Author: Piping Press

P/M Paul Burns Appointed King’s Piper

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According to magazine reports King Charles III has confirmed P/M Paul Burns as Sovereign’s Piper. P/M Burns carried out his first official duty last Tuesday at Birkhall, the King’s residence on the Balmoral Estate. He will now play at 9am each morning outside whichever residence the King is staying at. This is carrying on a tradition enjoyed by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Tatler magazine: ‘Paul, of the Royal Regiment…

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Story on John Ban MacKenzie the Athlete and Reaction to Calum Fraser’s Article on Piobaireachd Performance

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Reader Dugald Macleod: This is a story my father Murdoch Macleod (1893 – 1964) had which involved John Ban MacKenzie: One August afternoon in 1822, the whole district of Kilmuir, Skye, was en fête. The occasion was the final reclaiming of thousands of acres of rich agricultural land by the draining to the sea of the expansive sheet of water known as St. Columba’s Loch. Notables from far and near…

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History: Rare Pictures of John Ban MacKenzie

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We are very grateful to reader Francis Chamberlain for sending us these pictures of the great piper John Ban MacKenzie 1796 -1864. MacKenzie was piper to the Marquis of Breadalbane from 1843, and to the Highland Society of Scotland. He was famous for being able to make every component part of the bagpipe and playing the resultant instrument as ‘a master of his creation’. Above is a picture of how…

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Intermediate Lochnell Championship Launches Fund Raising Page/ Balmoral Classic Entries and Details

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Hattie Mellor: The Argyllshire Gathering Trust are raising £5,000 for the Intermediate Youth Piping Championship which will return to Lochnell Castle, Argyll, on 22nd of October 2022. Eight leading young professional pipers under the age of 22 will compete in Piobaireachd and March, Strathspey and Reel.  We are delighted to announce the presentation of two new trophies for the Championship. The first is the ‘Jimmy McIntosh MBE Memorial Trophy for…

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Readers Respond to Article on RSPBA’s MSR Rule Change

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A mixed bag of response to yesterday’s article by Ian Forbes. (Read it here.) Before we get to them the Editor writes: ‘I was interested in the comment in the rule change which states that four part tunes should be ‘where the tune was written as a four parted tune’. ‘This is misleading. If we look through our older collections we see that many standards we accept today as four…

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