PiobSoc gets creative with prescription for seniors

The annual tradition of the Piobaireachd Society prescribing music to be submitted by competitors at the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban, Scotland, and the Northern Meeting at Inverness, Scotland, continues for the 2023 events, but with a twist for the highest tier competitions.

Contestants in the Clasp at Inverness and Oban’s Senior Piobaireachd next year – and for the following four “trial period” years – calls for picking and submitting six tunes from a long unchanging list of meaty pieces.

Whatever they have picked to play at each event will be noted, and they won’t be allowed to submit it in following years.

“The aim is to give competitors a wider choice of tunes while still ensuring exposure for the appropriate repertoire,” the organization said in a statement. “If deemed successful, the period may be extended beyond five years.”

The organization said that the list might be expanded, but it is “unlikely” that any pieces will be deleted from the list.

The lists for the Gold Medal and Silver Medal piobaireachd competitions comprise pieces previously set many times, apart from the obscure “Nameless (One of the Cragich)” that pops up in the Silver list. Most of the tunes don’t generally appear in competitors’ own-choice submissions in years when they’re not assigned.

Key: PS = Piobaireachd Society Collection, K = The Kilberry Book of Ceol Mor

Senior (CLASP-type of competitions)

• “A Son’s Salute to His Parents” – Donald MacLeod Piobaireachd (2019 edition)
• “Abercairney’s Salute” – PS 11
• “Beinn a Ghriain” – PS 4
• “Colin Roy MacKenzie’s Lament” – PS 3, K
• “Craigellachie” – PS 6, K
• “Donald Gruamach’s March” – PS 2, K
• “Farewell to the Queen’s Ferry” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “Good Health to You Donald” – PS 13
• “In Praise of Morag” – PS 1, K
• “John Garve MacLeod of Raasay’s Lament” – PS 5, K
• “Lady MacDonald’s Lament” – PS 8, K
• “Lament for Airds” – PS 13
• “Lament for Cluny MacPherson” – PS 14
• “Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon” – PS 2, K
• “Lament for Hugh” – PS 13
• “Lament for John MacDonald, Inverness” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “Lament for King George III” – PS 14
• “Lament for Pipe-Major Robert Reid” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “Lament for the Children” – PS 3, K
• “Lament for the Duke of Hamilton” – PS 3, K
• “Lament for the Earl of Antrim” – PS 3, K
• “Lament for the Harp Tree” – PS 12, K
• “Lament for the Union” – PS 6, K
• “MacKenzie of Gairloch’s Lament” – PS 10
• “MacLeod of Colbeck’s Lament” – PS 10
• “MacLeod of MacLeod’s Lament” – PS 15, K
• “Mary’s Praise” – PS 5, K
• “Mrs. MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute” – PS 11
• “My Dearest on Earth, Give me your Kiss” – PS 11
• “Nameless (Cherede Darievea)” – PS 8, K
• “Patrick Og MacCrimmon’s Lament” – PS 3, K
• “Port Urlar” – PS 12
• “Roderick MacDonald’s Salute” – Donald MacLeod Piobaireachd (2019 edition)
• “Salute to James Campbell” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “Salute to MacDonald of Staffa” – PS 13
• “Salute to the MacCrimmon Cairn at Borreraig” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “Scarce of Fishing” – PS 3, K
• “Sir James MacDonald of the Isles’ Salute” – PS 14
• “The Battle of Waterloo” – PS 11
• “The Bells of Perth” – PS 2, K
• “The Daughter’s Lament” – PS 6, K
• “The Edinburgh Piobaireachd” – John MacLellan Ceol Mor
• “The End of the Little Bridge” – PS 8, K
• “The Finger Lock” – PS 1, K
• “The Laird of Anapool’s Lament” – PS 9
• “The MacDonalds’ Salute” – PS 11
• “The MacLeans’ March” – PS 10
• “The Phantom Piper of Corrieyairack” – PS 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
• “The Red Hand in the MacDonald’s Arms” – PS 10
• “The Red Speckled Bull” – PS 4, K
• “The Rout of the Lowland Captain” – PS 9
• “The Sound of the Waves against the Castle of Duntroon” – PS 6, K
• “The Sutherlands’ Gathering” – PS 14
• “The Unjust Incarceration” – PS 2, K

Gold Medal (submit four, play one)

• “Abercairney’s Salute” – PS 11
• “Lament for the Dead” – PS 11
• “MacKintosh of Borlum’s Salute” – PS 12
• “Queen Anne’s Lament” – PS 7, K
• “Sobieski’s Salute” – PS 5
• “The Black Wedder’s White Tail” – PS 11
• “The Lament for the Only son” – PS 6, K
• “The MacDonalds’ Salute” – PS 11
• “The Menzies’ Salute” – PS 15, K
• “The Rout of the Lowland Captain” – PS 9

Silver Medal (submit four, play one)

• “Fair Honey” – PS 9
• “Lament for Finlay” – PS 13
• “Nameless (One of the Cragich)” – PS 12
• “Nameless (Hihorodo tra cherede che)” – PS 12
• “Salute to Young Neil” – PS 13
• “Sir Ewan Cameron of Locheil’s Salute” – PS 10
• “Weighing From Land” – PS 2, K
• “Welcome Johnny Back Again” – PS 9

Due to the pandemic and the cancellation of the last two years of major events, the Piobaireachd Society elected to keep 2022 requirements originally set for 2020.

The tradition of prescribing tunes for competitors at the major gatherings began pretty much with the inception of the organization in 1901. It was and still is a way to promote the learning and playing of the arrangements of the music that the Piobaireachd Society helped to standardized through its publication of its Collection, which is now on Volume 18.

Related

Ready, get set, stay: piob requirements for big 2021 events unchanged
July 14, 2020