December 5th, 2024Plenty of heavy lifting for this gathering
Mel Gibson is “to blame” for inciting a teenage Langley Rowbottom to play the bagpipes.
Fast forward a few years on from those teenage days and today Langley is pipe major with Daylesford and District Highland band.
Right now he’s among the many looking forward to being in the thick of the Celtic atmosphere at this Saturday’s Highland Gathering, Dec 7. Check out https://youtu.be/RqDF9vafwtA to soak up a bit of the Gathering vibe.
Quizzed as to what prompted him to take up the pipes, Langley recounts how, as a teenager, he switched from playing clarinet to the pipes after catching Mel in Braveheart.
Clearly something clicked. It may have been that certain percentage of Celts blood coursing through the veins.
“They’re a commanding instrument,” Langley chuckles.
This Saturday (December 7) the Daylesford and District Pipes and Drums will be part of the 9.20am morning parade involving some 250 bagpipes and drums marching down Vincent Street.
The focus then switches to Victoria Park where this year’s Gathering will feature the much anticipated return of the Highland Heavy Games after an absence of almost three decades.
Once at Vic Park, the bands competition gets going from 11 am, and Langley says Daylesford and District Pipes and Drums will play as part of the official opening ceremony at 1pm.
“The street march down the main street in the morning is fantastic,” he says.
“And then at Victoria Park we’ll be playing with other bands at 1pm as part of the opening ceremony.”
“I’m just looking forward to having a great day. It’s a really good community thing, catching up with other people who you might not have seen since the last event.
“We will also be playing as part of the massed bands performance in the closing ceremony.”
Highland dogs, Highland cattle, state championship Highland dance, clan tartan and kilts, foods and bevvies and plenty of Celtic heritage stalls and vendors promise to make the day an atmosphere-soaked way to reconnect with both personal and regional links to Scots heritage.
“We really want people to come up to Victoria Park and see all the action there as well as just watching the street march,” committee president Chris Sinclair says.
“For the first time in nearly 30 years we are so excited to announce the return of the Highland Heavy Games.”
After the two-year Covid hiatus, Chris says the committee today remains extremely keen to maintain the momentum to reinvigorate the Daylesford Gathering that dates back to 1952.
This Saturday’s notable return of the Highland Heavy Games competition including caber tossing, hammer throw, weight-over-bar and stone puts, is part of that push.
In fact, it will feature one of the biggest lineups of Heavy Games athletes ever fielded by Vic Highland Heavy Events, including open men’s and open women’s division events peppered with some very impressive world record holders.
And it won’t all just be about the kilts, cabers and haggis pie – although apparently they’ll be on offer too. There’ll also be some very lovely lassies milling about as Hi Paws Dog Training of Pipers Creek will be bringing a group of beautiful rough collie dogs (as in Lassie Come Home) and border terrier friends to go on show at 11.30am and 2pm.
Suffice it to say, the Gathering is dog friendly (on lead only) with the committee encouraging guests to bring along their Scottish breed pooches …
“We’ve had some cuties attend in the past, dressed in kilts and tartan, so don’t hold back.
“I’ve been going to the Gathering since 1975 when I was a teenager and played bagpipes in a band and the numbers back then were probably around the 3000 mark,” Chris says.
The aim is to see those sorts of numbers through the gate once more, and with widespread appreciation of Celts heritage enjoying a strong resurgence that goal is looking more than a wee dram achievable.
Entry on the gate is $15 for adults and free for kids under 16.
Link: www.daylesfordhighland.com
Words: Eve Lamb
