Continuing the lecture that Professor Dan MacInnes delivered at the John MacFadyen Memorial Lecture/Recital in 1998. In those years, home was rough housing, forested land, and far too much work for a family to do alone. To survive work had to be shared. People organised their lives around their one […]
Professor Dan MacInnes delivered the 1998 John MacFadyen Lecture/Recital. The following is the text of his talk. By Professor Dan MacInnes Tonight I have four points to make, and the pipers four tunes to play. We shall try our best to avoid controversy. The four points I shall make all […]
A total of 27 members of staff at the National Piping Centre have been made redundant as a result of reduced activity across the board caused by coronavirus pandemic. The organisation said today in a statement: “The National Piping Centre (NPC) announced on September 1, 2020 that it had commenced […]
Fhuair mi Pòg by Margaret Stewart and Allan MacDonald (Greentrax Recordings Limited CDTRAX 132). By Roderick D. Cannon. The title track begins with Allan MacDonald playing the song version of the famous piobaireachd (I Got a Kiss of the King’s Hand) on the full Highland bagpipe; then as the sound […]
The late 1980s was a period of transition in piping. In 1987 the 78th Fraser Highlanders became the first overseas pipe band to win the World Pipe Band Championships and in 1988 Ottawa-born Amy Garson would be the first female invited to compete at the Glenfiddich. The 1988 Glenfiddich was […]
Calum Brown of Aberdeen, Scotland and Bobby Allen of Chryston, Scotland, came out top today at the annual Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Solo Competitions. Brown won all five senior events. The competition was held online due to the cornoavirus pandemic. ResultsOpen 18 Years and OlderCeòl Mòr – 1. Calum Brown; […]
One of the most hotly tipped competitive solo pipers making their way through the B grade, multiple pipe band championship-winning John Dew (a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) presents his first solo recording effort, The High Bridge Walk. Let’s get real. John is someone I know. I […]
By Jeannie Campbell MBE Some time ago, Mrs Gatens from Fife donated some piping memorabilia to the Museum of Piping at the College of Piping (now at the National Piping Centre). The items belonged to her late husband, Ernest D. Gatens. Among the books and chanters were some other interesting […]
The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland (NYPBoS) begins an online teaching programme next month for youngsters in the Hebrides, the islands off Scotland’s west coast. From Monday 12 to Friday 16, a series of live sessions, (using Zoom videoconference software), tutorials and online music making with some guest musicians […]
Our article last Saturday, ‘Pipers’ choice’, about the pieces of ceòl mòr submitted at the Glenfiddich, has proven popular with readers. We noted, you will recall, that at the 1976 competition, the tune most commonly submitted by the pipers was Lament for Mary MacLeod. In joint second place came Lament […]
