Thanks to reader Peter Reilly for forwarding the above picture. It is of the famous Dysart & Dondonald pictured during rehearsals for the Worlds at either Corby in 1975 or Nottingham in 1979, writes the Editor.
We are trying to confirm the date and identify all of those pictured. There is also a suggestion that Dysart won the Worlds drum corps title at Corby.
All information gratefully received. Please reply in the Comments section below. Back row fourth from the left is a young looking Pipe Major Bob Shepherd.
The band were World Champions at Aberdeen and Lanark in 1977 and ’78. Their attempt at three in a row was to be thwarted by Strathclyde Police who won the Worlds for the second time under P/M Ian McLellan in 1979. We believe Dysart were second that year.
They were never again to regain their former glory and as the talented pipers and drummers pictured above drifted away, Bob Shepherd concentrated on building up his bagpipes and reed manufacturing business in Cardenden, Fife.
But the band’s achievement can never be underestimated. Bob Shepherd took a bunch of lads from Ballingry School where he taught and forged a pipe band that could take on the very best.
He was greatly influenced by P/M Bob Hardie and regularly brought his band to the Muirhead’s practice in Grangemouth. If technique and expression he took from Bob, he looked to Shotts for sound, Edinburgh Police for cohesion and Red Hackle for ensemble touches.
This was a winning formula and propelled Bob’s band up through the grades year on year until at Aberdeen in 1977 they achieved the ultimate and the Worlds title, repeating the success the following year at Lanark.
The band’s winning ways were repeated by Bob in the business world. Manufacturing chanters and reeds played by Grade 1 winning bands, the name of RT Shepherd & Sons became known internationally.
Bob died in 2019; the company closed in 2024.
- Read a further, more detailed tribute to Bob Shepherd here.
