By Dr John Smith, chairman of the Lewis and Harris Piping Society Pipe Major Iain Murdo Morrison passed away at the Western Isles Hospital, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis on December 17. Although he had been unwell for some time his death came somewhat unexpectedly, and caused ripples of sorrow in […]
By Niall Graham-Campbell Many of the famous and successful pipers have much written about them. As a change, I thought that I would like to try to create a favourable impression about a lesser figure in the piping world, Willie MacDonald or Black Will. In part, the reason behind this […]
By David V. Kennedy The question a piper may ask is: “Why on earth would one want to squeeze the blades or the staple of a chanter reed?”’ And this is certainly a valid question. After all, didn’t the reedmaker assemble the reed correctly? Didn‘t he tie the blades onto […]
By Niall Graham-Campbell Many of the famous and successful pipers have much written about them. As a change, I thought that I would like to try to create a favourable impression about a lesser figure in the piping world, Willie MacDonald or Black Will. In part, the reason behind this […]
By Bridget MacKenzie This article is based to a large extent on material kindly supplied by George Moss’s nephew, Jim (Hamish) Hamilton, Aberdeen, to whom I give my thanks George Moss (1903-1990) was an important figure in Highland piping who has not received the recognition due to him. Such men […]
After three decades at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Gary West is leaving at the end of this month. Gary, who is probably best known to pipers as the voice of ‘Pipeline’, BBC Radio Scotland’s popular weekly piping programme, is the Director of the European Ethnological Research Centre at the university’s […]
By Jo Miller I was extremely sad to hear of the recent death of colleague and friend, Peter Cooke. His contributions to the field of ethnomusicology have been many, and he championed the subject across the United Kingdom (UK) in his academic posts at Edinburgh, Birmingham and at the University […]
By David V. Kennedy The question a piper may ask is: “Why on earth would one want to squeeze the blades or the staple of a chanter reed?”’ And this is certainly a valid question. After all, didn’t the reedmaker assemble the reed correctly? Didn‘t he tie the blades onto […]
The Celtic Connections online festival begins this Friday (15). Running until February 2, the festival will feature over 30 performances. Due to the pandemic, digital content from specially commissioned projects and performances have been created. These have been filmed across many of Glasgow’s venues, including the National Piping Centre. International […]
Bruce Hitchings MBE BEM has spoken of his fond memories of his fellow Queen’s Own Highlanders piper, Iain Morrison, who died a few weeks ago. The recently married judge and proprietor of Highland Reeds told Bagpipe.News: “I was fortunate to have served with Iain when I joined the 1st Battalion, […]
By David V. Kennedy In an early issue of The International Piper, Mr. Roger Gould-King wrote an informative, and useful, article on the chanter reed. He included a drawing of the reed, dimensioned. From the top of the lips, going downwards to the staple- bindings, he drew in a conception […]
By Jaco Koster It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in Scotland last summer [2018] when my girlfriend and I decided to pay a visit to Blair Castle near Pitlochry. We had visited the ruins of Caisteal Dubh – the Black Castle of Moulin – that morning, where I played my […]
By Seumas MacNeill Along with Lament for the Children and a few others this is one of the truly great tunes. It does not have the subtle twists and turns of the Children, nor even of Patrick Òg. It is a straightforward fairly simple melody developed along traditional lines and, […]
2021 certainly got off to a mixed start for piping. In Scotland, it seemed that no sooner had Pipe Major Peter MacGregor (4 SCOTS) sounded the last notes of When the Battle’s Over from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle than we lost some weel kent names: Nigel Richard, Dr. Peter […]
