Ross Lloyd – by Geoff Hore The Composer and Compiler of The Sticking Pen Collection Ross Lloyd has been involved in the Pipe Band scene in Christchurch for nearly 50 years. About 23 years ago he composed his first tunes and two of them had immediate international success. Ross was taught the pipes as a 10-year-old in 1954. His tutor was the notable Joe Patterson who was Pipe Major of the City of Christchurch Pipe Band. The following year he played in the City of Christchurch B Grade Band and attended his first contest at Ashburton. In 1959 at the age of 17 he became Pipe Major of the Band and later played in the senior band. 1962 saw a major split in the band and Ross and a number left to join the Scottish Society of NZ Pipe Band under Pipe Major Frank Annan. He played and contested with that band until he and two other pipers, Graham Price and Ross Allison, left for UK in September 1965. They spent the first 9 months living and working in Bristol and were involved with the local Pipe Band. The local newspaper heard about these intrepid New Zealanders and ran an article about them. In the 1960s it was not a common occurrence for New Zealanders to make the lengthy sea trip over to UK. Graham returned to New Zealand whilst the two Ross’s travelled throughout Europe and Scotland for 6 months before returning to New Zealand in late 1966. Ross Lloyd re-joined the Scottish Society and continued playing with them for the next ten years. The highlight of his time with the band was the 1967 Invercargill contest when the Scottish Society won the Quickstep competition. Although the City of Wellington went on to win the Test Selection and the Aggregate, Ross believes it to be the best moment of his competing career. In 1976 Ross retired from the Scottish Society Pipe Band and after a short break was coerced into becoming Pipe Tutor of the Canterbury Caledonian Ladies’ Pipe Band; a post he was to hold for 18 years. During his time with Caledonian Ladies’, they made trips to Santa Rosa, USA, Adelaide, Tasmania and Brisbane (twice). Some of the tunes in his Collection were inspired from incidents that occurred on these trips. In 1996 Ross was made a Life Member of the band. In 1979 he composed two 4/4 marches, The Sticking Pen and Alister Miller’s (MBE) Week in Wick. A couple of years later he sent copies of these tunes to Ian MacLeod, Pipe Major of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band in Scotland. The Strathclyde Police included the former in their medley in the 1982 and 1983 World Championships. The latter was played by Dysart and Dundonald in their Medley in 1983. I don’t know of any other New Zealand composer who has had two of their compositions played by top overseas bands at the same time. On arriving at the Tasmanian contest, the first tune they heard was The Sticking Pen. The 1980s also saw other changes in Ross’ life. He met his wife Barbara, and they were married in 1984. They both had an interest in Country music and bagpipe music and together formed the Barross Country Duo. The feature of their music is the way they use the bagpipes, banjo and guitars to accompany their voices. They have been successful in Country competitions gaining the top prize at Motueka in 1984. These days Ross and Barbara are two of the most popular performers in their field and receive invitations to perform throughout New Zealand and Australia. Barbara also learned the pipes and played in the band. After the success of his first two compositions Ross, who had thirty more tunes he had composed, decided to take the then unusual step of publishing them in a book. In 1987 he consulted with two other Christchurch pipers in the printing trade, Trevor Young and John Hayward, and produced The Sticking Pen Collection. There is no doubt that the two tunes mentioned above are the best in the book but there are others that are eminently playable. Ross states that composing tunes is relatively easy and that coming up with a name is sometimes more difficult. The following summarises the 36 tunes in the collection and some of the stories behind them: The Barross Wedding is a pleasant 6/8 that commemorates Barbara and Ross’ wedding. Barross, of course, is an acronym formed from their names. The slow air, Barb’s Waltzing Bass tells of Barbara’s then dislike of playing waltzes on the bass guitar. The Caledonian Ladies is a 6/8 and was named for the band he was tutoring at the time. The band is now called The Canterbury Caledonian Royal Stewart Pipe Band. The Christchurch Town Hall is named for that famous piece of architecture. A lovely haunting little slow air. The Barton Oval is in Adelaide and has a music shop where Ross found a record by the Strathclyde Police with The Sticking Pen on it. It is also the name of a 6/8. Elsa and Beka are the names of two favourite pet cats commemorated in another lovely slow air. In 1984 the Caledonian Ladies competed in Santa Rosa, California. They had a successful time and later played at Disneyland. Ross had a hitherto unnamed 6/8 and it now has the title The Cale Ladies March Through Disneyland. Over 20 years ago Ross acquired an old set of MacDougall bagpipes, and they are fondly remembered in the two parted 6/8 The McDougalls. This tune may have unwittingly brought the Country idiom across into the piping arena with very good effect. Mary’s Tune is a slow air named after his mother. The delightful slow air, The Whiskey Rose has nothing to do with Ross’ favourite tipple; it is his way of expressing his delight for the garden rose of the same name. Another slow air has the name Scotch Mist. Apparently, there is a similar type of mist in North Canterbury. At one of the Wellington contests, Ross’ band was staying at Romanos’ Hotel. One of the other bands got up to some noisy mischief on the Saturday night and the next morning were refused breakfast. The 6/8 The Romanos Breakfast tells the story. The Sheriff of Santa Rosa recalls another incident from the band’s trip there in 1984. Ross was curious about the accoutrements attached to the local sheriff’s patrol car, one of which was a shotgun placed above the dashboard. Ross struck up a brief friendship with the sheriff that included several band members having their photos taken with the car and sheriff. In 1980 a new public park was opened in the Port Hills near Christchurch; Mount Vernon Park is a 6/8 march named after this park. Piping the Haggis tells of the times when Ross piped the haggis. The delightful 9/8 rhythm makes it a perfect tune for such an occasion. Noelene Keller was the Pipe Major of the Caledonian Ladies Pipe Band, and it is only natural that Ross should name a tune after her. Another delightful 9/8 march. Noelene was awarded the QSM in the last New Year’s Honours. The ¾ march Away to Gore was composed after one of Barbara and Ross’ trips to the Country Music festival at Gore. Another ¾ The Garden City is Ross’ tribute to his home city and the 12/8 Queen Elizabeth II Park is named after the famous park built in that city for the 1974 Commonwealth Games. For nearly 20 years Ashburton has been home to a pipe band festival and it seemed appropriate that a tune should be composed for it; hence the 12/8 march The Ashburton Band Festival. An amusing incident occurred in the surf at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii on one of the band trips. Peter Keller lost his teeth whilst swimming. A frantic search and the use of a garden rake saw them eventually returned to their rightful place. Events like this just have to have a tune and the 2/4 Pete’s Teeth seems most appropriate. All Pipe Majors will know of the problems associated with non-matching chanters. One of the pipers in the band Adelaide in 1986 used her solo chanter. It was not the same pitch as the band chanters and the resulting discord was the inspiration for the 2/4 march The Odd Chanter at Adelaide. The Santa Rosa Reception is a 2/4 march that recalls the great reception the New Zealand bands received at the house of Cathy and Don Cameron in 1982. The Arthur’s Pass Staircase is one of two strathspeys in the collection and is named after the famous car drive from Canterbury to the West Coast. The Staircase no longer exists; the winding road having been straightened by a new viaduct. N. Z’s K. Z’s is a 2/4 march commemorating New Zealand’s first America’s Cup campaign. The second strathspey is The Sign of the Kiwi and is named after one of the most famous landmark houses in the Port Hills of Christchurch. Ross Wilson’s March is a 2/4 named after one of New Zealand’s better-known pipers who was president of the Royal New Zealand Pipe Band’s Association from 1982 to 94 and wrote the Foreword when the collection was published. The Top of the South is a 4/4 composed for the occasion in1984 when Barbara and Ross won the top prize at the Country singing competitions.