Piper Finlay Remembers His WW1 Grandfather on Armistice Day

Pipe Major Finlay McGhee of RAF Waddington Pipes and Drums, will be thinking of his grandfather on Remembrance Day and carrying his medals in his tunic pocket.  Willie McGhee DCM enlisted in the 1/5 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1914 aged 17. He served in Gallipoli from June 1915 to December 1916. During the Dardanelles Campaign he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry. [wds id=”2″] His citation in…

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PP Ed’s Blog: Brian Lamond/ Northern Winter School/ Bratach/ John MacLellan Tune/ Angus MacKay

We all know what an outstanding piper Brian Lamond is. He is an accomplished solo player, has won the Worlds with Vic Police in 1998 and is a reed maker of renown. What many of you may not be aware of is that he is a superb singer-songwriter-guitarist too. After the piping finished at the Northern Winter School the other night up stepped  Brian with a rendition of Ca’ the…

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London Championship and Bratach Gorm Results

Full results and pictures. Piobaireachd for the Dr Calum MacCrimmon Bratach Gorm (7 tunes) 1 Glenn Brown, Farewell to the Queen’s Ferry 2 Finlay Johnston, Lament for the Children 3 Roderick MacLeod, Battle of Auldearn No 2 4 Alasdair Henderson, Big Spree 5 Callum Beaumont, Lament for the Earl of Antrim Glenn Brown, Bratach winner and Callum Beaumont, overall London Champion Open Piobaireachd for the William Gillies Cup (6 tunes)…

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PP Ed’s Blog: Tempos/ Winter School/ German Tutor/ Straight Fingers/ 1970 Mod/ RSPBA Fees

The Times had a story yesterday stating that classical music has increased in tempo over the years. According to independent research, performance time of Bach’s double violin concerto had fallen from 17 minutes in 1961 to 12 minutes in 2016. Has the same accelerando affected piping? Perhaps in ceol mor. Perusing the Masters of Piobaireachd series you can listen to tunes played at what I would suggest is a more…

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Videos from the Northern Meeting 1995 – Part 2

In the second of our unique videos from the 1995 Northern Meeting we see and hear performances from P/M Gordon Walker, Donald MacPhee, Angus MacColl and the late Gordon Duncan, writes the Editor. P/M Walker and Donald are captured performing in the Former Winners’ March, Strathspey and Reel at Inverness to a packed Eden Court Theatre. What a pleasure it is to see and hear Gordon. Dressed immaculately, he plays…

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