Story #6 – The Kingussie Champion

Click the triangular ‘play’ button below to listen to the story.

The Stories Behind the Stories #6

Hello all, Hamish Napier here, one of the storytellers for Badenoch Heritage. All of the stories contained within the new Badenoch – The Storylands smartphone app are here on the website now too. Each week I’ll go into a little more detail about the stories themselves: where they came from, where I read them, who I heard them from and a little more background about each one.

#5 – Badenoch People – The Kingussie Champion

I was looking through an excellent Kingussie photo book by local historian John Robertson. This story caught my eye. It’s about a local hero, or national hero even, Angus Cameron. He was amazing. One of the most spectacularly talented people ever to come out of Badenoch. An incredible rifleman. He was, quite literally, the best shot in the British Empire. He won both the top national prizes in shooting, the Queen’s Prize and the Caledonian Shield, twice. This has never been repeated by anyone since, in fact nobody has even come close.

Music

Theme Music: ‘The Capercaillie Rant’ from my 3rd solo album ‘The Woods’.
Highland Piper: Sandy MacDonell (Kingussie) – playing ‘The March of the Cameron Men’

Local Voice Actors

Hamish Napier – narrator (and drunken squaddies singing)!

Research

Hamish Napier, with the kind help of local historians John Robertson & Mary Mackenzie

The Queens Prize

The Queens Prize

Local Inverness-shire Volunteer Regiment Uniform (Badenoch is 3rd from the left)

Training in the hills of Badenoch

Kingussie Station in late 19th century

Download and listen to all 18 stories on the free Badenoch – The Storylands smartphone app, or alternatively you can listen on your computer and download them here.