A north-east performer has joined the elite after winning a Doric singing competition for the fifth time.
Finzean man, Hector Riddell, became only the third person to win the Bothy Ballads contest five times in front of a packed Elgin Town Hall audience at the weekend.
The Aberdeenshire singer secured the coveted Macallan Porridge Bowl and Spurtle ahead of second-placed Allan Taylor and defending champion Shona Donaldson, who was third, with a colourful rendition of “Neeps Tae Pluck”.
Mr Riddell, who last won the event in 2015, had the audience tapping their feet as he grabbed his braces on a stage which was decorated to look like an old bothy.
The crowd joined in with the final verses of the performance and laughed as the singer recited the farming fable on Saturday.
The judges, broadcaster Frieda Morrison and Ian Russell from the Elphinstone Institute, took about 20 minutes to make up their minds before Mr Riddell was confirmed as champion of champions.
Stranraer folk singer Robyn Stapleton entertained the audience through the evening with heartfelt songs about Scotland, accompanied by Innes White.
An auction of a painting, celebrating the north-east’s rich agricultural heritage, called “The Grieve” raised £430 for organisers Elgin Rotary Club.
Event convener, George West, said: “These are all traditional farming songs that have been passed down through the generations, probably for centuries.
“They were all songs to keep the farm workers amused. Now and again, we get a more modern composition but it tends to be very traditional.”
