The Northern Meeting is a gathering held in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, best known for its solo

bagpiping Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...

competition in September.

History

The Northern Meeting was set up in 1798 "for the purpose of promoting a Social Intercourse", and early editions featured dinners, balls, concerts, and horse races. "An exhibition of Pipers and Dancers" was included in the 1841 meeting, and in 1848 the

Highland Society of London The Highland Society of London is a charity registered in England and Wales, with "the view of establishing and supporting schools in the Highlands and in the Northern parts of Great Britain, for relieving distressed Highlanders at a distance from ...

donated a

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

, after their own piping competition ceased in 1844. In 1789 the Northern Meeting built its own rooms on the corner of Church Street and Baron Taylor's Street, and in 1864 the Northern Meeting Park in the centre of Inverness was established as a venue for the Highland Games. The Highland Games ceased to be run by the members of the Northern Meeting with the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and in 1946 the Northern Meeting Park was sold to Inverness Burgh Council who took over responsibility for running the Games and renamed it "The Inverness Highland Games" The rooms were sold in 1962 and since then the Ball and piping competitions have been held in venues around Inverness, except for between 2005 and 2007 when the piping competition was held in

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popul ...

due to the renovation of

Eden Court Theatre Eden Court Theatre (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an Easbaig) is a large theatre, cinema and arts venue situated in Inverness, Scotland close to the banks of the River Ness. The theatre has recently undergone a complete refurbishment and major exten ...

. In 1926 there were 850 people attending the ball. The bicentenary in 1988 was celebrated with a week of events reminiscent of earlier gatherings, with the centre-piece being a ball at

Beaufort Castle Beaufort Castle can refer to several places: * Beaufort Castle, Florennes, Belgium * Beaufort Castle, France, in the historical region of Auvergne * Beaufort Castle in Huy, Belgium * Beaufort Castle, Greece, a Frankish castle in Laconia * Beaufor ...

attended by 1000 people. The piping competition is currently held in early September, one or two weeks after the

Argyllshire Gathering The Argyllshire Gathering is a Highland games held in Oban, Scotland. History A meeting on 23 August 1871 held at the Argyll Arms Hotel led to a resolution to have an "Annual Gathering of the Gentry of the County of Argyll for social purposes" ...

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

. Many pipers come to Scotland to compete in both events. Other events throughout the year include reel parties, cocktail parties and lunches.

Piping competition

The annual solo bagpiping competitions at the Northern Meeting are among the most prestigious in the calendar, especially the competition for the

donated by the

. A maximum of between 25 and 35 pipers are in each competition. The Senior piping competitions consist of three

pibroch Pibroch, or is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations. Strictly meaning "piping" in Scottish Gaelic, has for some f ...

competitions and five light music competitions. The pibroch competitions are for the Gold Medal, the Silver Medal, and the Clasp for former winners of the Gold Medal. For light music, there are

March, Strathspey and Reel The March, Strathspey and Reel or MSR is a set of tunes consisting of a march, a strathspey and a reel, three different simple time metres The metre (British spelling Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country ...

competitions for A and B grades as well as one for former winners, and A and B grade

Hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others r ...

and

Jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

competitions. Eligibility for the Senior competitions is decided by a Joint Eligibility Committee, comprising representatives of the Northern Meeting, the Argyllshire Gathering, competition judges and the

Competing Pipers Association Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

. There are also Junior competitions, with piobaireach and March, Strathspey and Reel (MSR) for under 15 and under 18 age grades.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.northern-meeting.org/
List of all winners

List of recent winners and runners-up
Piping events Music festivals in Scotland Scottish music Competitions in Scotland Folk festivals in Scotland Celtic music festivals Autumn events in Scotland Culture in Inverness