• From the October 1984 Piping Times. By Diana M. Henderson “As fierce as the tiger that prowls in their forest, Those sons of the Orient leap to the plain;But the blade striketh vainly wherever thou wanest, Black Chanter of Chattan bestir thee again!”1 A Mrs Ogilvie wrote these lines […]
Three pipe bands have been upgraded to Grade 1 after the Music Board of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association met yesterday (21st) to ratify the first of the 2020 season regradings. Moving from Grade 2 to Grade 1 are 2019 Champion of Champions Closkelt (Northern Ireland) along with St […]
Ashley McMichael, pictured right, was declared the All Ireland Champion Piper for 2019. The annual competition was held earlier today at Lusk National School, just outside Dublin. The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band stalwart is a previous winner of the competition as well as the Northern Ireland Piper of the […]
• From the August 1994 Piping Times. A letter from William A. Cromarty of South Orange, NJ, reminded us of the inauguration of the cairn at Boreraig in 1933. He enclosed a cutting from an Ontario newspaper of the time, which contained a report of that famous day. The story […]
Mark Stewart has been appointed Pipe Major of the Vale of Atholl. Stewart is something of a Vale veteran, having learned first of all as a nine-year-old with Andy Renwick and then Ian Duncan, two previous Pipe Majors of the Perthshire-based organisation. He progressed to the Vale’s Juvenile band then […]
• From the January 2008 Piping Times. By Angus Nicol The End of the Great Bridge or ‘Ceann Drochaid Mhoire’ (ceown drochitch voiruh) is something of a mix-up. Drochaid is feminine, so it should, in the genitive, be drochaide. But with the article it na drochaide (nuh drochitchuh). So the […]
A tribute to Dr Kenneth MacKay will be held this Saturday (21st) in the highland village where he lived and worked for many years. Dr Kenneth MacKay was an important piping figure during the post-War years. Born in Ross-shire at the turn of the 20th century he lived and worked […]
• From the August 1994 Piping Times. The late John MacFadyen obtained permission from Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod to examine some of the MacLeod papers in Dunvegan Castle, with a view to finding references to the MacCrimmon pipers. He was fortunate to be allowed to take photocopies of some […]
Dr. J. David Hester, piper, pibroch scholar and enthusiast, died suddenly on September 12. He was 57 and lived in Baltimore, Maryland. David was the main figure behind the alt.pibroch website through which he, along with Barnaby Brown, promoted pibroch interpretation by “making challenging historical material easier to find, understand […]
Pipe Bands Australia’s leadership team was re-elected at the organisation’s AGM on September 13. Pipe Bands Australia’s (PBA) is the governing body for Australia’s six pipe band associations (comprising 110 bands) and at the AGM, two members from each association has a vote. The AGM and conference is a biennial […]
