History: Pioneers of the RSPBA

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Donald McIntosh was Honorary Secretary of the SPBA from its inception in 1930 until 1938 and served a second term in the same role between 1950 and 1960.  He was also President of the Association in 1946.  Donald was a piper in Willie Sloan’s Maclean band and later in the Clan McRae band.  He was one of the SPBA officials who was deeply and centrally involved in the initial formation…

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2026 Glass Chanter Presented

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The Glass Chanter, awarded annually to the piper who achieves most points at Scotland’s North Highland Games, has been won for the third year in a row by Angus MacPhee, Inverness, writes Steven McCabe The trophy and other prizes were presented to Angus last Friday night, 6th November 2026, during his very well received recital for Inverness Piping Society at Inverness Golf Club. The 2026 Glass Chanter, was kindly sponsored by…

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Review: The Raasay Concert in Pitlochry Town Hall

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The evening which was to feature a range of different bagpipes started with a bang. Angus MacColl played one of the copies of the Black Set of Kintail that Hamish Moore has made.  These pipes can be found in Inverness Museum and are dated to 1785.  This particular set, in the key of A and made in mopane wood, was presented to Rachel Gray as her prize for winning the…

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Amateur to Professional Pathway: Readers Respond

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We have had a number of letters regarding last week’s series of articles by Adam Aitchison on the need for an approved structure for those wishing to make the progression from amateur to professional ranks. (Read Adam’s articles starting here.) Unfortunately the responses have all been made anonymously. We assume the writers are afraid their competitive success may be compromised by their putting their heads above the parapet (a common…

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Editor’s Notebook: Lessons from the Captain/ Iain Dall MacKay/ NZ Bands/ Glass Chanter

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One of the pleasant things about doing overseas piping trips is getting to to know your teaching colleagues better. Brian Lamond has been with us this week at the Northern Winter School in Germany. On a quiet evening I was able to ask him about his early career and how he ended up with lessons from Captain John MacLellan. Brian had been started on the chanter by a local man,…

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