Category: Bagpipes

Scotland’s Traveller Pipers and How I Came to Appreciate their Music

Posted on      by      2 Comments

In my youth, I had the great privilege of being accepted by the traveller community, thanks to my ‘adoption’ by the late, great ballad singer Jeannie Robertson. They reckoned I had a good voice and many times I was assured by the likes of Jeannie and Belle Stewart (Blairgowrie) that I had the ‘coinneach’, a quality of voice but also of expression which caused the hairs on the back of…

More Scotland’s Traveller Pipers and How I Came to Appreciate their Music

Piping in WW2: The Army School Expands Its Teaching to All Serving Pipers

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

The Piobaireachd Society had founded and paid for the Army Class in 1910. Its aim was to improve the standard of piping in Scottish regiments. By 1939 it had grown into the Army School of Piping and P/M William Ross was in charge of the school based in Edinburgh Castle. In December that year, three months after the outbreak of war, his services were placed, with his consent, at the…

More Piping in WW2: The Army School Expands Its Teaching to All Serving Pipers

Norman Matheson Funeral Details

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

The details of the funeral for Norman Matheson are: Monday 24th January 2022 at 1 pm. It is  to take place at Baldarroch Crematorium which is near Banchory, Aberdeenshire. The full address is Baldarroch Crematorium, Crathes, Banchory, AB31 5Jl. The location is a little difficult to get to and there are instructions on the web. It suggests for those who have a sat nav to use it with the post code, but there is a…

More Norman Matheson Funeral Details

Editor’s Notebook: Pipe Major in Brazil/ Norman Matheson Tribute/ Dundee Kids Get Pipes

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Reader Cristiano Bicuda has contacted us from Brazil about the above photograph. Chris writes: ‘I wonder if you can help me to identify the Pipe Major in the picture? ‘He seems to have visited Santos, State of São Paulo, in 1971 to play, or perhaps teach, these Brazilian girls from a local school. Maybe you will be able to identify him. ‘He was probably playing at British embassy or consulate…

More Editor’s Notebook: Pipe Major in Brazil/ Norman Matheson Tribute/ Dundee Kids Get Pipes

Pipe Band Workshop Part 1: The Pressure on Judges and What They are Looking For

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

As bands prepare for their first season in three years Piping Press will do everything it can help them refresh their knowledge and re-kindle their enthusiasm. This article, by former senior pipe band adjudicator and educator Alistair Aitken, first appeared in Pipe Band Magazine. it is likely that few people really understand the complexity of pipe band adjudication until they have experienced the demanding training all aspirants need to undertake. …

More Pipe Band Workshop Part 1: The Pressure on Judges and What They are Looking For