James Haddow McIntosh, a true piping legend, died suddently this morning at home in South Carolina, USA, aged 95. Born in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, one of four siblings. Jimmy’s father had arranged for Jimmy to receive his early piping tuition from Pipe Major Tom Sutherland, Royal Scots Fusiliers. Jimmy […]
I wonder if you have ever heard the old joke – “Why is the Free Kirk so opposed to sex before marriage?” Answer – “Because it might lead to dancing.” I am first going to make the assumption that everyone reading this regards the pipes as a musical instrument and […]
Two of Scotland’s leading live folk musicians are donating all their merchandise sales today to a Glasgow food bank. Pipers Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton are encouraging other musicians to do the same. In 2009, there was one food bank in Scotland. There are now 52 in Glasgow alone compared […]
Professor Dan MacInnes delivered the 1998 John MacFadyen Lecture/Recital. The following is the text of his talk. By Professor Dan MacInnes Tonight I have four points to make, and the pipers four tunes to play. We shall try our best to avoid controversy. The four points I shall make all […]
The late 1980s was a period of transition in piping. In 1987 the 78th Fraser Highlanders became the first overseas pipe band to win the World Pipe Band Championships and in 1988 Ottawa-born Amy Garson would be the first female invited to compete at the Glenfiddich. The 1988 Glenfiddich was […]
The Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship was established in 1974 to “inspire and stimulate the world’s finest individual pipers and to seek the best overall exponents of ceòl mòr and ceòl beag.” From the start, the event was a success and it remains the last supreme solo piping championship of the […]
Tuning and climate – a South African view By R. W. Gould-King Visiting pipers from Scotland often complain about our comparatively harsh South African climate. Many a piper from overseas has opened his pipe box in Johannesburg to discover the mummified remains of a once fine instrument. The initial reaction […]
Norman MacKinnon MacLean was born in the Tradeston area of Glasgow on Boxing Day in 1936 to Neil MacLean (a merchant seaman and a native of Tiree) and Margaret (Peigi) MacKinnon (from North Uist), but due to the time of year his birth wasn’t registered until early January, 1937. He […]
The annual Springbank Invitational Solo Piping Competition has been cancelled for 2020. Competition organiser, the Kintyre Piping Society, hopes to be in a position in the near future to hold it next year. The competition usually takes place in mid-September in the Argyll town, Campbeltown and is sponsored by the […]
Jeannie Campbell’s recent article on Owen MacNiven contained a few passages that triggered in solo piping judge, Roddy Livingstone a few memories of some of the leading lights of the London piping scene of yesteryear. He writes: “During the 25 years I was a pupil and friend of James Campbell […]
