Mourners say farewell to veteran musician

Chris was still
playing the drums
into his eighties

TRIBUTES were paid last week to the grand old man of Caithness dance
bands, Chris Duncan, who passed away, earlier this month, at the
Riverside
residential care home in Wick, at the remarkable age of 87.
Mourners, who filed into Wick St Fergus Church, heard the Rev John
Nugent paint a picture of Chris as a "special man" with a deep love of
his family, one with many strands to his life.
Chris, who came into the world on May 8th, 1924, was one of seven
children born to James and Williamina Duncan. Sadly, only one of
the siblings survived, and was not fit to travel but was represented at
the service, last Wednesday.
Chris was educated at Wick North School, then the high school
and, although not particularly, academic, showed great promise in
technical subjects - skills that were to serve him well in later life.
He could turn his hand to anything.
His first job was at a local rope works, in Loch Street, Wick, where he
learned, among other things, to repair nets, a skill that never left as
he showed during a demonstration of net-mending at the Riverside home.
Chris delivered milk for the Co-op for a spell, before receiving his
call-up papers and served on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier in the
Second World War.
He showed a great talent for music and it began, said Rev. Nugent, to
“shine through” after he returned to Civy Street, continuing the
family’s musical tradition. His first connection with music was a
humble one, drumming two spoons on the kitchen table but, soon, Chris
graduated to drum sticks. Among the bands he performed with, were the
Wick Scottish Broadcasting Band, the Rhythm Four, the Milton Trio
and for many years with Bobby Coghill’s Scottish Dance Band. He was
still playing at charity gigs, with the Denis Manson trio, up until a couple
of years ago.
Bobby and Chris forged a friendship that was to last many years and the
latter paid him the personal compliment of composing a tune in his
honour, the Chris Duncan Two-step, a recording of which was played as
the coffin left the church. Two of the family flowers, reflected
Chris’s role as a dance band drummer, and his interest in football.
Although Scottish music was his main love, he was also a talented
trumpeter,
Chris often attended local dances and one Dolly Miller caught his eye.
They began “stepping out” and were wed at the Nethercliffe Hotel, Wick,
on October 15, 1954. They raised a family of three sons and were
blessed with five grandchildren.
Chris’s technical skills were never more evident than when he
transformed their Roadside cottage into a home doing much of the
renovation work,including the plumbing, himself. He was also a keen gardener,
but there was a clear demarkation,Chris was responsible for the vegetable plot
and Dolly looked after the flowers..
Rev. Nugent said that the loss of his wife, in March last year, had
literally “knocked the wind out of his sails”.
The minister said that when he asked the family what they would most
remember most about Chris the answers came spontaneously. They
described him as “a thoroughly decent man" who always had time for
people and would go out of his way, to help them and they paid tribute
to the staff of the Riverside home who had cared for him with respect
and dignity, in his latter time.
At the family’s request, the collection was divided between the
Riverside Home and Alzheimer’s Scotland. Following the service, Chris
was laid to rest at Wick cemetery.
Noel Donaldson writes: “As a fellow musician, I played with Chris on
many occasions. Drummers don’t always get the credit they deserve,
tucked in, as they are, at the back of the band. Such players are a
vital component of a band. Chris certainly kept the tempo steady, never
dominating but always ‘there’, knitting the whole thing together.
He had another, attribute vital to the continuity of any band...he was
easy to get along with.
I can’t think of anyone locally, who has given that length service.
I’m pretty sure, though, it’s not the end of Chris’s amazing dance
band career and when he takes his sticks and brushes onto a ‘higher’
level, I expect he’ll be soon tipping away with other Heavenly
musicians.”