The Northern Meeting, 1788-1988 : Angus Fairrie : Highland Music Dance Piping

The Northern Meeting, 1788-1988

By Angus Fairrie

Published by The Pentalnd Press, East Lothian, 1988. First Edition. Signed by the author to the half-title page. Hardback book with dust jacket. 242 pages. Profusely illustrated.

CONDITION
A very good clean copy throughout. The dust ajcket is very good with no tears or damage. The book itself is in very good clean condition throughout. No names or writing to the book except for the author's signature. Overall a very good copy.

The book tells the story of the Northern Meeting-its games, its Highland balls, its dances and dance music and its piping competitions and is aimed at those with an interest in Highland history, local history and life of Inverness, piping, fiddle music, Highland reels and country dances

HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN MEETING
More than two hundred years ago, in 1788, thirteen Highland gentlemen met in Inverness to discuss how life in the north of Scotland might be cheered up and enlivened. The Battle of Culloden fought in 1746, and the subsequent suppression of the clans by the Hanoverian government of the day, had brought the whole area to probably the lowest point in its history. The economy was shattered, roads were almost non-existent, and Inverness itself was run down and miserable. The Highland population had little chance or incentive to travel, meet friends and indulge in the social pleasures which we take for granted today. Only months earlier the thirteen gentlemen had heard the news that Bonnie Prince Charlie had died in Rome. With the ’45 now history, it seemed to them a good opportunity to make a fresh start.

During the course of their “conversation at length on the subject” the Gentlemen resolved to hold an annual meeting “for the purpose of promoting a social intercourse” and agreed among other resolutions recorded by Dr John Alves, the first secretary, that “the Object of the Meeting is Pleasure and Innocent Amusement”. The week-long gathering was intended to be free of political views, business ambitions and all the mundane worries of the time.

The first Northern Meeting went very much as the thirteen gentlemen had envisaged. The company assembled at Mr Beverley’s Inn at 4.0pm, where they dined. For the rest of the week dinner was held alternately in Mr Beverley’s Inn and Mr Ettles’ Hotel. After dinner the company would move to the Town Hall for the Ball, which commenced at 8pm and finished at midnight. Great attention was paid to the formality of dress and the correctness of the dancing – qualities to which The Northern Meeting has adhered down to the present day.

During the day the gentlemen would ride to hounds; affording ample time for the ladies to visit and catch up with the local gossip! As time went on other diversions were introduced, such as horse racing at Fort George and Dunain Croy. Later, in 1835, sports and games were held at Dochfour, and two years later they were moved to the fields of the Longman and opened to the public. In 1864 the Northern Meeting’s own park was established in Inverness, which provided the venue for the Games for the next seventy years. However, by the 1930’s the Games had become ever more difficult to run, because the Northern Meeting lacked the resources and staff to compete with the many other corporate-run events in the Highlands. With the onset of World War II the Games ceased, and in 1946 the Northern Meeting Park was sold to the Inverness Burgh Council.

In 1789 the Northern Meeting proposed to build its own rooms and purchased from the Inverness Magistrates a site on the corner of Church Street and Baron Taylor’s Street. Like many construction projects, costs over-ran the budget and the Meeting Rooms were to prove a financial millstone round the neck of the society for the next 170 years. Modelled on the assembly rooms in Edinburgh, the building had to be continually altered, extended and repaired, with the consequent drain on the Meeting’s funds. In 1962 the Northern Meeting decided reluctantly to sell the site for development. Although this brought welcome financial relief, it deprived the society of a permanent home for the Balls and the Piping Competitions. Since that time the events of the Northern Meeting have been held at a number of sites in and around Inverness, but the long-term aim still remains to consider the possibility of acquiring or sharing a new home in the Inverness area.

(Platform, Scotland 1)