Sandy Grant Gordon, one of piping’s great patrons – possibly its greatest ever benefactor – has died peacefully at home. He was 89 and had been in hospital following a fall a week ago. Daughters Maggie and Sally were with him at the end. Sandy was not a piper himself […]
Kilsyth Thistle Pipe Band’s 12 hour ‘Pipe and Drum Marathon’ took place on Saturday … and raised an incredible £11,551 for Christmas presents for children in the Stirlingshire town. Members of the band played around the town and the surrounding villages of Banton, Croy and Queenzieburn from 09:00 onwards. All […]
Pipe Major Iain Murdo Morrison died in hospital in Stornoway yesterday (Thursday). He hadn’t been well for a while and had been in hospital in Glasgow last month. Iain, a native of the isle of Lewis, was undoubtedly one of the best pipers of his generation, or, indeed of any […]
Organisers of two of the piping world’s three major solo competitions are looking ahead to 2021 with optimism and have made a joint announcement advising that they are now accepting entries for next year’s competitions. The Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting will be held on August 25-26 and September 2-3 […]
To pipers, Lord Lovat of the ’45 is known through two tunes, both called Lord Lovat’s Lament. One is a 4/4 march, the other a piece of ceòl mòr. Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat – MacShimidh Mòr – was a clan chief who was beheaded for his part in what […]
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given there has been very little piping activity this year, there were no pipers among the winners at the weekend’s MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. The winners were: • Album of The Year – The Woods by Hamish Napier.• Original Work of the Year – Everyday Heroes […]
It’s been a hell of a year for new music. This year, plenty of performers have released new records, new collections and performances on live streams and YouTube recitals. Just in time for Christmas, here comes a collection of tunes titled simply, Pipe Tunes. John Dew, one of our most […]
By Neill Mulvie Judging practice chanter competitions is fraught with danger. It is surprising how often the competitor’s tutor and even parents feel they themselves are being judged and some are not shy in letting the judge know when they are not happy with the result. And some can be […]
From the 18th century onwards the great highland bagpipe became established in the US with the large numbers of Scots and Ulster Scots settlers. The earliest records show that in 1700, the total population of the 13 colonies was 250,888, of whom 3% (7,527) were ethnically Scottish. Today. the number […]
Young piper, Bradley Parker, is among six musicians to win through to the finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2021. Bradley is from Portavogie in County Down, Northern Ireland and was until recently a member of Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band with whom he won the […]
