Thanks to Yahya Hussein in New York for this unique picture of a piper from WW2. Yahya: ‘Here’s a photo of the intrepid Pipe Major Rob Roy of Tobruk who survived the war and whom Jimmy McIntosh told me was a very good piper. His daughter wrote a book on him.’ The blurb: ‘This book is about Pipe Major Robert Roy MBE DCM of the Black Watch who became known…

The link for the piping at the National Mod is : https://youtu.be/TpLE7cv2tEg

I am in a quandary. I don’t want to demote the guy, but MacStig is under pressure. We’ve had quite a few representations from bandpeople in Grade 3A asking why they are being neglected in our coverage. Grade 1, as expected, gets the bulk of our pipe band space. With MacStig’s popular input, G2 has been riding high for the past few years. But is it time to give 3A…

By Robert Wallace Whatever happened to the pleasant tuning phrase, the melodious trill of notes as the piper settles himself before the off? Where are the measured tones, the little parcels of tunefulness by which he tests his drone tuning, his chanter intervals? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to much of what we hear today. Often is a machine gun like rattle of triple grace-noted birls, a…

Trevor Dear’s funeral will be on Thursday, October 10, at 2pm at the Church of Scotland, Castle Street, Dingwall, and thereafter to Urray Cemetery on the A832 road between Marybank and Muir of Ord. Read more of his life here and I recommend readers take time to read the contributions in our comments section from those who knew Trevor well. A synopsis. From Gordon Ferguson: ‘I met Trevor in 1974…