A musical tribute was paid today to the late Alex Duncan, who died in September 2020, by the pipers of the Atholl Highlanders. Alex, a member of the Atholl Highlanders, died from “sky-high levels” of cadmium in his body when he died aged 26. The inquiry into his death is […]
By MacGregor Kennedy If they should enquire of you, “Why do you love old Scotland so?” it will be apparent that they have never encountered the bright prospect of making for the Vale of Atholl on a brilliant autumn day such as we had on our way to the 14th […]
The Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario has announced that the George Sherriff Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition will be held in November. It will be held online. The contest did not take place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the 25th year of […]
Day 1The drive from my home in central Perthshire was sublime. By the time I reached Killin, the morning mist cleared and the sun shone brightly. There was not one cloud in the sky. I stopped briefly at the Green Welly Shop in Tyndrum, the quintessential ‘tea and a pee’ […]
Regular readers will recall our post on Jeannie Campbell’s discovery of a rare photograph showing Willie Lawrie receiving his Gold Medal at the 1910 Northern Meeting. The post also included two other rare photographs from that year’s competition, one of which [pictured] shows four judges who were seated, hidden from […]
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global day celebrating the “social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.” Marked annually on, this date, IWD is one of the most important days of the year to, among other things, celebrate women’s achievements and to raise awareness about women’s equality. In piping, […]
By Jeannie Campbell The MacRae family was originally from Kintail but Christopher MacRae, who was born about 1807, moved to the island of Harris some time prior to 1840. Christopher married Isabella MacKenzie and had a large family. The 1851 census shows them living in Obbe, Harris: Christopher (40) a […]
Stuart Samson MBE has released his second book of original music. The book – digital only – comes a decade after his acclaimed Lands of Bens and Glens and Heroes collection and has been compiled and produced during the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The former Pipe Major of […]
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 […]
Stuart Easton and Willliam Rowe were the prizewinners at Wellington Pipers’ Club’s annual solo piping competitions held at Scots College in the New Zealand city on Saturday. The competitions were held in person due to the New Zealand government’s success in handling the cornovarius pandemic. Easton, of Palmerston North won […]
