Argyllshire Gathering Day 1: Hayes wins Gold Medal, Liddell takes Senior

Oban, Scotland – August 21, 2019 – The first day of the 2019 Argyllshire Gathering took place at various indoor venues across the town of Oban, and, in the first major result, Andrew Hayes of Ottawa won the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal, adding to the equivalent Gold Medal he gained at the 2010 Northern Meeting.

Stuart Liddell of Inveraray, Scotland, made it quite a week, a little later was announced the winner of the Senior Piobaireachd for those who have won at least one of the Highland Society of London Gold Medals, only four days after leading Inveraray & District to the band’s second World Championship. It was the fifth time that Liddell captured the prestigious solo award, and second consecutively.

With their wins, Hayes and Liddell gain invitations to the 2019 Glenfiddich Championship in October, but, because Liddell previous qualified after winning the Masters’ Solo Piping at Piping Live!, Iain Speirs of Edinburgh could be invited after finishing runner-up in the Senior Piobaireachd if there are other double-qualifiers.

The last contest and the only Wednesday light music event, the Former Winners MSR, was won by Gordon McCready of Paisley, Scotland, who also gains an invitation to the Glenfiddich.

The two-day event moves outdoors on Thursday, starting with the traditional pipers’ march through the town to the games park where the light music competitions are held among all of the other activities, rain or shine.

Highland Society of London Gold Medal
1st Andrew Hayes, “The Old Men of the Shells” #1
2nd Sandy Cameron, Roy Bridge, Scotland, “The Old Men of the Shells” #1
3rd Andrew Donlon, Washington, DC
4th Nick Hudson, Houston, “The Rout of Glenfruin”
5th Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh, “The Earl of Seaforth’s Salute”
Judges: Chris Armstrong, Patricia Henderson, Ronnie McShannon

Also competing: Glenn Brown, Glasgow; Gordon Bruce, Kilwinning, Scotland; Andrew Carlisle, Pittsburgh; Jamie Forrester, London; William Geddes, Bridge of Allan, Scotland; Jonathan Greenlees, Glasgow; Alasdair Henderson, Dunoon, Scotland; Alastair Lee, Surrey, British Columbia; Cameron MacDougall, Nigg, Scotland; Duncan MacGillivray, Tain, Scotland; Peter McCalister, Dunblane, Scotland; Gordon McCready; Ross McCrindle, Edinburgh; Sean McKeown, Toronto; Derek Midgley, New Jersey; Sarah Muir, Glasgow; Connor Sinclair, Crieff, Scotland; Innes Smith, Bridge of Allan, Scotland; Darach Urquhart, Glasgow.

Senior Piobaireachd
1st Stuart Liddell, “Lament for the Union”
2nd Iain Speirs, “The Edinburgh Piobaireachd”
3rd Stuart Easton, New Zealand, “The Daughter’s Lament”
4th Callum Beaumont, Linlithgow, Scotland, “Scarce of Fishing”
5th Alan Bevan, Abbotsford, British Columbia, “The Daughter’s Lament”
Judges: Willie Morrison, Stuart Samson, John Wilson

Silver Medal
1st Ben McClamrock
2nd Alex Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
3rd Finlay Cameron, Fort William, Scotland
4th Steven Leask, Glasgow
5th Anna Kummerlöw, Germany
Judges: Bruce Hitchings, Bill Livingstone, Bill Wotherspoon

Also competing: Xavier Boderiou; Calum Brown; Greig Canning; Kristopher Coyle; Jason Craig; John Dew; Jacob Dicker; Ben Duncan; Andrew Ferguson; Michael Fitzhenry; Edward Gaul; Steven Gray; Andrew Hall; Zephan Knichel; Steven Leask; Andrew Lewis; Ed MacIlwaine; James MacKenzie; Ashley McMichael; Willie Rowe; Calum Watson.

MacGregor Memorial Piobaireachd (21 and younger)
1st Ruraidh Brown
2nd Campbell Wilson, Christchurch, New Zealand
3rd Gregor MacDonald, Oban, Scotland
4th Angus MacPhee, Inverness, Scotland
Judges: Alan Forbes, Malcolm McRae, Jack Taylor, Bob Worrall

Also competing in the final, which was created after two qualifying heats were run: Alistair Bevan, Abbotsford, British Columbia; Luke Kennedy, Strathaven, Scotland; Laureano Thomas-Sanchez, Cleveland, Ohio; and Brodie Watson-Massey, Edinburgh.

Former Winners MSR (22 competed)
1st Gordon McCready
2nd Iain Speirs
3rd Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland
4th Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia
5th Angus D. MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland
Judges: Walter Cowan, Barry Donaldson, Michael Grey

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