Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band

Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band
Established 1964
Disbanded 1967
Location Invergordon
Grade 1 (former)
Pipe Major Donald Shaw Ramsay
Drum major Sandy Macpherson
Tartan Red Gordon

Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band was a pipe band associated with the Invergordon Distillery. The band was characterised by the extremely high calibre of the individual players.[1]

History

Mural of the band

The idea of forming a band was put forward by a production manager at the distillery, Willie Macdonald, who had played with the Dingwall British Legion Pipe Band.[2] Frank Thomson, the owner of the distillery, decided to create the band with a view to winning the World Championships and bringing considerable attention to the firm.[3][4] Donald Shaw Ramsay was the pipe major,[5] and Sandy Macpherson was drum major of the band.[2] Alex Duthart was persuaded by Ramsay to leave Shotts and Dykehead to join the band in 1964, and was the leading drummer for three years until he left for Edinburgh City Police.[6][7] The band members were employed by and worked in the distillery by day.[4]

The band had its first outing on 9 May 1964, when it marched down the High Street in Invergordon with twelve pipers, three snare drummers, two tenor drummers and a bass drummer.[2]

Nine months after its creation, it won the European Championships, and was placed in every major competition in 1965.[5] In 1965, 1966 and 1967 it won every major competition except the World Championships, which was at that time dominated by Muirhead & Sons, which won five consecutive times between 1965 and 1969.[5] The drum corps, however, did win the title of Best Drum Corps at the Worlds in 1966 and 1967, before Alex Duthart moved to Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band to win the title of best drum corps with that band in 1968.[8] The band's best overall result in the World Championships was a third place in 1967.

John D. Burgess played with the band after settling in Invergordon in 1966.[9][10] Burgess had taken over from Donald Shaw Ramsay as pipe major of Edinburgh Police in 1957.[5]

The band broke up after sponsorship ended in 1967, four years after its inception.[11][6][5]

Recordings

The band was musically innovative, and made a famous recording of the pibroch The Old Woman's Lullaby, a style of music normally performed by a solo piper, with multiple harmonies and drums.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Donaldson, Emily. The Scottish Highland Games in America. Pelican Publishing. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4556-1171-3.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "44 Years Ago". ross-shirejournal.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Article". Piping Times 39: 20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "10th Bn HLI Crossing the Rhine". plheineman.net. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Donald Shaw Ramsay (1919-1998)". pipetunes.ca. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Kit Reynolds, 1927-2009". pipesdrums.com. 28 February 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Association's History". rspba.org. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "World Championships Grade One Best Drum Corps" (PDF). pipesandsails.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "John D Burgess". The Telegraph. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Tribute to piping legend could be a collectors item". ross-shirejournal.co.uk. 1 December 2006.
  11. ↑ "Roderick W. “Roddy” MacDonald, 1941-2012". pipesdrums.com. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Pipes in concert.". worldcat.org. Retrieved 6 March 2015.

External links

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