Tag: Campbell of Kilberry

The history of the Argyllshire Gathering, part 7

The history of the Argyllshire Gathering, part 7

By Jeannie Campbell MBE The “Piobaireachd Society of Scotland” gave notice in the autumn of 1903 that it would hold a competition at the 1904 Argyllshire Gathering at which it would award a total of £30 in prizes. The first prize shall be £20 and a Gold Medal, second prize […]

Stories of the Tunes: Cabar Feidh Gu Brath

Stories of the Tunes: Cabar Feidh Gu Brath

Today’s tune in our irregular series, ‘Stories of the Tunes’ appears although the ‘story’ behind it is quite stragithforward: it is simply a tune composed by Pipe Major Donald MacLeod in tribute to the regiment in which he served for many years. As the notes in his book of ceòl […]

Stuart Letford: The new piping normal

Stuart Letford: The new piping normal

“We will not succeed in navigating the complex environment of the future by peering relentlessly into a rear view mirror. To do so, we would be out of our minds.” – Ken Robinson, Out of Our Minds (Capstone, 2001). Like most of you, I have now spent eight weeks self-isolating. […]

A contemporary painting of siege of the Alamo. Around 200 ‘Texans’ and 600 Mexicans were killed when General de Santa Anna stormed the Alamo in San Jacinto after a 13-day siege in March 1836. Just over three quarters of the Texans who died at the Alamo in 1836 were Scots or of Scots descent.

The piper at the Alamo

Among the men who fought and died at the Alamo during the Texas War of Independence were several Scots. The best remembered of these brave Celts was John MacGregor. Born in Scotland, he was 34 years old and held the rank of Second Sergeant when the Alamo fell. During the […]

Christian Krohg's depiction from 1899 of
King Olaf presenting a sword to Icelandic skald, Sigvat the Skald (995-1045).

The origins of ceòl mòr, a theory – part 1

• From the March 1980 Piping Times. Mrs. Bridget MacKenzie, nee Gordon, was, until her marriage to Dr. Alex MacKenzie, lecturer in Old Norse in the Department of English Language at Glasgow University. A graduate of Oxford and Glasgow, she is a daughter of the late Professor E. V. Gordon, […]