By Jeannie Campbell MBE The Argyllshire Gathering of 1891 was spoiled by the weather. Rain fell continuously and in torrents, completely drenching everybody who was out of doors and converting the public park at Mossfield into a veritable quagmire. Many of those who would normally attend stayed away including competitors. […]
Jimmy McIntosh, who has just died, will be remembered as a major authority on piobaireachd. Yet, as many will know, Jimmy was quite late coming to the art. He only started to compete seriously when he was in his 40s. He was deeply appreciative of Robert Bell Nicol and Robert […]
There has been a call in recent years for change in the long-standing arrangements in the big piobaireachd competitions; that the Piobaireachd Society should stop naming its own settings as the preferred ones, or stop setting the annual tunes at all, allowing the performers free choice in which tunes they […]
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 […]
Roderick MacDonald was born on South Uist in 1901. He was a member of Glasgow City Police Pipe Band from 1923 to 1956. He served under two Pipe Majors, Willie Gray, then the famous John MacDonald, his brother. At the Argyllshire Gathering, Roderick won the March in 1928, the Strathspey […]
Peter Bain was a prominent piper and judge of the post-war era. Taught his piping by William MacDonald, Lairg, Peter joined the Scots Guards in 1927 and was appointed Pipe Major of the Holding Batt. in 1941 then the 4th Batt. In 1944-45 he was Pipe Major of the 2nd […]
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 […]
Ronald Lawrie of Oban (1927-2008) wasn’t called ‘Big Ronnie’ for nothing. But his broad-shouldered, 6ft 5in frame and imposing, square-jawed presence were almost incidental to his considerable stature in piping — and an involvement that began with direct influences from the 19th century and continues into the 21st century. He […]
About 1955, Col. J.P. Grant of Rothiemurchus, then one of the most important and influential men in piping, wrote the following letter, presumably for the Piping Times, but apparently decided not to send it. Thanks to the late James Campbell, it was published in the Piping Times of September 1985. […]
• From the June 2017 Piping Times. By Allan MacDonald Side Lights on the Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mór, By Malcolm McRae and Robert Wallace (Piobaireachd Society, 2017). This has been republished recently (2016) and is a compilation of notes written by Archibald Campbell of Kilberry (1877-1963) while receiving instruction […]
