Willie McCallum is the special guest on this week’s episode of The Piping Show. John Mulhearn interviews Willie and asks for his thoughts on the big competitions in Oban, Inverness and at Blair Castle. Willie talks about his family connections with these competitions, what they mean to him, what motivates […]
By TABBY ANGIER, September 19, 2022. The recent death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has reminded the entire world of the importance and significance of the lament, played on the Great Highland Bagpipe, at funerals, memorial services and commemorative events. Nothing else provides quite the same dignity, poignancy and reverence […]
PART 1 by JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE The stories of Queen Victoria’s pipers are well known and there is no need to repeat them here, but there were several more pipers, perhaps less well known, who were employed by other members of Queen Victoria’s family. The young queen’s visit to Taymouth […]
I’ve long thought that Angus MacKay’s life would make for a great film. It has it all: sex, drugs (well, alcohol), rock n’ roll and a young death. Angus went from a childhood of poverty to an adolescence spent frequenting palaces and hobnobbing with the great and good of his […]
By Jeannie Campbell MBE In early 1851 members of the Highland Society of London met in the Freemasons’ Tavern in Great Queen Street to discuss the annual Scottish Fête at Holland Park. The previous gatherings had lost money and there were calls to reform the Society. A committee was nominated […]
By Jeannie Campbell MBE The Caledonian Society of London was instituted in 1839 and had its first formal session in 1839-1840 although some activities had started as early as 1837. The impetus seems to have been a desire by professional Scots, particularly those from the Lowlands, to create an alternative […]
Legendary Scottish piper, Ian Duncan’s 50 years’ service with the Atholl Highlanders, was recognised at Blair Castle last weekend. Also recognised was Drum Major Alister Walker, another well-known face in Perthshire. Alister is also one of three Drum Majors in local band, the Vale of Atholl. Ian and Alister were […]
One of the most eagerly awaited piping books in many years will be published this spring. I Piped, That She Might Dance is a novel based on the life of Angus MacKay, the man who became the most famous piper of his own lifetime and whose legacy continues to this […]
GREY’S NOTES by Michael Grey Piping Today #68, 2014. Angus MacKay. He’ll be known, at least by name, to many of you. Born on September 10, 1813 — under the astrological sign of Virgo — on Raasay, an island off the north-west coast of Scotland, he was to become one […]
More information has come to light on the life of Angus MacKay and of his family. Angus was the musical genius who became the first piper to hold the post of Sovereign’s Piper. He took a mostly oral tradition and put in on the stave and his music collections became […]
