An intriguing story has come in following yesterday’s about Willie Reid’s ‘MacDougall’ pipes. Reader Robert Stewart writes, ‘As a teenager I new Willie Reid well.
‘Latterly, before emigrating to New Zealand, he was P/M of the Glasgow Fire Service Pipe Band. On one of my regular visits to his barber shop he was quite excited.
‘One of his bandsmen had attended a fire at an old cottage and found a sack containing parts of a bagpipe (dirty but undamaged by the fire). Willie told me that, once alone, he had got the parts into his washbasin and cleaned them up.
‘He thought they were a set of MacDougalls and that he intended to sell them in New Zealand. I never actually saw the pipe after cleaning and Willie emigrated soon after.’
Couple of things. Firstly the picture above is of Willie and Bobby Reid. Bobby (r) is playing a set of small-mounted, metal slide and ferrule, pipes. Could they be the ones mentioned yesterday?
Second, this remarkable story reminded me of the time at the College of Piping when a piper walked in with a box full of John MacColl memorabilia. His colleague worked for the Glasgow Cleansing Department and had been clearing out a house in the north of the city. Heading for a skip with a box full of ‘junk’, he noticed a picture of a piper and thought his friend, our visitor, might be interested.
He was, and duly brought the box to the College. I can’t remember exactly what was in it but it was of great interest – manuscript, letters, photographs – and should now be under curatorial guard at the Piping Centre.
RSPBA Majors
Déjà vu all over again as a linguistically challenged Scot once said….The statement yesterday from the RSPBA rekindled the worries we all had a year ago over the provenance of our Major Pipe Band Championships.
I think at that stage only two had been secured. We are a little better off this time around with three in the bag, the Scottish on July 26, the Euros on August 9 and the Worlds August 15/16.
The RSPBA had hoped to confirm the two outstanding Majors, the UKs and the British, by the end of last month. Things are still in a state of flux however. Processes are ongoing. I’m hearing positive noises so let’s not despair. It is only December after all.
That said, oh for a return to the halcyon days when we had the majors secured several years in advance. It is all about money. Scottish councils have just be given the go ahead to raise local taxes. Never welcome, but this might free up some cash for pipe band contests.
SPA Veterans
Get along to the Piping Centre tonight if you can for the Scottish Pipers Veterans competition. It starts at 7pm. The Veterans used to meet every Friday afternoon at the College of Piping and they were always very welcome. The contributed greatly to the atmosphere of bonhomie.
This picture is from one of their contests in the early 2000s. How many of these worthies can you identify? Second from the left standing is Ian Sinclair (a friend of the Reids I might add), to his left is Neil McGiven, and fourth from the right Sam Brown the reedmaker.
Sitting far left is Bob McFie, a man who played well right into his late 80s and 90s, and far right Bert Smith, Bo’ness, Callum Beaumont’s first tutor. Other names and stories attached to these gentlemen welcome.
Brittany
A photographic exhibition will be held in Cancale next week. It features pictures from the ‘Pibroch by the Sea’ event staged annually in the village each September. Some atmospheric black and white shots from photographer Emmanuelle Margarita.
Lorient Festival have produced their 2025 poster. Their roster of acts includes Alan Stivel, the pioneering piper and harpist, and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. The good news for bands and pipers thinking of going is that the festival (August 1-10) doesn’t clash with the Worlds as it has in the past.
