Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Norman Matheson MBE: Braemar Piping stalwart, illustrator and surgeon dies aged 89

Norman Matheson. Photo courtesy of Piping Press.

Piper, author, illustrator and retired surgeon Norman Matheson MBE has died aged 89.

Born in Inverness, Norman – whose book was prefaced by the words of Prince Charles – spent his formative years in Avonside where he had his early education.

His father was a garage manager in Inverness and his mother a district nurse in the village.

Medicine and music

Norman was educated at Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, and studied at Aberdeen University before entering the medical profession.

The highly respected medic then specialised in general surgery but also committed himself to research.

While at school Norman took an interest in the bagpipes soon becoming a promising young piper.

He played at Highland gatherings and at 19 attended Kennethmont Games near Huntly where he featured in the prize lists.

This was where he first met Bob Nicol one of the pipers who became known as ‘The Bobs of Balmoral’.

Norman Matheson, author of a Speyside Odyssey about salmon travelling from Atlantic to Speyside.

Bob invited Norman to attend piping lessons and their association would last for 28 years.

The pair struck a chord immediately: Bob, a fishing ghillie employed at Balmoral estate, and Norman, who loved field sports.

Bob Brown, the other ‘Bob’, was a stalker on the same estate.

Excellence in all things

Norman sought to be excellent in everything that he did.

His pursuit of piobaireachd – the playing of pipes – was unrelenting and thorough.

He lugged a weighty reel-to-reel tape machine with him studiously recording tune after tune with Nicol.

This study led to him taking the top prize for piobaireachd at the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society’s annual competition.

The shaping of a great man

Norman became very respected in General Surgery.

His tutor was Consultant Surgeon Hugh Freeman Dudley, a giant of surgical medicine.

These two teachers, Dudley and Nicol, helped shape Norman into an exceptional person.

In 1970 Nicol introduced Norman to judging.

Norman Matheson.
Norman with his book on salmon travel.

In time he became recognised as a highly esteemed judge of piobaireachd both locally and nationally.

After 40 years of judging at Braemar Norman received an honoured life membership of the Braemar Royal Highland Society.

And in 2016, at Ballater Highland Games Prince Charles recognised his long service to piping on Deeside with a presentation.

Retirement

He retired from surgery in 1992 and lived at Milltimber where he created a much-admired woodland rhododendron garden which featured on BBC television’s ‘Beechgrove Garden’.

Norman was also interested in art.

During his time at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary he went on to become the driving force behind a special project to cheer up the corridors and public areas with paintings and drawings.

Grampian Hospitals Art Trust became known nationally as a flagship organisation of its type.

Foreword from Prince Charles.

In recognition of his voluntary contribution, Norman was awarded the MBE in 1998.

However, during retirement he had fun as a cartoonist, illustrating children’s books, including Robert Wallace’s book, ‘Young MacCrimmon and the Silver Chanter’.

He also wrote and illustrated ‘A Speyside Odyssey’ and ‘Speyside Memories’, the former carrying a foreword from HRH Prince Charles.

Remembered fondly

Norman was pre-deceased by his son Malcolm and his wife.

He is survived by daughters Fiona and Catriona and his daughter-in-law Gillian, and their families.

Norman Matheson was an outstanding servant to the medical profession and indeed a servant to the study of piobaireachd.

Through these interests he touched the lives of a lot of people in different ways.

I will remember him fondly and will recall with pleasure the many times we shared the bench at the Games on good days and bad.