Shinty Composition Competition

I was delighted to be notified that my composition, ‘Clos nan Caman’ (‘Silence of the Camans’) had been awarded first place in a recent competition run by the Camanachd Association, the Royal Celtic Society and the Glasgow Celtic Society. You can can listen to the tune here and read the full story below!

Lochaber’s Ewen Henderson, one of Scotland’s finest musicians and composers has emerged as the winner of a unique competition which has been held to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Celtic Society and the fact that shinty has not been played this season.

The results of the final of the musical shoot-out were revealed at 1415 on Saturday afternoon (September 19) at the precise moment that shinty’s Big Day out, the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup Final, would have been throwing up in Kingussie had it not been for the intervention of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Three of Scotland’s oldest and most significant sporting and cultural bodies – the Royal Celtic Society, Glasgow Celtic Society and Camanachd Association - came together to offer a major set of prizes for an original musical competition marking the absence of shinty from this summer’s sporting calendar and looking forward to the return of play.


Led by the Royal Celtic Society (RCS), which is this year celebrating its 200th anniversary, and in partnership with the Glasgow Celtic Society and shinty’s governing body the Camanachd Association, supported by Tulloch Homes, the competition offered three prizes totalling £1,500 for an individual to compose an original competition.
Three finalists were chosen by a panel of judges after considerable and challenging assessment from an original entry list of more than 20. After serious and prolonged discussion, Chairman of the judges Gary Innes revealed the result, with Ewen Henderson emerging in first place, Mary Ann Kennedy second and Chris Gray third.


Ewen Henderson described his entry as follows: “I’ve composed a pipe-style ¾ march in three parts. The first reflects shinty’s proud history; the darker and repetitive second part symbolises lockdown and shinty’s hiatus; the optimistic third part looks to the future and shinty’s revival. Unique to Scotland, ¾ marches are a much underrated and neglected part of our musical heritage in the same way that shinty is sometimes overlooked in the wider sphere of Scottish sport. Also, many of the best of these marches were composed by army pipers in the war years – an appropriate nod to the only other times that shinty seasons have been cancelled.”

The RCS had originally intended that the winner of the competition could have
performed at this year’s Camanachd Cup Final at the post-match Final Fling. That game has now been re-schedule for Kingussie in September 2021. Royal Celtic Society Chairman Alan Hay said: “We are grateful to the Princess Royal for introducing the final competition for us in our significant 200th year when she has agreed to become our Patron. I am grateful to the Glasgow Celtic Society and Camanachd Association with the support of Tulloch Homes This was a huge undertaking for us and a unique set of circumstances against the background of a global pandemic, at a significant moment in our own and shinty’s history. I am grateful to the judges, who were unanimous that they found the entries a highly demanding challenge in terms of the separation for final choices and I know from personal experience how difficult it was to select a winner from such an accomplished set of entries. We were particularly encouraged by the number of young people who took part and also the fact that the clàrsach appeared on at least two occasions.”

Fiddle Course in Skye

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll once again be teaching a five-day fiddle course at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - Scotland’s Gaelic College - on the Isle of Skye. This has been a great week the last few years and this time it’ll be happening between the 17th & 21st of August.

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It has booked-up fairly quickly in previous years so, if you fancy it, you should head over to the Sabhal Mòr website just now. There’s more information on the course available there too.

NEW ALBUM: Steall

My debut (proper) solo album, “Steall” has been released! You can buy it on CD or vinyl and download it from my shop right here or you can catch it on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp and all good online purveyors of quality music!

It’s had some great feedback so far - pretty well chuffed!

"It’s a lovely listen packed with variety” - BBC Radio Scotland 

"An utterly brilliant album” - Blues & Roots Radio

 “It’s a great collection of music and gaelic song and I know that our audience will enjoy it as much as we have.” - BBC Radio nan Gàidheal

"Steall" Set for Release

My forthcoming solo album “Steall” is set all set for release on the 31st of January!

The album features a range of mostly self-penned tunes alongside some lesser-known Gaelic songs from the tradition. Though the process took well over a year from inception to completion, it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed and this was in no small part down to the pleasure of working with musical intellectual Ewan MacPherson as producer and the brilliant Barry Reid as engineer. I also had the thrill of James MacKintosh, James Lindsay and Tom Gibbs joining me on a few of the tracks contributing percussion, double-bass and clarinet, respectively. Here’s a taste of what you can find on the album: Òran a’ Bhranndaidh (Song of the Brandy). Enjoy!

PS: If you want to get ahead of the curve, the album’s available right here, right now!

A song from Ewen Henderson's brand new album "Steall", available on CD and download now from https://www.ewen-henderson.com Òran a' Bhranndaidh (Duncan Ban MacIntyre) Duncan Ban MacIntyre lived between 1724-1812 and, to this day, is recognised as a true giant of Gaelic poetry whose work is still held in the highest regard by all with an interest in bàrdachd.

Ewen Henderson: Champion Dancer

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Happy New Year, one and all!

2020 got off to a flyer performing on BBC Alba’s Cèilidh na Bliadhn’ Ùire with Mànran plus our usual Highland & Island adventures either side of that. We had great fun introducing new band members Aidan & Kim to some Scottish audiences - they coped admirably with the traditional Mànran initiation ceremonies!

Once back in Glasgow, attention started turning towards all things Celtic Connections but, just prior to that, I had a cracking time taking part in a brilliant, new charity event: Strictly Come Cèilidh Dancing! Organised by Donnie “Maroot” MacLeod (a legend in Glasgow highland/island circles), this event put 10 “celebrities” (including myself) through their paces over the course of five well-known cèilidh dances in front of a highly esteemed panel of judges. A blow-by-blow account will, pending a stewards’ inquiry, have to wait but suffice to say that yours truly swept aside all comers and schottisched his way out of the hall with top honours in the male category. More importantly, the night raised £2860 for the Eilidh Macleod Trust, a charity that aims to advance musical education and opportunities for children and young people in rural areas. Well done to all involved - I look forward to retiring to the judges’ bench for next year!