The music keeps Milly going
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MORAY pianist Milly Herd has helped bring people together through music and make them smile for over 70 years.
Ever since Milly amazed her grandparents by playing the piano aged just three, music has been a huge part of her life.
Milly (79), from Elgin, has taught generations of children the joy of music, and has entertained throughout Moray, Scotland, and much further afield.
Her talent, longevity and community spirit will be celebrated in Lossiemouth next weekend when four of the bands she has played with for the last 30 years will come together for a special concert.
As with much of Milly’s musical performances, the concert will also be raising funds for a local good cause, on this occasion the Lossie Heritage Association.
The musical night, at The Warehouse Theatre, is already a sell-out, highlighting the standing of Milly and the bands she has played with.
The Sair Heidies, The Merry Minstrels, Blast from the Past, and Andy’s Ceilidh Group, will all perform – with Milly on piano throughout the night.
"It is the music that keeps me going," said the great grandmother. "It has been my life."
However, modest Milly is rather embarrassed at the fuss being made of her musical contribution to life in Moray.
"I don’t deserve this, I am just a wifie. I get to meet a lot of people and have made a lot of friends through music. Everybody loves a sing-song," she said.
Milly also regularly entertains senior citizens at old folk’s homes, and in hospital with the Rotary Revellers, an Elgin Rotary group.
She also plays every Monday night at a stramash (musicians’ get-together) in the Dufftown Royal British Legion Club.
In the past she was a member of the Dick Freeman Jazz Band, in Lossiemouth, and also performed with her daughters Joyce, a language teacher at Elgin High School, and Lucille, who now lives in Qatar.
Milly has always played by ear, although she can read music. She first played a tune on her grandparents’ piano aged three, but it was not until she was 11 or 12 that she had her first formal music lesson.
She went on to become a music teacher herself, primarily in the Lossiemouth area, and her late husband Davie, was also a music teacher and church organist.
"I was brought up by my grandparents and my mother on a farm, and one day, when I was three, I managed to play ‘Old Faithful’ all by myself. My grandfather had just come in from horses and he was amazed.
"I never had a doll when I was young, it was always the piano for me."
She has travelled all over Scotland and beyond in the name of music, performing in Russian with The Sair Heidies at the St Petersburg Highland Games in 1999, taking part in 10 gigs in five days.
The group, which was formed after a New Year’s stramash in 1981, also won the accolade of best group en-route, after entertaining runners in the Glasgow Marathon in 1984.
The Merry Minstrels began life at Lossiemouth Community Centre, when Milly started a musical group in 1990,, and they are still going strong.
A desire to visit Ireland saw Blast from the Past formed. She visited the country with friends Isobel Henderson, also a member of the Minstrels, Hazel Gordon and Jean McIrvine, former head teacher of the Largue School, near Huntly. Among their many visits to the country, they won the title of All Ireland Busking Champions in 2003.
Last but not least, Andy’s Ceilidh Group was formed when the Sair Heidies went into retirement, but Milly and other members of the group decided that they were not yet ready to hang up their instruments, and carried on under a new name, and under the leadership of Andy McCormack from Dufftown.
They play all over the North of Scotland at ceilidhs, concerts, Burns suppers, and St Andrew’s night celebrations.
Milly’s good work for countless charities saw her honoured by Elgin Rotary Club in 2003 with their community service award, and she is also a past winner of ‘The Northern Scot’ Moray Citizen of the Year honour.
She has two secrets which keep her playing, as she prepares to celebrate her 80th birthday next month.
"It’s between Dr Gig and my WD40 for my sore feet," she laughed, "I am doing all right."
Former Sair Heidies bandmate and friend Raymond Wood, paid tribute to her: "What she has done is unbelievable and she is non-stop. She is out performing sometimes two or three times a day.
"She has an instinctive ear for music, but I can’t believe the energy she has. I have no idea how she keeps going."
