Ben Duncan gets the axe at Fort William

Fort William, Scotland – August 27, 2021 – The West Highland sunshine continued to beat down on while many of Scotland’s top solo pipers competed in and around the Highland Cinema for the Lochaber Gathering, resumed as an in-person event after a year off due to the pandemic.

Ben Duncan of Edinburgh won the Lochaber Gold Axe, the biggest prize of the day, and took the 6/8 March and a few other prizes for good measure. Calum Watson of Lasswade, Scotland, and Ross Miller of Linlithgow, Scotland, copped the other firsts.

Premier & A-Grade
Piobaireachd (Lochaber Gold Axe)
1st Ben Duncan, “The MacDougalls’ Gathering”
2nd Sandy Cameron, Roy Bridge, Scotland, “The End of the Great Bridge”
3rd Cameron MacDougall, Tain, Scotland, “The Old Men of the Shells” #1
4th Gordon McCready, Renfrew, Scotland, “Lament for the Earl of Antrim”
Judges: Stuart Samson, Robert Wallace

MSR (Lochaber Gold Medal)
1st Calum Watson
2nd Gordon McCready
3rd Ben Duncan
4th Cameron MacDougall, Nigg, Scotland
Judges: Alan Forbes, Iain MacFadyen

B- & C-Grade
Piobaireachd (Lochaber Silver Axe)
1st Ross Miller
2nd Gordon Barclay
3rd Calum Brown, Aberdeen
4th Anna Smart, Auckland, New Zealand
Judges: Alan Forbes, Iain MacFadyen

MSR
1st Ross Miller
2nd John Dew, Perth, Scotland
3rd Jonathon Simpson, Bo’ness, Scotland
4th Calum Wynd, Stirling, Scotland
Judges: Stuart Samson, Robert Wallace

6/8 March
1st Ben Duncan
2nd Calum Watson
3rd Ross Miller
4th Ross Connor
Judges: Ian Duncan, Archie MacLean

Open Hornpipe & Jig
1st Calum Watson
2nd Ben Duncan
3rd John Dew
4th Calum Brown
Judges: Ian Duncan, Archie MacLean