Grafton District Services Club Pipe Band, New South Wales, hosted a piping get together entitled ‘Beyond Highland Cathedral’ on Saturday, June 13th. The meeting was inspired by those held a generation ago 100 miles away in Tenterfield NSW by the MacCabe family, writes Alastair McInnes.
Many in Scotland will remember Lachlan McCabe and his brother who went round the games in the 80s.
About 50 enthusiasts, pipers and drummers, enjoyed a day featuring formal presentations punctuated by playing by delegates travelling up to 800 miles to get there.
It was particularly pleasing to see Malcolm McRae, down from the Gold Coast, and whose expert comments were universally appreciated throughout the day.
The recent sad passing of Iain Bruce was acknowledged: what a knowledgeable and gentle man he was.
Keynote speaker was noted Great Highland Bagpipe ‘identifier’ George Hannah from Wagga (two day’s drive). He presented an in-depth analysis of bagpipe acoustics, harmonic interactions and variations in scales.
An intense topic for some, George guided us through the details with care, precision and a good deal of sensitivity.
His later offering relating to bagpipe maintenance and repair issues was very well received too. His day was not over though, with a seemingly endless line of hopefuls with vintage instruments seeking his opinion, Thows, Glens, Lawries, Henry Starcks and Sinclair-McPhersons featuring.
Other presenters included Robert Gibb on 2/4 march expression, and former Dysart & Dundonald man Tam McGirr on pipe band ensemble. This was particularly interactive and the mooted changes in panel makeup were viewed by several attendees as having some significant disadvantages for the local scene.
Tunes were offered by Andrew Roach, Jack Dempsey, Adam Wishart, Tim Tesoriero, Jamie Hunt, and the event was effectively closed by Robert Gibb whose Isabel MacKay on a superb Gillanders pipe ensured no one dare follow.
With George still examining various sets of pipes for owners, we ended what was a most enjoyable day, and it is hoped that many more similar ‘hubs’ shall follow.
Kilberry Book of Ceol Meadhonach – digital book
….beautiful Gaelic airs and old, traditional settings… click on the pic to order
The New South Wales event details are interesting and there was a good attendance. That sort of thing requires quite a bit of organising. The subjects covered and the playing of tunes seems to have covered lots of subjects. Nice to see familiar faces in the photographs. The subject of the 2/4 march playing is of importance and the subject has been touched upon in the columns of the Piping Press and how in lots of cases, even at the top level of playing has deteriorated into pedantic slow careful playing. I am sure Robert Gibb delivered an interesting talk on the subject. It seems he rounded the event off with Isobel MacKay. That sort of event nowadays can be captured on video etc for wider interest, particularly when covering so many subjects of interest, such as the different makes of bagpipe and how they do differ, but are all the “same.”
It was an outstanding meeting; let’s hope there will be more.