The 2021 Uista & Barra Professional Solo Piping Competition has been cancelled, it was announced last night. The contest had been scheduled for the first Saturday in March but has becomne a victim of the ongoing pandemic. The Uist & Barra was the last live competition before the mass cancellation of piping events in 2020. In a statement U&B Piping Convenor John Angus Smith said: ‘The U&B Committee has decided that…

The third batch of pictures today from Ronan Maguire of St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band, Dublin. There has been a considerable response to the earlier articles publicising Ronan’s work. Yves Tyson in Brittany has pointed out: ‘About Glen’s pictures, it is of Sandy Glen (son of David) and grandson of Alexander Glen. The young lad checking the pipes is not David (Sandy’s brother) but a young apprentice (unknown).’ Thank you…

A Perthshire school is providing online piping, poetry and prose for those interested in celebrating Robert Burns. Strathallan School, based in Forgandenny, took the decision to host its annual Burns Supper online this year but thousands of viewers from across the globe have already tuned in to celebrate the Bard. Hosted on YouTube, the 30-minute video was initially created to help Strathallan families celebrate Burns Night but the video has…

Entries for the major solo piping competitions at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting close on January 31, we have been asked to point out. The dates for each of the contests are, respectively, August 25/26 and Sept 2/3. Despite fears over pandemic cancellation, almost 80 pipers have signed up already. However this figure would normally be well over 100. Organisers are keen to stress that if pipers intend playing…

We continue today with more of the brilliantly edited historic photographs from Ronan Maguire of St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band, Dublin. The picture above is of Alexander Glen and a young David Glen in their workshop in Edinburgh circa. 1880. The original black and white image was cleaned up and enhanced before being colourised. Glen was the biggest name in bagpipe manufacture and music publishing in the late 19th and…