Speakers’ Dinner 2007
Guests arriving on a freezing evening were glad to enter the warmth of the Science Centre, and were entertained by the playing of the saxophone quartet as they chatted. After the reception, they made their way to the Dining Hall, accompanied by the piping of Bertie Allison and Graham Inglis. A delicious meal was then followed by the eagerly awaited speeches given by ten nervous sevenths. Led by the Chairman, Chris Dollman, they talked on subjects of their own choice, ranging from ‘The Importance of Manliness in Men’ to ‘My Green Family’. Nervous they may have been, but it was undetectable in the delivery of their speeches.
While the votes were counted, a group of nine singers entertained the guests and the tension mounted among the speakers. Congratulations go to Simon Kay, whose gutsy performance on ‘Being Me’ saw him being awarded the Speakers’ Cup. Well done also to Nick Aspinall, whose speech ‘Driving in the Fast Lane’ won him the Stirling Gavel for most improved speaker.
Thanks must go to Miss Arbuthnott for organising the event, to Mrs Una Stark for training our speakers and Mrs Elizabeth Stark for running the bar, and to Sodexho for a lovely meal. All of these things contributed to a terrific evening.
Bertie Allison
Other dinners
Burns Suppers Piping
The excellent suggestion was made that this year the quartet set, containing all sorts of weird and wonderful tunes, should be played in the main piping slot. Having only played the set once in public the previous November, it was a miracle that on both nights, under the extreme conditions of tight ties and hot lights, the quintet of Donald Mackintosh, Alasdair MacGregor, Angus Fitchie, James Murray and Richard Mclauchlan, played the set musically and, on the whole, without blemish. Along with the usual playing in and out of the Haggis and the piping in of the Top Table, the drum corps made a musical racket (you can tell I’m a piper) with their impressively technical drummer’s fanfare. Although a grandmother or two went without hearing for the rest of the night (which was probably fortunate considering some of the jokes the chairman made) the drummer’s performances were the most energetic and proficient displays that I’ve seen during my time in the band. All in all the Burns Suppers this year were a triumph and I was proud to be playing on both nights. Richard McLauchlan |
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The Burns Supper is one of the few events of the Pipe Band calendar where the senior players get a chance to shine on their own, and so by the end of January enthusiasm notched up a couple of grades on The Pipe Band Morale Richter Scale (not that morale is ever particularly low). This page is: Edinburgh Academy /information /activities/ functions.htm
