1977 BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE Competitors in the Northern Meeting Clasp Competition and the Argyllshire Gathering Open Piobaireachd competition in 1977 were required to select and submit four from the following list of six tunes: Sobieski’s Salute, The Stewarts’ White Banner, Mary’s Praise, The MacDonalds’ Salute (the tune Fannet would […]
1976 BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE The Gathering had remained unchanged for many years but 1976 marked a watershed with the first of several big changes coming in the force. In January 1976 Seumas MacNeill wrote: “1976 is going to be – for piping at least – a great deal different […]
Dr Masami Yamane, who founded the Tokyo Pipe Band in 1975, and is credited as being the first piper in Japan, died in February 2022 aged 91.
1973 By Jeannie Campbell MBE In September 1972, under the headline ‘Girl Pipers to Breach Male Stronghold’, The Press and Journal had this: “Two girls will challenge a men-only bastion when they enter one of the top piping competitions at the National Mòd in Inverness on October 7. And the […]
1970-1971 By Jeannie Campbell MBE In 1970, the Gathering took place on August 26-27. The set tunes for the Open and Clasp competitions were The Big Spree (including tripling and Crunluath variations), Lord Lovat’s Lament, Craigellachie, Nameless (Hiharin Odin Hiharin Dro), Clanranald’s Salute and The Prince’s Salute. Four were to […]
Gordon Duncan (1964-2005) inspired a whole generation of pipers in his own lifetime in a way no piper has ever done before or since. As the December 2015 edition of the Piping Times stated, his influence on the current generation is apparent even though some are perhaps too young to […]
This recording was released a couple of days before the Glenfiddich and was made during lockdown by renowned Scottish multi-instrumentalist, Fraser Fifield. He also recorded, engineered and mastered it. At first glance, the title would suggest this is a recording devoted to ceòl mòr. It isn’t. Fifield refers to the […]
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 […]
1962 By Jeannie Campbell MBE After the 1962 Argyllshire Gathering the Piping Times carried a full report of the event: “Once again the summer games season reached its culmination in the middle of September, and once again, at the beginning of the second week of the month, all roads led […]
The subject of this attractive little tune was the eldest son of Donald MacDonald of Glengarry (‘Donald of Laggan’, the seventh chief of this powerful branch of Clan Donald) and Margaret MacDonald of Clan Ranald. Donald was aged 16 when Alasdair was born, in 1559 on Lewis. Alasdair’s epithet of […]
