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 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 […]
Transcribed by Norman Matheson We conclude the interview the late Dr John MacAskill conducted with Angus MacPherson, Invershin, in 1970. You were telling me that your father composed a few tunes. How many piobaireachds had he composed?I can’t tell you that; the only piobaireachd I got a copy of was […]
Transcribed by Norman Matheson We continue with our interview with Angus MacPherson, Invershin, conducted by Dr. John MacAskill in 1970. So he [Calum Piobair] played light music too, not only ceòl mòr?Yes, of course. He went to Paris on one occasion for a competition and got first for strathspeys and_ […]
For many years, each issue of Piping Today featured a profile of a member of the National Piping Centre’s popular Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers. (CLASP). With the magazine ceasing publication, we resume this series on Bagpipe.News. Our first piper to feature is Matthias Kühn. Q. Where are you […]
Andy Tasker is a piper with an impressive piping lineage. The retired banker from Leeds can trace a direct lineal descent to two of our most important piping families, the MacKays of Raasay and the MacKays of Gairloch – and also Captain Malcolm MacLeod of Raasay. But before we get […]
RODERICK CANNON sent this article to the Piping Times in late 2014. It is an update on an article he had written elsewhere on the life and career of the legendary John MacDonald of Inverness, focussing on his personal and professional aspects rather than his music John MacDonald was born […]
By Fergus Muirhead That John Wilson would end up playing the pipes was never in doubt. His father William was a piper in the 8th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. His uncle, Archie, Pipe Major of the 8th Battalion, was killed, like a lot of his colleagues, leading the battalion […]
In September 1987 the Piping Times began a series called ‘Famous pipers’. Bessie Brown was the first piper to feature. The following month, at that year’s Glenfiddich, Bessie was awarded the Balvenie Medal for services to piping. She died in 1992. Below, we reproduce Seumas’ feature on Bessie. By Seumas […]
1. How are you these days?I’m pretty well. I didn’t think I’d be missing the business of university but with restrictions in place I’m going a little mad. Other than that, I’m grand. I spent four years studying on the BMus (Traditional Music – Piping) Degree course at the Royal […]
