Mod win for Crieff piper John
A piper from Crieff has won top honours at the Royal National Mòd.
John Dew picked up the James R Johnston Memorial Trophy for overall champion piper as well as the Ceòl Mòr quaich at Scotland’s premier
Gaelic festival, which took place in Glasgow.
The former Ardvreck and Srathallan pupil told the Herald: “The win was very surprising – I certainly wasn’t expecting to win the Ceòl Mòr event and it was an absolute delight to have won it.
“I played a piece which I YD enjoy playing very much, which makes these competitions so much more enjoyable when you play a piece that you really like.
“The performance venue was fantastic as well. The new auditorium in the concert hall really was a superb location for the pipers.”
John has a string of accolades to his name.
As well as solo success, he was part of the Inveraray and District Pipe Band when they were crowned World Pipe Band Champions in 2017 and 19.
The 22 year-old, who is currently studying traditional music at the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, has a keen interest in composition.
Earlier this year, he was commissioned to compose a ‘Bonnymuir’ pipe tune for Balfron Heritage Group’s Radicals Festival in 2020.
The piece marks the battle which prematurely ended the Scottish Insurrection of 1820.
Split into two parts, the first part of the song is the optimist march ‘Mark Haste for Carron’, where the Radicals had been promised reinforcements.
The second half is ‘Rout at Bonnymuir’, which saw the troop trounced by the Stirlingshire Yeomnary.
John will premiere ‘Bonnymuir’ at the opening of the festival in March 2020, which will feature singer-songwriter Dougie Maclean, at Balfron Campus Theatre.
The win was very surprising – I certainly wasn’t expecting to win and it was a delight