About Scottish Fiddling
Taken from the 40th annual commemorative program.

Though no longer an offering at the Colonial Highland Gathering, Scottish Fiddling was a competitive event in late 1970s and early 1980s. The 1978 Gathering hosted the third Scottish Fiddling competition ever to be held in the U.S. in modern times, and it was done with typical style, attention to detail and adherence to Scottish Standards of excellence.

In 1975 Scottish fiddling made its reappearance in performances by today’s judge, Helen Stokoe Phillips, at the Virginia Games. Before then, it had been years since the fiddler’s art had regularly graced the air at Scottish functions in the United States.
For more than 250 years, Scottish Fiddling has been music for dancing: Scottish country dancing. Its patterns are reg-ular and framed. Yet the melody shares its haunting quality with the pipes, and its rollicking good nature with the fiddling of other Celtic and Nordic cultures.

The Strathspey, required of Scottish-style competitors, is the unique music of Scotland, known, too, as the Highland Reel. It emerged as a major form of music before the ’45 Rebellion and has been linked to the dance of the same name from its birth. The airs, laments, and marches — all required of Scottish-style senior competitors — capture the essence, in a quieter vein, of the Gaelic heritage which is reflected in the bagpipes. The reels are shared with all neighboring cultures, save for the unique emphasis in the Scottish tradition.

The fiddlers’ bow hand gives the occasional up-ward snap of the wrist. This produces the stressed sixteenth followed by a dotted eighth. It carries the same designation in Scottish vocal music: the Scotch snap.

Reprinted from Colonial Highland Gathering Program, June 3, 1978;
Article by Paul R. Brockman, founder and executive director of:
SCOTTISH FIRE (the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Revival, Ltd)

The 1978 competition was judged under the rules of performance that govern the Eastern Scottish Championships at Kinross and U.S. National Championships at Alexandria. Points were awarded for each tune played, up to 100 per tune, divided against six factors, as follows:

1. Command of the Fiddle as an Instrument: 20 points. This includes playing the right notes and generally “staying on top” of the fiddle and the music.

2. Liveliness or Feeling: 20 points. Scottish music has a pulsing, contagious lilt. The fiddler should show the outward symptoms of having caught the contagion.

3. Rhythm and Phrasing: 15 points. The internal force of Scottish music is its regular structures, with a distinct emphasis on every beat, yet with a sense for the melodic line.

4. Time: 15 points. “Stand fast!” is the motto of Clan Grant. Steadiness of meter is essential as a balance to liveliness and phrasing.

5. Style and Ornamentation:20 points. Given all the above, it is still necessary to put it all together. Then and then only can the flourishes contribute to the total effect. To the Scottish fiddle enthusiast, these are the first things noticed, as they separate the great from the near great musicians.

6. Tone and Tuning: 10 points. Scottish fiddling is musical, and musicality requires concern for pitch.