Archie Kenneth Quaich Results and Report

This ever-popular amateur piobaireachd contest was held on 22nd February. This was our 33rd contest and for most of those years we have been the fortunate guests of the Royal Scottish Pipers Society (RSPS) in Edinburgh. If you haven’t been there, you may not know that they have excellent acoustics (especially the bar which is the final tuning room). The impressive collection of vintage piping photos on all the walls…

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Editor’s Notebook: Dollar Contest/ Lochaber Piping Society/ Cupar PB/ EUSPBA Rankings

I hear that Dollar Academy are once more running their popular and successful pipe band contest at the end of May. All grades and D/Ms are catered for I believe. Ample and picturesque grounds at the foot of the Ochils make a perfect setting for such an event. Reasonably easy to get to, the contest always attracts a large entry. If I were running the RSPBA I’d be on the…

RSPBA Formally Confirms No British Championship in 2025 and Format Change for Euros

The RSPBA have now formally confirmed that there will be no fifth major pipe band championship this summer. Bands were notified privately two weeks ago but until today there had been no announcement made to the pipe band public or media. They have also today confirmed our story of last week that the Euros in Perth on Aug 9 will be a two leg contest in Grade 1. In a…

Change of Format a Possibility at the European Pipe Band Championships

I hear that bands competing for the Grade 1 title at the European Championships will face a more stringent test than at the other majors – the Worlds excepted. If my information is correct, bands at Perth on August 9th will have to play an MSR in the morning (four parts) and then submit two medleys for an afternoon run. I stress that this has yet to be confirmed officially….

College Band/ Inveraray Dinner/ Balvenie Medal

Scott Bennett replies to last week’s article on the College of Piping band. He writes: Yes that was Evan MacKay behind the pipe major in photo of the CoP band in Brittany in 1953. And if you look very carefully you can see me – the small boy behind the Pipe Sergeant. The P/Sgt was none other than the renowned accordionist of Mishnish Hotel, Tobermory, fame, Bobby MacLeod. Bobby composed…