I understand the RSPBA are very close to announcing the venue and date of the elusive fifth Major Championship for 2027. Rumours abound that this Championship, the UK, is heading for either Belfast or Ayr.
The date is likely to be the weekend of 18th or 25th June. Already fixed up are the British on May 29 at Ingliston, the Scottish at Dumbarton on July 27th, the Euros at Perth on August 7th, and the Worlds at Glasgow Green on August 13 & 14.
If outgoing Chief Executive Colin Mulhern can get the fifth major over the line it will be one less headache for new Chief Exec Meaghan Lyons when she takes up her post in February.
It is also important that bands have the date as soon as possible so that plans for next summer – and attendant fundraising – can be finalised.
I also hear that the genial Bob Niven will not be seeking re-election as Chairman of the RSPBA at the AGM. It means that a new team will be at the helm for the start of the 2027 season
Piper Search
Historian Lucy Whitfield has been in touch: ‘I’m hoping you might be able to help me. I’m a professional genealogist doing some work on behalf of a client, and they have an intriguing story within their family that involves a piper, but that I haven’t been able to verify.
‘Therefore, I’m hoping that you, and perhaps the wider piping community, might be able to throw some insight onto the matter. They have a family member called Gavin Anderson, who was supposedly according to the family story, ‘official piper to the Queen’.
‘Obviously, this name doesn’t appear on either the list of official pipers from Queen Victoria onward, and not on the list of pipers for the Queen Mother either. So, it sounds like there’s some wires crossed somewhere, and I really don’t think that the story is at all accurate in that form.
‘So, this leaves the question of who Gavin Anderson is or was, and how this tale might have arisen. They are definite that he’s a piper of some renown, and they think he played at a family funeral in Gullane, East Lothian, in 2002. There is also some tale about how his father went to Canada and left him behind because of a row, but again that is quite vague.
‘From a genealogy point of view, I have been unable so far to find a Gavin within the Anderson family – at least in available records, and the sketchy nature of what’s available in Canada hasn’t helped. The Anderson family seem to have come from the Coldington/Athelstaneford area, and several of them were military, but some of the brothers who were supposedly Gavin’s uncles did go to Canada, so that bit is going in the right direction.
‘Have you ever heard of, or have any records of, a piper named Gavin Anderson who might be who they’re trying to find out about? A specialist piping magazine seemed to me to be the best place to start asking. Thanking you in advance for any help you’re able to give me.’
I’m afraid I can’t help you Lucy but perhaps someone somewhere will have the information you require. Contact Lucy here
Stirling Juniors
Craig Muirhead: The second Stirling Junior Solo Piping Contest will take place on Saturday 27 February 2027 at the King Robert Hotel. Entries will open on 1st December 2026. There’ll be a recital the evening before too, just waiting for confirmation from a couple of top players!
The categories are: 12 and Under Chanter Slow Air, 12 and Under Chanter March (2 parts), 13 and Under Piping Slow Air, 13 and Under Piping March (4 parts), Under 18 Piobaireachd, Under 18 March, Under 18 Strathspey and Reel, Under 18 Jig. The 13 and under events are new for 2027.
I’ll send a note out on December 1st with details on how to enter. Pictured below is last year’s overall winner, Lachlan Rennie with myself.
Ozzie Reid
Andrea Jones writes: ‘We were very saddened to hear of the passing of P/M Ozzie Reid. He started piping at an early age in his native Ireland. Ozzie enlisted in the American Army to play in the Army Pipe Band. With this service came citizenship.
‘He played with the LA Scots from 1960 to 1968, then took over the Lockheed Pipe Band in 1968. The band was later renamed Dunvegan Pipe Band. Ozzie served as Pipe Major from 1968 to his retirement in 2012.
‘Ozzie was chair of the Pacific Coast Pipe Band Association from 1977 to 1981, then became the General Secretary of the Western United States Pipe Band Association for 10 years.
‘He did a great deal to promote piping in the Intermountain Branch, especially traveling to Colorado for a number of years conducting piping workshops. Ozzie helped organize the Long Peaks Festival and was co-chair with P/M Bill Merriman of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco Games at Santa Rosa.
‘Ozzie’s proudest accomplishment was the Dr Dan Reid Memorial Solo Piping Competition held in San Francisco from 1992 to 2011. This competition brought top soloists from around the world to the Bay Area of San Francisco. It also provided an extensive audio library of both piobaireachd and light music! His contribution to piping will not be forgotten.’
All Our Yesterdays
Dr Roddy Ross in the Piping Times November 1996: ‘Over the past 20 years there has been a tendency to play the taorluath and crunluath singling faster than I was taught them by Jockan Macpherson (eldest son of Calum Piobair) in the early 30s.
‘Both he, and his much younger brother Angus, both put great emphasis on playing the taorluath and crunluath singling slowly and with dignity.
‘Jockan taught John Macdonald, Inverness, way back last century, and he in turn taught Malcolm Macpherson. Malcolm told me he consulted John Macdonald for over 40 years.
‘All these great piobaireachd men regarded the singling of the taorluath and crunluath as something crucial and not as something added on to the Urlar and its variations.’
