Reader Yahya Hussein on the above picture: ‘That rather rare photo was taken right after WW1. His medal bar shows his Great War medal trio, the 1914-1918 Medal, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. ‘That is alongside his Queen’s South African Medal along with his famous DCM won in South Africa when rallying his battalion as they were being cut to pieces by the boers at Magersfontein in…

Just over ten years ago saw the start of Piping Press, the online continuation of our Piper Press magazine. The latter was taken over by the Piping Times in 1999. I then edited the PT for 15 years before departing Otago Street in 2014. Much has happened during the decade including the regrettable, though predictable, demise of the PT and the College of Piping. Four years ago we had the…

Some of you will be aware that our Canadian piping and drumming cousins are currently involved in a bit of a brouhaha. On the one side we have a disgruntled judge who believes he has been unfairly treated after alleged transgressions. On the other we have the governing body, Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario, which believes that, in taking what it saw as the required disciplinary action, it…

The decision by the RSPBA to appoint a fund-raising officer is long overdue. Given the millions the Association brings into Scotland each year via the Worlds and feeder events such Piping Live and the Worlds Week concert, it has a strong ethical case for public funding. Given the work bands do in education and in preserving an important Scottish tradition, the new man should be able to tap into cultural…