U18 Champion Piper - The Northern

Besides The Argyllshire Gathering (Oban) solo piping competition, The Northern Meeting (Inverness) is equally as prestigious internationally. They are both held over two days and both attract the best bagpipers in the world. There are limited and very coveted places for entry to the events. We found out that the McGregor Memorial Piobaireachd competition that Maggie played in Oban had a further 29 disappointed young players whose entry was not accepted!

Maggie was entered into a Piobaireachd event where she was required to submit four tunes, with one given to her 15 minutes before she played and she also played an MSR where she only had to submit one of each tune type this time, unlike the Argyllshire where it is three.

She had a late draw for both events so got to enjoy listening to some of the Clasp Piobaireachd and hang out with some piping friends before she had to turn her attention to playing.

Maggie didn't listen to any of her competitors, Delwyn did. There are some extremely talented young pipers around.

Lament for Captain McDougall was given for Maggie's Piobaireachd and for her March, Strathspey and Reel, Alan Dodds Farewell to Scotland, Cabah Feidh and Kildonan.

Delwyn sat in and listened to her events while trying to control nerves. After Maggie played her Piob, she admitted that she had been feeling particularly nervous also - to the extent she practiced some deep breathing exercises before she was called on to play. I think both of us were doing that.

After each event, we didn't discuss Maggie's thoughts on how she played and that is the way we have mostly rolled throughout the trip. In fact we didn't discuss piping much at all. The thing about arts performance such as playing a musical instrument when you are being judged is that the outcome is based nearly entirely on the tuition, preparation, what the judges prefer, their weighting on technique, musicality, interpretation, etc and the players ability to deliver a nice error free performance. So all you can do is your best and hope it is what the judges want to hear.

Maggie had been playing consistently well in all the other events, having the fabulous second in the McGregor, second overall in Lochaber, first overall at Birnham and Braemar and second overall in Blairgowrie. Still she had absolutely no expectation at the Northern so after a longish wait to be called into the auditorium for prize giving, when she was announced as second in MSR she was thrilled and then to be called up again as the winner of Piobaireachd, the surprise was very obvious on her face. This meant she was the overall winner of the event.

Maggie got awarded 5 trophies altogether but other than the Silver Chanter we couldn't take them home as they would have weighed too much. She also got to sit amongst and be congratulated by some of her international piping idols such as Callum Beaumont, Angus. D. McColl and of course her favourite, Stuart Liddell.

Observing Maggie from a seat in the auditorium getting presented with her trophies and having the official photos taken was a strange mixture of a surreal feeling but most of all, immense pride with a couple of mother tears shed. Talk about WOW. We both wish Gary had been with us to enjoy the moment. It is his turn in 2026 to return.

What a way to end a fabulous and very successful solo campaign in Scotland 2025!