of Glencoe,” “The Marchioness of Tullibardine,” “Atholl Cummers,” “The Islay Ball,” “Mrs MacPherson of Inveran,” “The Little Cascade”
2nd Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland
3rd Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario
4th Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland
5th Gordon Walker, Galston, Scotland

Judges: Iain MacFadyen, Jim McGillivray, Willie Morrison