The prestigious Lochnell Championship was held on Saturday October 21st in the chapel of Lochnell Castle by kind permission of the Earl of Dundonald. The contest celebrates 150 years since the inauguration of the Argyllshire Gathering and is now in its third year.
The Championship brought together seven of Scotland’s finest Intermediate players: Ruairidh Brown, Andrew Ferguson, Luke Kennedy, Cameron May, Gregor MacDonald, Bobby Allen, Brodie Watson Massey and, from Australia, Liam Nicholson. Each piper had to submit four tunes of his own choice, with tunes only being given in the final tuning room.
Competing in front of judges P/M Jimmy Banks MBE, Alasdair Henderson and John Wilson, it was Brodie Warson Massey who came first in the Piobearachd, with Ruairidh Brown triumphing in the March, Strathspey & Reel. The overall champion piper with most points was Brodie Watson Massey, who was also awarded the Jimmy McIntosh Memorial Trophy for Piobaireachd, the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society Bronze Medal and a £200 cash prize.
Piobaireachd
1 Brodie Watson Massey, £120, Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay
2 Gregor MacDonald, £80, End of the High Bridge
3 Cameron May, £60, Blue Ribbon
4 Ruairidh Brown, £40, Lachlan MacNeill Kintarbert’s Fancy
March, Strathspey & Reel
1 Ruairidh Brown, £120
2 Brodie Watson Massey £80
3 Cameron May, £60
4 Luke Kennedy, £40
Lochnell 2023 champion piper Brodie Watson Massey. Image courtesy Archie CochraneThe event was hosted by Lord Archie Cochrane, with Robert Wallace as Fear an Tigh. Sponsors were The Wyfold Charitable Trust, Duncan Louis Stewart Foundation, Alik Campbell of Lochnell, Piobaireachd Society, Andrew Holman of Kilfinichen and the Royal Scottish Pipers Society.
