Murray gains Double Gold at Inverness; Stewart Silver Star; MacColl Silver; Alex Gandy A-Grade MSR

Inverness, Scotland – September 4, 2014 – Douglas Murray of Cupar, Scotland, won the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal for piobaireachd at the Northern Meeting, achieving only the eleventh “Double” in history, where a piper wins both the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting Gold Medals in the same year. The last person to accomplish the feat was John Cairns of London, Ontario, Canada, in 1999.

In the Silver Star Former Winners MSR, Niall Stewart of Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, gained the prize, while in the Silver Medal piobaireachd, Angus J. MacColl took home the award, elevating him to the Gold Medal competitions.

Earlier, Alex Gandy of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, won the A-Grade March, Strathspey & Reel. The win enables Gandy to compete in the elite Silver Star Former Winners MSR. It was the first result from the two-day competition. Craig Sutherland or Crieff, Scotland, who won both A-Grade light music events the previous week at Oban, did not feature in the prize list.

Highland Society of London Gold Medal
1st Douglas Murray, “His Father’s Lament for Donald MacKenzie”
2nd Bill Geddes, “Glasgow, “Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute”
3rd Finlay Johnston, Glasgow, “MacNeill of Barra’s March”
4th Peter McCalister, Dunblane, Scotland, “Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute”
5th Alastair Lee, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, “His Father’s Lament for Donald MacKenzie”
Judges: Iain Morrison, Stuart Samson, Jack Taylor

Silver Medal
1st Angus J. MacColl, Oban, Scotland, “Corrienessan’s Salute”
2nd Colin Campbell, Inverness, Scotland, “Corrienessan’s Salute”
3rd Mike Fitzhenry, Paisley, Scotland, “Lament for MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart” (No.1)
4th Alex Gandy, “Lament for Captain MacDougall”
5th Connor Sinclair, Perth, Scotland, “Lament for Captain MacDougall”
Judges: Ian Duncan, Colin MacLellan, Ronnie McShannon

Silver Star Former Winners MSR
1st Niall Stewart
2nd Willie MacCallum, Bearsden, Scotland
3rd Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland
4th Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
5th Gordon Walker, Galston, Scotland
Judges: Iain MacLellan, Malcolm McRae, John Wilson

A-Grade MSR
1st Alex Gandy
2nd Finlay Johnston, Glasgow
3rd Sean McKeown, Toronto
4th Alisdair Henderson, Dunoon, Scotland
5th Jenny Hazzard, Edinburgh
Judges: Andrew Frater, Bill Livingstone, Iain MacFadyen

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from day two of the 2014 Northern Meeting – including those from the coveted Clasp – as they become available.

Pipers who have won the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medals at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting in the same year
1910 – Willie Lawrie, 8th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
1911 – George Yardley, Cambuslang, Scotland
1926 – John MacDonald, Glasgow Police
1930 – Robert Nicol, Balmoral
1950 – John D. Burgess, Edinburgh
1955 – William MacDonald, Inverness, Scotland
1956 – D.R. McLennan, North Berwick, Scotland
1964 – Hector MacFadyen, Pennyghael, Scotland
1970 – Andrew Wright, Dunblane, Scotland
1999 – John Cairns, London, Ontario, Canada
2014 – Douglas Murray, Cupar, Scotland