Clean sweep for Argyll with Liddell and Henderson in solo piping at international Northern Meeting

Inveraray and Dunoon will be en fete again after the Northern Meeting in Inverness which finished today.

Stuart Liddell, Pipe Major of the inspirationally successful Inveraray & District Pipe Band, has had a triumph on his own account.

In a field of the world’s best, his piobaireachd has won The Clasp – one of the most prestigious prizes in solo piping – for the second time. He won it first in 2007.

Winning The Clasp means that Stuart has now secured a place in the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship at Blair Atholl at the end of October. ‘The Glenfiddich’ has progressively become the ‘de facto’ World Championship of Solo Highland Piping.

As well as winning The Clasp, Stuart also won the A-Grade Hornipipe & Jig today and came 3rd in the Former Winners March, Strathspey & Reel yesterday.

The online Pipes/Drums magazine said that, along with his Clasp and A Grade wins: ‘His ceol mor and ceol beag talent, combined with his leadership of the Inveraray & District Pipe Band most certainly secure his name as one of history’s greatest all-round competitive Highland pipers’. Not a bad accolade to take into The Glenfiddich in October.

Then, in the B-Grade light music today, Dunoon’s Alastair Henderson won both the March and the Strathspey & Reel. This double win is a rare achievement.

Other successes from Argyll pipers came from Benderloch’s Angus MacColl, who came 5th to Stuart Liddell in the A-Grade Hornpipe & Jig today. Angus came to the Northern Meeting after a win in the Senior Piobaireachd at the sister Gold Medal Argyllshire Gathering.

When you add these stellar successes to the performance of Argyll’s pipe bands across the grades this season, piping needs to be flagged up as an Argyll sphere of excellence.