The Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada) and Bar to the Medal contests for 2019 are be held on Friday, August 2nd and thanks to sponsorship from the Clan Donald Lands Trust will have a first prize of £1,800 ($3,000CDN). This represents a considerable upgrade in the contest which was started by back in the 1970s by Archie Cairns with the assistance of Captain John MacLellan representing the Piobaireachd Society. Adjudicator…

Thanks to the many thousands of readers we had for our reports on the European Pipe Band Championships. It is clear from what both MacStig and I wrote, and from the responses received, that there needs to be an audience dimension added to major pipe band championship planning. Would the RSPBA consider giving one of their directors the responsibility of checking out facilities for listeners? An ‘audience czar’ would surely…

By the Editor To the capital of the Highlands for the European Pipe Band Championships, the third ‘major’ of the season. The Friday was a blistering, boiling day. We pulled off the A9 for refreshment. Into the Carrbridge Hotel to find, serendipitously, adjudicator Robert Mathieson and, eventually, his colleagues Bob Worrall and John Wilson.  They were all looking forward to the Championship, talking excitedly about the prospect of hearing some…

A hearty well done to Boghall and Bathgate for supporting the Princes Street Gardens contest last weekend but why on earth did they form up in a circle in front of the Ross Bandstand? With part of the band’s backs to the terraced audience it looked, from photographs I’ve seen, so last century. Goodness knows what the visitors must have thought. Would a brass band have shaped up that way?…

The Argyllshire Gathering have asked us to remind everyone that entries for the MacGregor Memorial Competition close at the end of the month. The contest is run by the Gathering on behalf of the Highland Society of London and is a leading event for aspiring young professionals. The winner is usually guaranteed a place in the following year’s Silver Medal at Oban. Entries here. Piping Convenor Torquil Telfer tells me…