Category: Bagpipes

Review: Piobaireachd Society Annual Recital 2021

Posted on      by      1 Comment

What a busy month August was. From the Silver Chanter through to the annual Piobaireachd Society recital, August has delivered a bumper crop of piping in every format one could ask for after such a drought. It is only fitting that this big month has been bookended by the big music.  The Piobaireachd Society recital has been held in St. Cecilia’s Hall at the University of Edinburgh in previous years…

More Review: Piobaireachd Society Annual Recital 2021

Significant Correspondence and Response to Focal Dystonia Request/ New Drum Instructor for CMU

Posted on      by      7 Comments

A request for information on focal dystonia from one of our Australian readers, Ken MacDonald, has prompted a good deal of interest and response, some already carried in our comments section but repeated here. Clive Douglas: ‘Good to hear some positive comments regarding focal dystonia. I’ve suffered for over 30 years and I’ve never managed to overcome the condition. I noticed a woman called Ruth Chiles claims to be able…

More Significant Correspondence and Response to Focal Dystonia Request/ New Drum Instructor for CMU

Donald Morrison Archive: The Frost of Suspicion Before John MacDonald Arrives on South Uist

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

We conclude this story on the revival of the piping tradtion on South Uist. This is from the archive of the late Donald Morrison. Readers might like to refresh the memory by reading the first part of this anonymous article here. Given that this excerpt mentions the ‘late’ John MacDonald, Inverness, it must date from the late 1950s or 60s. P/M MacDonald is pictured above in a rare photograph taken…

More Donald Morrison Archive: The Frost of Suspicion Before John MacDonald Arrives on South Uist

Editor’s Notebook: John Weatherston/ Band Inactivity in Scotland/ Piob Soc Recital/ Dystonia Plea/ Duncan and the Prince

Posted on      by      6 Comments

Thanks to Yves Tison for this picture of P/M John Weatherston. Yves writes: ‘Further to your excellent Piping Press article on Red Hackle pipe band, I have found in my photos an old pic of Pipe Major John Weatherston at the Festival de Cornemuse in Brest, Brittany, in August 1969.’ Good picture Yves. Jock was in the habit of wrapping a sweat-catching handkerchief round his neck. The joys of piping…

More Editor’s Notebook: John Weatherston/ Band Inactivity in Scotland/ Piob Soc Recital/ Dystonia Plea/ Duncan and the Prince

Northern Ireland Pipe Band Round-Up: Parades, Contests and Exhibitions Keep Tradition Alive

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Over here in Northern Ireland the traditional parading season will wind down over the next month. On Saturday the 28th August the parades of the Royal Black Institution took place on a local basis. These parades have traditionally featured a significant proportion of our pipe bands, many of which will take their autumn break before resuming winter practices, and in most cases the tuition of learner classes supported by grants…

More Northern Ireland Pipe Band Round-Up: Parades, Contests and Exhibitions Keep Tradition Alive