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

Words: Eve Lamb. Image: Supplied
Organisers of this year’s Daylesford Highland Gathering are urging locals to get out in force and enjoy the long- running annual event.
Happening December 2, the Gathering is now in its 72nd year making it one of the town’s most long-standing annual events.
“It’s very popular in the district and I think the only longer running annual event for the town would be the agricultural show,” muses Gathering committee member Keith Pyers who himself has been with the
Gathering organising committee for 40 years.
Established in 1952 by Dan McKinnon, the Gathering has a proud history of bringing together those interested in Scottish culture from throughout Australia and internationally.
Daylesford’s Highland Gathering last year made a strong comeback after Covid’s interruption and this year it’s back with a vengeance.
Run in conjunction with the Victorian Pipe Bands Association, it promises a great spectacle with numerous highland pipe and drum bands, and dancers from around the state and further afield performing and competing throughout the day.
“Our Daylesford Gathering is the first of the new season of Highland gatherings so it’s very popular with the Scottish community and with the competing bands,” Keith says.
The day fires up with the morning parade through Vincent Street, itself a competitive event for bands and judged by top judges with the Victorian Pipe bands Association.
After that the full day’s entertainment takes over the town’s Victoria Park transforming it into a tartan microcosm of traditional dance and band performance and competition.
“We’re hoping to see a big surge in local attendance at Victoria Park,” says Keith, who himself boasts a 25 percent dram of Scots genetic heritage.
“And at the end of the day, around 4pm or 4.30pm, all of the bands come out onto the arena for the massed bands performance and it is a really brilliant spectacle.
“It’s very moving actually. The power of those pipes is something to hear.”
Keith says accommodation venues in and around Daylesford are typically heavily booked for the weekend and he’s urging local accommodation operators and other businesses to promote the
Gathering and let visitors know about its significance.
“The Scottish community and the history of Scottish settlement is very strong around western Victoria,” he says.
“The Hepburn Shire is named for one of the early Scottish migrants, John Hepburn, who came into the district.”
For anyone with even a trace of Scots heritage coursing through their veins – and there are plenty of such folk in the wider district – the skirl of the pipes can be undeniably stirring. But you don’t need Celtic blood to appreciate the entertainment on offer at the Gathering.
There’ll also be food and merchandise vendors and it’s a great chance for those with the ancestry to pick up some Scottish souvenirs or find out a bit more about their lineage with Clans marquees also present on the day.
“In recent years we’ve encouraged the Clans to attend and they’ll be setting up a tent section,” Keith says.
Secretary with the organising committee, Anne Heriot, has strong Scottish heritage. She also has very fond memories of competing in theDaylesford Highland Gathering dance events as a child.
“I used to be a Highland dancer from the age of four to 16, when we used to live in Melbourne and we’d come here every year for the competition. They are very fond memories for me,” Anne says.
She says it was wonderful to see the Gathering return last year after Covid, and says this year promises an even bigger turnout of bands.
“We’re expecting more than last year – 16 or more,” Anne said“And this time we’ve also got Ballarat Scottish Country Dancing coming to do some demo dances – reels and jigs.”
In a side-note likely to please all with a dash of Scots, Keith says the cost of a day pass “has not significantly moved in 20 years”.
More information can be found on the Daylesford Highland Gathering’s dedicated website.