The idea of forming a brass band in Dalmellington came
from two Brothers of the Masonic Lodge in Dalmellington, Brother
William Colville and Master of the Lodge William Wyllie. With the sum of £34-- 8/- , which was provided by the
lodge, William Colville purchased instruments to the value of
£31-- 13/- from the then disbanding Ayr Volunteer Band. The
instruments consisted of flutes, clarinets and some brass. With these instruments tuition started on the 4th of
October 1864 under the registered name "Dalmellington
Masonic Band". However, at that time the only proper tuition
available was given by Mr Julian Dixon, a travelling rep for the
Besson instrument making company of London. who was based in
Glasgow. For the first five years, the band had a two hour
rehearsal every four weeks when Mr Dixon visited the area. As you
can imagine progress was slow and unsatisfactory! William Colville, however, had ambition for the band
and with the consent of the Lodge Brothers, the instruments were
handed over to a village committee. The first act of the new
committee was to dispose of the reed instruments and have an all
brass band.In March 1869 the band was re-reistered
"Dalmellington Subcription Brass Band". In an attempt to further the proress of the band, an
advert was placed in the Brass Band News for a resident
Bandmaster. The position also offered a job, a house and an
annual renumeration of 31 guineas to the successful applicant. From the four applicants, Mr William Sadler was
appointed and took up his duties in September 1869. Under the direction of William Sadler the band soon
became a constant function of village life. Heading parades was part and parcel of the yearly
calendar, fetes, concerts and open air dancing to the band on the
village green was a summer pastime. In 1881 Mr William Walker, gentleman farmer, bought
the band their first uniforms. Brass band contesting was now a prominant feature
throughout England and the first examples of brass bands
competeing against one another in Scotland took place with minor
contests at Alloa, Weymes Castle Estate, Fife and at the college
green Glasgow. Willliam Sadler advised the band committee that
although he was qualified to handle the entertainment aspect of
the band it was now time for someone with a knowledge of
contesting to take over. Again the band advertised in the band press and Albert
Arthur Carr, a distinguished cornet player from Silkstone,
Yorkshire, was engaged as the new Bandmaster in April 1890. Albert Carrs impact on the band was monumental and
reached a pinnacle when the Ayrshire Band Championship was won by
the band in 1897 in Newmilns. As a result, the band were invited
to compete in a contest in Dumfires against English bands and
gained a very credible 5th place. The events of the Boer war resulted in the loss of one
band member, Billy Crook, however all others returned home
safely. In 1904 the band again won the Ayrshire Championship
at Maybole and Jock Nesbit, having taken up thre position of Solo
Horn, was awarded the Gold Medal as the best instrumentalist. In 1907 the band felt a great loss when Albert Carr
died. For the next 4 years they had various conductors, all of
whom lasted no longer than a few months. In 1911 the band again
advertised for a new Bandmaster. Robert Thompson, who had been
the conductor of a band at Burnie Knowe near Auchinleck, was the
successful candidate. After 3 years with the band World War One broke out
and players were called up to serve their country and the band
was depleted. After the war he started to rebulid the band back
up only for the Miners srtike to start in 1921. After the end of
the strike, fundraising for the band became easier and they were
able to purchase a set of new instruments and uniforms. But in
1927 Thompson suddenly died. The next Bandmaster was Mr William Oughton from County
Durham. With him he brought two young sons, Robert and Cecil,
both of whom played in the band and went on to become good
players. Around this time the band, who had previously had to
practice in the church hall, aquired the Exservicemens Hut which
allowed them to practise whenever they wanted. William Oughton
was a contest minded conductor and worked hard to raise the bands
standards. In 1931 the band id its first ever broadcast from the
old BBC broadcasting studios in Sauchiehall St. Glasgow The
program included the cornet solo Zelda and Nabucca by Verde. The 30's were times of depression and the band
committee found themselves unable to pay the Bandmasters wages so
William Oughton had to leave the band, taking his two sons with
him. One of the bands players Bob Matheson took over for a
while but he died suddenly in 1939. Again military callups took
their toll on the band. Their practice Hut was twice taken over
by the military but the band still managed to do okay. Then they
were ordered to remove the Hut from the land, which was owned by
a Mr Newall, within a month! After this, the band had various
different practice halls including the Scout Hall, a school room
and for a while the Old Picture House. By this time one of the long time bandsmen had taken
over conducting the band. Robert Telfer was a good cornet player
within the band. The band now had the contesting bug again and in
1947 the committee applied to the Scottish Brass Band Association
to be allowed to enter contests in the Fourth Section. Right
before the contest however Robert Telfer resigned from the band.
For the contest they managed to secure the services of a Mr Tom
Yates. At their first "real" contest the band were
placed 7th out of the eight bands entered, playing the piece
"Divertimento" by Eric Ball. In April 1947 one of the bands previous conductors,
William Oughton, decided to come back to take the band. That year
the band were placed fourth. However due to the number of bands
competeing in the Fourth section it was decided that four bands
should be promoted to Third Section. The same happened the next
year and Dalmellington band found themselves in the Second
Section. In 1948 the Band Committe found out that the Eglinton
Hall in Main Street was for sale. The band purchased the hall for
£300 and at last the band had their own rehearsal hall. 1949 saw the band placed placed 2nd in the Scottish
Championships which earned them the chance to go to the British
Championships in Bellvue, Manchester. Although they did not win
anything that day it gave the band and it's supporters a
tremendous boost! The band remained in the Second Section 1950, 1951
and 1952 ( when they were again placed second in the Scottish
Championships). 1954 and 55 were very busy years for the band with
regular broadcasting sessions from the BBC studios in Glasgow. too be continued!!!!! 
1927-19441945-19531954-