History: Solo Piping in 1985 and the Day the Gold Medal was Paused for Communion

The following is taken from the Oban Times piping column written by Alfred Morrison in late August 1985. He begins in characteristically trenchant fashion with a comment on the Silver Chanter: On Wednesday evening this piping recital was held in Dunvegan Castle. This event in piping used to be a competition for pipers who had already won the Gold Medal at Oban or Inverness, but this year it was demoted…

AKQ and Ardmore Cup Results (Updated with Pictures)

The winner of the 2023 Archie Kenneth Quaich for amateur piobaireachd was Matthew Kirkwood playing the Battle of Auldearn No. 1, writes Peter McCalister. The competition was held today (Sat Feb 25) in the rooms of the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society in Edinburgh. The prize winning pipers and Mr Derek Fraser (left), Secretary of the Piobaireachd Society, are pictured above. Result: 1 Matthew Kirkwood 2 Ben Hall 3 Leslie Barrett…

EUSPBA’s New President Speaks to Piping Press

At 56 Bill Caudill is the recently-appointed President of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association. By geographical area, and perhaps numbers, it is the largest piping association in the world. This week he has been instructing at the Florida Pipe and Drum Academy in Jacksonville and our editor took the opportunity of interviewing him about his new role. Membership?: ‘We have in excess of 700 solo members and more…

British Championships: Readers Have Their Say

The controversy surrounding the cancellation of the 2023 British Pipe Band Championship continues to draw comment from the pipe band public. Further concern was added yesterday with the revelation that the RSPBA did not approach Cowal Games to discuss a possible contingency for the championship. This may provoke further comment. For now here is what readers have to say regarding Allan Hamilton’s story on PP and also our report on…

Solo Piping Resurgence Continues Apace

The difficulties pipe bands are experiencing with the cancellation of a major championship and some minor contests are not being reflected in the solo world. We can report the following: Next Saturday (Feb 25) the Archie Kenneth Quaich takes place in the RSPS Rooms, Edinburgh. This is for amateur piobaireachd players and is run by the Piobaireachd Society. Here is the draw: S Mason, C Crosbie, M Kirkwood, G Tughan-Jones,…