History: GS, Bob Nicol and the 1926 Northern Meeting

The results below, and the photograph above, are of undoubted interest to all pipers. The photograph is of George S McLennan and Robert B Nicol, clearly at a Highland Games. Not surprisingly, the original photograph, almost 100 years old, has faded due to age and the bottom of it has been torn off. What you see is one considerably enhanced thanks to modern-day technology. I found the picture in the effects of…

Drumtochty Games/ Wallacestone PB Anniversary Tune

Last Saturday’s weather at Drumtochty, Aberdeenshire was, as some would say, ‘braw’, with sunshine and a cooling breeze.  Drumtochty Glen is a picturesque location, more so in such weather. Bearing in mind the ever present talk of cost of living problems, the games were well attended. This was encouraging for the organisers. As to the piping, we had only three in the adults and four in the junior competitions. Despite the low turn-out, the playing made…

Donald Cameron, Inverness 1841 and a Letter from the North

By Duncan Watson Hello Robert the Editor. Amidst all this stuff on the Northern Meetings of past years I’ve been reading on Piping Press, I am wondering if you could cast your memory back to about 1841, one of your earlier attendances there? The results were interesting. Piobaireachd: 1 William Smith , Gordon Castle, Piper to The Duke (Macdonald’s Salute) for which he was awarded a set of bagpipes valued 10 guineas. …

Norman Matheson MBE 1932-2022

It is with sadness that I report that Norman Matheson MBE passed away at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary yesterday, 10th January. He was 89. Norman was born in Inverness. He spent his formative years in Avonside a few miles from Tomintoul, the Moray-shire mountain village where he had his early education.  His father was, for a while, a garage manager in Inverness and his mother a district nurse in the village. Norman was…

Review: Piobaireachd is for Everyone by Dan Nevans

Reading of this book, I imagined it would make ceòl mòr more accessible to pipers who had little interest in it, hopefully inspiring them, and that it would help listeners gain greater enjoyment from performances. This has been attempted in the past and proved a tall order. There have been publications on the theme of piobaireachd appreciation before and Seumas MacNeil’s ‘Piobaireachd’ [available here] is one of the more successful….