Scottish SA Music Camp

West Linton Music Camps

I was, I guess, rather late on the uptake for participating in music camps, but that didn't stop me from having some great times there.

My first (and last as a 'pupil') music camp was in 1970 and it is fair to say that I didn't really know what to expect. It was certainly very different from the previous music camp I had been at - the Glasgow Schools' 2nd Orchestra in Rothesay. Instead of makeshift "bedrooms" in a school the SA camp was in barrack-like wooden dormitories - which at the time seemed to be extremely large, but on reflection were probably not that big!!

I did have the advantage of knowing the "bandmaster" for the week quite well - it was my Dad! The "A" band was pretty equally split between cornet players and the rest. It include a number of guys from Southport who remain among my 'friends' to this day. Indeed a large number of friendships can be dated to music camps - both SA and Glasgow Schools.

I did have the advantage of knowing the "bandmaster" for the week quite well - it was my Dad! The "A" band was pretty equally split between cornet players and the rest. It include a number of guys from Southport who remain among my 'friends' to this day. Indeed a large number of friendships can be dated to music camps - both SA and Glasgow Schools.

My memories of the first camp are a bit sketchy - I do remember that I had to be treated as a "special case" though. Part of each morning was devoted to music theory and there were a number of different standards of classes that could be taken. For most people you went to Theory I in your first year at camp - Theory II in your second and so on. As I had completed my Music O Level I had already studied everything that was 'normally' done at camp. So - my 'class' for the week was scoring. My "task" (and my test) was to arrange the Camp Song (Gates of the Morning) for the performance at the final festival.

I thought that it was a 'reasonable' attempt and it was duly performed. The only 'amendment' to my score was the addition of a couple of notes at the end for the Bass player. It was both amusing and ever so slightly smugness-inducing that everything went well - apart from the additional notes which the bass player completely messed up!!!

At the end of the festival there was the announcement about who had one "top boy" and "top girl" at the camp - I was a bit surprised to find that I won the "top boy" award. In retrospect the weighting given to the theory aspect will certainly have helped.

In the following three (?) years I returned as an "orderly" - they are called "sergeants" at some camps - basically we were a group of folks who had grown out of the age range for music camp and who were 'called back' to assist the staff. Goodness only knows what current rules on "safe and sound" would have made of the way in which those camps were staffed!! Having said that, I am unaware of anything happening that could be deemed "inappropriate".

One of the highlights of the week was, of course, talent night. To be honest, I have never been completely comfortable with any sort of "acting" or "performance" outside my comfort zone. I did get involved in some rather bizarre performances at music camp though - there was the male timbrel group - appearing on the stage to the strains of a minuet by Boccherini and prancing like ballet dancers - there was the "pop" group performances ("In the Summertime" and "Puff the Magic Dragon"!!) - and one particular one that stands out in the memory was the comedic openair.

This was used as an example of someone who has a fixation about a particular "gospel shot" (for those who don't know what that is in the early army people would shout out a verse or phrase from the Bible - hence a "gospel shot". In our openair we had someone who - repeatedly - used "and the lot fell upon Jonah" at the most inappropriate moments (like immediately after praying for Molly lying in her bed of sickness.... and the lot fell upon Jonah!!!) (you had to be there)

We have all been in army meetings when something is said or done which is loaded with unfortunateness - from the CSM announcing that in the rota for organising the Saturday evening events next weeks would be be "the Corps Secs' night" (think about how it sounds) to the prayer for those "lying in their bed of sickness (eugh!) and not forgetting that old favourite "and the lot fell upon Jonah".

well

Quite apart from the "fun" aspect - music camps back then - as they are now - are very helpful in the development of young people. A week of intensive practice - musical and spiritual - and getting to know others "of a like mind" was never long enough. As I alluded to above many friends have persisted from that time and the folks from around Glasgow that I met at music camp were very much the basis for the group of friends that I socialised with for much of my later years in Glasgow.

The fact that you shared so many experiences means that even many years later there is a bond that is hard to break - for those familiar with my blog entries this again supports the "Red Thread" series of entries in that blog. There is a picture (well there are several) of the "orderlies" at one of the camps where I look around them and think that most remained lifelong friends even though they are scattered far and wide geographically!!

Perhaps I didn't make enough of "the people" when writing my first post in anecdote about Castle Toward. The reality is that the single most important part of everything I have ever done is the people I have got to know, especially those who, in some way, became part of my life for many years. It is a theme that is strong in my other writing - the relationships and interactions we have with others are what makes "special" occasions. Like Castle Toward, the Music Camps intensify that - and it isn't a fleeting connection - it persists over a week or so and is often rekindled many times over the years. The red threads are pulled tight and even if they loosen somewhat through time there is still a strong bond.

There are, however, far too many stories about music camps.... One concerns the workings of the mind of Speug!! I can't remember the details but one night the window in one of the boy's dormitories was broken. For reasons which have never been entirely clear to me, Speug came to the conclusion that the culprit had broken the window whilst climbing back through it and we should therefor inspect the left foot of everyone to see if there were signs of damage!!

Hmmmm....

One of the 'difficult' (and unexpected) side effects was a level of 'fame' that made for some awkward moments. As an orderly it wasn't long before everyone got to know who you were - within that smallish community the orderlies were the Kardashians of their time!! Months and years later people would come up to you at some event and talk to you - and it would take a while for the penny to drop - they remembered you from music camp!!! It really was a case of "Everybody knows your name"!!

On the music front when I was an orderly I very much took a back seat (quite literally) in the band - often playing 2nd horn. At the end of the week the A Band would undertake the Sunday meetings at one of the Scottish Corps. On this particular year it was Parkhead. The Band had three euphonium players - two of whom could not stay over for the Sunday. Guess who was 'volunteered' to cover the euphonium part and to assist the young man who was left to cover for his more experienced colleagues - yep - Me!! I had an interesting day of sight reading!! In the "wind-up" at the end of the Sunday evening meeting there was the song "Simply Trusting" (I think it was sung by the band, but it may have been a congregational song with small band accompaniment) to the tune of "Will Ye No Come Back Again".

Anyone who knows the brass arrangement will remember the "soaring" euphonium part - this was an unrehearsed item and my fellow euphonium player flatly refused to even consider playing it - so - off I went again!! I'm sure it was wonderful!!!