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 […]
WILLIAM LAMB discusses the origins of the genre and what he says is its uneasy relationship with the great highland bagpipe The strathspey is undoubtedly the most iconic variety of Scottish traditional music. Collinson describes its characteristic dots and snaps as the, “life blood of Scots musical rhythm”. Yet, recent […]
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 […]
By Donald MacPhee In part 1 I discussed the information, styles and requirements of piping for dancing and finished by looking at some dances that come under the ‘Highland’ term. I’d like to conclude by explaining the rest of those dances and then those that are termed ‘Scottish National Dances’ […]
By Donald MacPhee Piping for dancing has been a big part of my life. My two sisters were highland dancers and latterly became highland dance teachers. When I got on to the pipes, my dad and bagpipe tutor (Sandy MacPhee) encouraged me to play for the dancers that were getting […]
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 […]
By Keith Sanger I have been following the series, ‘The origins of ceòl mòr — a theory’ by Bridget MacKenzie with some interest. It presents a fascinating parallel between ceòl mòr and Norse Skaldic verse, but while not detracting from its main theme, contains a few areas open to some […]
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 […]
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 […]
