An article written by Karin Ingram and published in 2001 by the Box and Fiddle:

Mention the name ‘Fergie’ in the traditional music scene in Scotland, and everyone knows exactly who you are talking about – Fergie MacDonald of Acharacle, Argyll. Not only is he a respected and much-loved musician, he is also a crack shot – having won 14 Scottish Caps for clay pigeon shooting. His fame (or should I say notoriety?) extends throughout the country, but the best tales abound in the Hebrides and the Highlands, areas that Fergie says are ‘his domain’.

Fergie is entirely self taught. He began playing at the age of 9, starting out on a piano accordion , before moving on to a 2-row button box when he was 11. (At this point Fergie would like to point out that contrary to popular belief, misconception and misquotation, he does not wish to see all piano accordions ‘at the bottom of the Minch’!) He remembers the thrill of owning his first button-box, “It cost £14, and my dad paid it off at 10/- a month.

He was 16 when he made his public debut, playing for a local dance with only a drummer for accompaniment, and no amplification at all. After that he had a steady stream of bookings. His favourites, he says, were in the ‘bothans’ (illegal drinking dens) of the Highlands and Islands. “I loved it, the Cream of the Earth go there! I’ve shared the stage with people like Andy Stewart, Dave Berry, Alan Price and Johnny Dankworth but nothing could compare with those nights in the bothans!”

Sadly, those visits are no more for, by his own admission, Fergie is a recovering alcoholic. He says, “Nobody believed that I would be able to give it up, it had too strong a hold on me. It’s been 18 years now since my last drink, and if I can do it, anybody can. If I can help just one person realise that they have a problem but that they can overcome it, then some good will have come of my admitting my own alcoholism.”

Fergie passed his BBC Dance Music audition in 1965. At that time all broadcasting bands played strict tempo Scottish Country Dance Music. After Fergie’s fifth broadcast in the late 60’s, the BBC wrote to him, telling him that his broadcasting career was ‘terminated.’ Says Fergie, “I think I’m the only guy that has ever been fired!” Apparently the BBC had received umpteen letters saying that his playing was a million miles away from Scottish Country Dance music.

Undeterred, Fergie continued playing his kind of music, and began recording. He had a very successful album called There’s Irish on the Islands, which many considered to be the first major breakaway from the real SCD music sound. Fergie brought in the traditional ceilidh instruments of flute, small pipes and banjo, and speeded up the tempo. It has been said that what Jimmy Shand was SCD music and Bobby MacLeod was to Pipe Music, so Fergie was to Ceilidh Music as we know it today.

When he gave up drinking in the early eighties, Fergie also gave up playing music – thinking that the two went hand in hand. He takes up the story, “For seven years I never played a note. One day in about 1990/91 I was in my hotel kitchen when this man walked into the bar. I heard him asking if Fergie was around, so I walked through. Bear in mind that I had been out of the scene for a number of years, so I didn’t have a clue who was who. All my albums were up on the wall, and the guy pointed up at them and said, “Fergie, my name is Phil Cunningham (never meant a thing to me)’. ‘I’m just looking at the albums. Do you know that I’ve got every one of these? I love your music. I play the box a wee bit myself – I’ve got it outside in the car. I’d love to play a wee tune with you.” I say “Okay and went and got my box. At that point the phone rang in the kitchen (which was next to the bar) and I went to answer it. I was hearing this music and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d never heard anything so great in my life! Phil stopped and asked, “Have you got your box?” “I can’t play like that,” I said, “That’s crazy music!” Well, we can down about a hundred levels, and played Loch Lomond together. Phil went on to play the most amazing music I had ever heard in my life, then he said, “We’ll have to get you back Fergie.” “Oh no,” I said, “I’ve had my day, I’ve been and gone.” “No” he said, “You’ve got too much to offer. The BBC has asked me to do a series – Taila Bhalla. I’m suggesting that you gather a group around you, because I’m going to send for you!” Not long after that he phoned and asked me to do a programme. From that day I’ve had a complete new run at it – ‘Take the Floor’ and everything. Phil was the man who brought it all about, that’s why I think so highly of him – he’s my dearest musical friend.”

In the late 80’s Fergie’s album Fergie and the Mudairtaich rocked Scotland and abroad. It was loaded with the instrumentation one can expect in modern-day Ceilidh music. It had button-box, small pipes, banjo, whistle, flute, bodhran, piano and drums. There had been bands playing in the Ceilidh style prior to this, but most still retained the traditional Scottish Dance Band line-up of accordions, fiddle, piano, bass and drums. Suddenly everyone wanted to dance to and play Ceilidh music. The BBC was being asked why they were not catering for this new interest, and so they invited Fergie back to play the very music for which he had been fired. Truly a man ahead of his time!

For someone who can’t read or write music and has never had a lesson in his life, Fergie’s done all right. To date he has recorded 22 albums, and made umpteen broadcasts and TV appearances. His latest album, Ceilidh House, sold 6,000 copies in 10 weeks in Scotland. His 21-year-old son, John, is carrying on the family tradition. He, too, plays the button-box and can be heard on one of the tracks on the CD.

Fergie’s compositions feature regularly in sets by other bands. How often is ‘Jig Runrig’ included in a lively Strip the Willow set for example? Taking of Runrig, Fergie tells a story of when his band was following The Occasionals on stage at ‘The Highland Annual’ in Edinburgh. Malcolm Jones, guitarist with Runrig, was playing with them that night. Fergie says, “I’ve known Malcolm for years, but sometimes my mind just goes blank – the effect of years of hooch! I was shaking hands with him, but I couldn’t remember his name. Nice to see you Paul’ I said, (I was thinking of Jones!) He whispered, “It’s Malcolm, Fergie.” “Sorry Paul,” I said. I felt terrible!”

Some of Fergie’s personal favourites include ‘The Shinty Referee,’ written for Henry McInnes of Portnalong, ‘Roddy Wright’s Jig’, ‘Donald Findlay’s Jig’ and ‘Ness Bothan’ (about one of the aforementioned drinking dens). ‘Maureen’s Jig’, ‘Reunion Reel’ and ‘Anne’s Reel’ also seem to be popular with other musicians. He says that perhaps it’s his lack of musical knowledge and technology that makes the difference. His tunes are absolutely traditional Highland/Gaelic/Celtic music. He writes his tunes in his own musical form – no-one else can read it (“They’ll all be thinking I’m in the Masons!”) except for Iain MacFarlane, who is in the process of compiling Fergie’s next music book entitled ’25 New Tunes by Fergie MacDonald’. Fergie is also breaking into the world of literature. He has been commissioned by Gaelic publishers Achair from Stornoway to write a book of fifty short stories. These will all relate to a Highland Dance Band leader over 40 years. Fergie will rely heavily on his own experiences to come up with funny, sad and original stories. I suspect that these will need to be checked very carefully by a lawyer before publication!

Fergie regularly plays at Accordion and Fiddle Clubs. But he says he never plays Scottish Dance Music. “I must play my own music because I’m completely out of my depth in the other stuff. There are plenty of experts already who can handle that, although sometimes it makes me cringe when I hear some of them playing Gaelic Waltzes. All my life I have been on the road, playing in among the crowd – sometimes a dancer landing on the stage with bottle in hand! I love it, but particularly in the Highlands and Islands.”

For the last 25 years Fergie has had a fear of flying, ever since a plane he was traveling in experienced difficulties landing in Hamburg, when the undercarriage wouldn’t come down. It means that he’s had to turn down gigs in Vancouver and Hong Kong in the last year alone, but he has no shortage of offers closer to home. His next ‘Take the Floor’ broadcast is in the autumn, and will be from Stornoway – the first from the Outer Hebrides. Rest assured – Fergie’s here to stay this time!

Karen Ingram, Box and Fiddle, April 2001