I had forgotten what a superb player Jimmy Hardie was until a video recording of a recital he gave in Canada in 1985 (see picture above) was pointed out to me on Facebook. There, thanks to Jim Barrie, was Jimmy in all his musical glory playing as well as any piper you will hear today, no exaggeration. The piping stars were aligned for Jim, born unto Bob Hardie and his…

By Robert Wallace Breton piper Patrick Molard has sent me a video recording of the ground of The Piper’s Warning to His Master from the Donald MacDonald MS where it is known as MacDonald’s Warning. Those not au fait with the tune will be intrigued to know of the legend which states that the imprisoned piper deliberately misplayed the piece so that his approaching chief would know ambush awaited. Patrick…

Fingers crossed, the vaccine, being administered here in the UK from Monday, will have arrived in time to save the summer piping season. The Oxford shots are not far behind adding to the millions of doses flooding in. However it will take a few months until they reach a level of application that satisfies the politicians that they can give up their grandstanding and release us all from house arrest….

The only show in town this weekend is the Piobaireachd Society’s livestreamed recital from the National Piping Centre. From 7.30pm on Sunday (29th) I’ll be introducing Angus MacColl, Cameron Macdougall, Iain Speirs and Sandy Cameron in a two-hour long concert of ceòl mòr. Tickets are £5 and are available here. Take a look at part of the brochure below. The Society has hired a very professional Edinburgh-based company, Bridge IV…

By Robert Wallace There have been few upsides to the current pandemic but one has been the time it has afforded us to sort through ‘stuff’. Old photographs, cuttings choke the PP library. A solid sift last weekend yielded a note and snaps I received from the late Aladair Gillies in 1997 when he was installed at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. I had done an extensive interview with…