Keep PP subscription free by supporting the Piping Press Shop. On special offer today are three lots of second-hand books either donated to us or superfluous to the PP archive. SOLD Lot 1 comprises an old size copy of the Kilberry Book of Ceol Mor by Archibald Campbell. This historic book is offered in its 1973 edition and is in very good condition. It comes complete with a reduce-sized photocopy…

Apropos the Somme bagpipe and the doubts and comment thereon, consider this possible sequence of events. The pipes are delivered by the War Office to the family in Northumberland some time in 1917. They have been scraped up from the battlefield mud and blood. It would be fair to assume they were in a state of disrepair after what they had been through, mounts shot up, joints cracked. The grieving…

The Scottish Highland Games Association has estimated that their members generate around £25m each summer for the national economy, cash now lost to the pandemic, the latest cancellation, Skye Gathering, following a sorry pattern we’ve all become immune to. The reckoning from this protracted lockdown is coming our way and will be felt everywhere, not least in the games’ host communitites. Many rely on profit from one year to launch…

It was with considerable sadness that I learned of the passing of Iain MacDonald, Pipe Major of the Neilston Pipe Band, and a man who did so much to build bridges between the piping world and the folk. Iain, who was 70, was a great enthusiast and collector of bagpipes of other countries and amassed an estimable personal collection. He had a great life travelling to folk festivals the world…