Today we begin an occasional series looking at the stories behind some of our well known tunes. We kick off with Pibroch of Donald Dubh, an old tune that was originally a pibroch but which was developed subsequently into ceòl beag (there are excellent march, jig, reel, quickstep and hornpipe […]
By Capt. John A. MacLellan MBE All piobaireachd available to pipers today, the exception of reprints, are abbreviated. Strangely, this innovation can be traced to Angus MacKay (just other example of his brilliant musical mind). His manuscript, as far as the piobaireachd volumes are concerned, is largely abbreviated. The piobaireachd […]
We have uploaded some letters that will interest the ceòl mòr enthusiast. The letters were published in The International Piper over several months in 1980 and 1981 and are correspondence between Simon Fraser (1844-1934) and others. Simon Fraser was a pupil of Peter Bruce, Glenelg, who in turn was a […]
Owen MacNiven was a well-known piper of the pre-war era. Born in Paisley in 1916 he was taught initially by John Morrell 1926 before the great Pipe Major Robert Reid took him on. By all accounts, Owen was an excellent piper – and the only one of Robert Reid’s pupils […]
With most of us self-isolating during these uncertain times, there is, perhaps inevitably, a dearth of news to report. However, we at Bagpipe.news will continue to use this time to bring you great articles from our archives. Today’s piece was written by Dr Peter Cooke and published in The International […]
Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. It’s a day that will be marked all around the world to reflect the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. We certainly have come along way since the bad old days of “blinkered sentiment” surrounding women competing in piping competitions. It […]
Dr. Angus MacDonald 2020 marks 200 years since Donald MacDonald produced his first volume of piobaireachd in staff notation. This is the oldest comprehensive written record of ceòl mòr by a piper. A pioneering work, he tackled the difficult problem of committing intricate piobaireachd embellishments to staff notation. He was […]
At present 60 issues of the Piping Times are out of print, including almost all of volumes 2, 4, 13 and 16. We receive many requests for important articles which appeared in these issues so we have decided to reprint the most essential ones. Every piper should know something of […]
• From the Autumn 1998 edition of Notes At the 1998 Donald MacDonald Cuach invitational competition at the Clan Donald Centre on Skye, Roddy MacLeod, piping director of The Piping Centre, was a spectator rather than, as in the past, a competitor. He took the opportunity to speak with Colonel […]
Part 2 of Iain MacInnes’s 2000 John MacFadyen Lecture Competition is very much part and parcel of the piping culture here in Scotland, and its shaped not just the music, but also the style of performance. It all goes back to 1781, when the Highland Society of London started the […]
