• PART 15 • BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE. The Scottish Gathering 1899 In a reversal of the usual order, the 1899 Scottish Gathering was held on a wet Whit Monday, 22nd May at Stamford Bridge, and the report read: “Ten pipers entered the all-comers competition for bagpipe music piobaireachd. John […]
Features
History of the Argyllshire Gathering: the 1985 competition
• PART 50 • BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE. The 1985 Gathering was on August 28 and 29. There were more changes both to events and the venues. Rules for the Gold Medal were: First prize-winners in this Event at any former Argyllshire Gathering are excluded, and entry is restricted to […]
Photos and report from the Peine Highland Gathering 2023
By Stuart Milne. The outdoor competition season in northern Europe kicked off in style on May 6-7 at the Peine Highland Gathering in Lower Saxony, Germany. The Saturday pipe band contest was the largest for years, drawing 18 bands from the usual mix of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. […]
Inveraray & District Pipe Band: a happy ending to 13 years of work…
By Stuart Milne. Piping Today #89, 2017. It is 2004, and in the hall of Inveraray Primary School in the heart of Argyll in the south west of Scotland, five youngsters are having a lesson in piping and drumming. Stuart Liddell, one of the world’s top solo pipers and then […]
A Nova Scotian Gael abroad: Pipe Major Kenneth John MacKenzie Baillie
By BARRY W. SHEARS. Kenneth John MacKenzie Baillie, also known as Kenny or Major Baillie, was born at Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1859 a month after the accidental death of his father. His father was John Baillie, born 1816, whose parents were immigrants from the Parish of Clyne, Scotland and […]
Michael Grey’s Notes: you’re the reason our kids are ugly
GREY’S NOTES by Michael Grey. Piping Today #80, 2016. The Highland bagpipe can create some of the most rhythmically amazing music imaginable. A well-practised set of mitts can rattle off near endless streams of reels, jigs, strathspeys and hornpipes. Highland dancers would be lost if not struck dead still without […]
Piping in London: the 1897/98 Highland and Scottish Gatherings
• PART 14 • BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE. The Highland Gathering 1897 The fourth annual Highland Gathering of the London Highland Athletic Club was held at Stamford Bridge on Whit Monday, June 7, 1897 in favourable weather. There were two international events between teams from Ireland and Scotland, a hurling […]
History of the Argyllshire Gathering: the 1984 competition
• PART 49 • BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE. In 1984 the Gathering was on August 29 and 30. Entry requirements for the Gold Medal were changed in order to increase the number of entries. The new rule was First prize-winners in this Event at any former Argyllshire Gathering are excluded, and entry is restricted to (1) those who have […]
Everything that’s wrong with your pipe band medley
by Dan Nevans. Piping Today #89, 2018. Do you know what the first sign of madness is? It’s repeating the same actions over and over and expecting a different outcome. The second sign is hairy palms. Friends, bandspeople, country folk… lend me your reading apparatus. I am about to attempt to […]
The rise of Inveraray & District Pipe Band – Ascension 2013
By Fraser Bruce. Piping Today #63, 2013. It seems every generation produces a notable pipe band rise, but rarely do we see a group catapult themselves to the kind of success and distinction achieved by Inveraray & District Pipe Band. For a band who have annually made giant leaps forward, […]