Sarah Muir’s Fortunes spin to Wheely good prize

Midlothian, Scotland—April 26, 2025—Sarah Muir of Campbeltown was the overall winner of the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band’s annual Pipe-Major’s Wheel of Fortune competition, probably the funnest and most creative contests ever devised for Highland pipers.

Held at the Danderhall Miners’ Club just southeast of Edinburgh, Muir won the Medley, an event in which contestants spin the Golden Chanter to determine what they must play as part of their selection.

Her medley featured “The Mad Hornpipe,” “Steve Byrne’s Jig,” “Alison’s Song”, a nameless polka, “As I Went Out Upon the Ice,” “Dancing Feet,” an as yet unnamed tune she composed, and “The Fourth Floor.”

Cameron Drummond of Edinburgh won the MSR playing “Donald MacLellan of Rothesay,” “The Shepherd’s Crook,” and “Drumlithie.”

Ian Duncan, Gary West and the audience judged the piping events, but it was only the audience that decided that Dunfermline, Scotland’s Brian Lamond, told the best joke. The joke involved a stale marriage, an attempt to freshen it up with a wheelbarrow, and worries about passing the mother-in-law’s house.

Robert Barnes, Ian Duncan, and the audience judged the competition. The velvet-voiced Gary West emceed.

At the end of the competition, the audience remembered the former City of Edinburgh Pipe Major Gordon Campbell, who passed away at the start of the year. In tribute, Lamond performed “The Campbells are Coming.”

Medley
1st Sarah Muir (£500)
2nd Ross Miller, Linlithgow, Scotland (£300)
3rd Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh (£150)

MSR: Cameron Drummond (£150)

Joke: Brian Lamond (£50)

Also in the mix were Sandy Cameron, John Dew, Cameron May, and Gordon McCready.

Only one prize is awarded in the MSR and Joke, and there is no overall award.

“Thank you and well done to all the pipers who kindly agreed to pit their wits against the Wheel of Fortune,” said City of Edinburgh Secretary Paul White. “They treated our audience to a series of terrific performances, and we very much appreciate their support. And special congratulations to Sarah, Ross, Cameron, and Brian for their successes in a field of winners.”

The Wheel of Fortune has 12 numbers, with each number corresponding to a type of tune:

Each competitor must play five of the 12 tune categories. Four tune categories are determined by pipers spinning the Golden Chanter upon arrival at the competition. The final category is determined by a member of the audience spinning the Golden Chanter as competitors take the floor.