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Rona Lightfoot

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Rona Lightfoot
Born (1936-04-17) April 17, 1936 (age 88)
South Uist
Instrument(s)Bagpipes

Rona Lightfoot is a Scottish piper and singer.

Life

She was born on 17 April 1936 on South Uist to a family rich in pipers.[1] After learning initially from her mother and father, she was taught by her uncle Angus Campbell.[1][2] Teaching was in Canntaireachd, a way of notating pibroch orally.[3]

She then attended secondary school in Fort William, before going to Glasgow to train as a nurse.[1] She met her husband Tony whilst in Glasgow, and they married in October 1960.[2]

Career

Lightfoot had a successful career as solo piper, and is sometimes said to be the first woman to win a major piping competition.[4]

In 1972, she won third place in the jig competition at the Northern Meeting, but was unable to compete in the march competition due to her dress.[5]

She became the first woman to compete in the Bratach Gorm after applying pressure to the Scottish Piping Society of London, quoting the Sex Discrimination Act.[1][3] She was only allowed to compete once.[1][6]

Lightfoot is regarded as one of the best pipers to never have won a Gold Medal.[7]

She later became the President of the Inverness Piping Society, the first (and only, to date) woman to do so.[2] Since retiring from competitive piping, she has judged and taught, and in 2010 she won the Balvenie Medal for services to piping.[8][1]

Recordings

In 2004 she recorded Eadarainn, which involved both singing and piping.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Rona Lightfoot". scottishcultureonline.com. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Piping hot Rona made history". Inverness Courier. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Piping Live! - Rona Lightfoot interview: Gender equality and traditional tuition". STV Scotland (Interview). 11 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b "New CD from top piper Rona Lightfoot". Stornoway Gazette. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Rona Lightfoot and Faye Henderson". Piping Today (49): 10–12.
  6. ^ "Jolly Boys . . . and Girls: RSPS votes to admit women". pipesdrums.com. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  7. ^ Annie Grant. "Noting the Tradition" (PDF) (Interview). Interviewed by Mags Smith.
  8. ^ "Angus MacColl Wins Glenfiddich (more pix added) - The College of Piping". The College of Piping. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
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