Twenty one pipers took part in the first ever Competing Pipers Association Bronze Medal competition yesterday, August 28, 2022 at The National Piping Centre. The results were: Steven Gray Fraser Allison Eireann Iannetta-MacKay Callum Wynd Ben MulhearnJudges: Murray Henderson, Colin MacLellan and Ronnie McShannon The winner, Steven Gray, get automatic […]
The Competing Pipers’ Association is delighted to announce the creation of the brand new in 2022, inaugural Bronze Medal Piobaireachd contest. The event will be held on Sunday, August 28 at The National Piping Centre, McPhater Street. With the blessing of the Northern Meeting and Argyllshire Gathering, and generous funding […]
In the second part of the 2017 College of Piping Lecture, ALAN FORBES talked about the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society. At the start of Alan’s presentation, the audience was treated to a performance of Roddy Campbell’s Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society by Andrew Frater, Robert Frater and John Frater. The Scottish […]
The music of John MacCrimmon – the ‘Gesto Canntaireachd’ — Part 2 By Roderick D. Cannon We don’t know exactly when Niel MacLeod of Gesto started collecting his music or how long he spent on it. We do know, however, that the collection had taken shape by 1815, because in […]
By Bridget MacKenzie This article is based to a large extent on material kindly supplied by George Moss’s nephew, Jim (Hamish) Hamilton, Aberdeen, to whom I give my thanks George Moss (1903-1990) was an important figure in Highland piping who has not received the recognition due to him. Such men […]
In 2000, as the new millennium dawned, William Donaldson published his controversial The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950. It was a landmark publication and it remains a masterly – and controversial – work. It should be part of any piper’s library. In his book, Donaldson takes a swipe at […]
The present Piobaireachd Society Collection started with Book 1 in 1925. The most recent book in the collection was Book 15, published a quarter of a century ago in 1990, so the arrival of this new one is a bit of a publishing event for the Big Music. Although I […]
Simply put, Captain John A. MacLellan MBE (1921-1991) was one of the most important pipers of the 20th century. A military man, he joined the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders as a boy piper in 1936. In 1941, he was appointed Pipe Major of the 9th Battalion, Queen’s Own Highlanders: he […]
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 […]
We have received some feedback regarding the blog post from Simon McKerrell, pictured right, that appeared here last week. All of the feedback we received came from competing pipers and a couple of judges. Most were supportive of Mr McKerrell’s suggestion that it is time to gradually abolish the Set […]
