Some say his Paisley pattern tie should be outlawed, and we know that for this heathen St Mirren should never have been beatified. One buddy he does have is his notebook and we are grateful that once more he is able to add to Piping Press’s unsurpassed coverage of the pipe band majors….  Come on now. A week or more of warm temperatures without rain and the British Pipe Band…

By MacStig His stocks might be high and his bag low, but our man in the oilskin and the WW2 Army-issue kilt will be at large in Paisley for the British Championship this Saturday….and look out for ol’ tin ears at Lurgan, Inverness, Dumbarton and Glasgow too.  Following instructions from the Editor (something about getting to Paisley and two fingers), I assumed correctly he was referring to my assigned grade…

By MacStig ‘The best laid plans o’ mice and men, gang aft agley’…… It had been my intention to be in Banchory for the thrilling regional Grade 2 competition featuring the best of the North East. Like a bad joke about getting directions in Dublin – ‘if I was going there I wouldn’t be starting from here’, the journey overland from western parts to Banchory was too far in the…

He’s back! Fresh from his winter hibernation polishing the old Triumph two wheeler and sharpening his pen. We know readers have missed him as much as we have……….. With Sir Billy Connolly leading a long line of pipe bands, headed by the North Lanarkshire Schools massed pipes and drums, in central Manhattan, spring has sprung. Although I still wouldn’t cast a cloot until the May broom bloom is oot –…

Our correspondent MacStig dug out his old motor car, braved the early snow and got over to yesterday’s Scottish Schools Pipe Band contest. His report tells us he is stretching those legs, sharpening the pen and is all set for the new outdoor season……..  By arriving in Livingston before 9am on a Sunday morning, and trying in vain to find a nearby coffee vendor in what is a town of…