Here is a shot of the piping competitors at the Argyllshire Gathering, Oban, in 1906. Rarely do we find names attached to these old group photos, making a photo like this a bonus. And what names they are: George McLennan, Willie Ross, Willie Lawrie, John MacColl, MacDougall Gillies, John MacDonald.
James Center won the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal on this particular day. Two years later he emigrated with his father to Australia, where in 1918 he became a victim of the Spanish Flu pandemic. Pipe Major George Allan had won the Medal at Oban the year before, and would win the Medal at Inverness not long after this photo was taken. Willie Ross would win the Clasp at Inverness.
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