Category: Blog

Wheel of Fortune: Unique Allan MacDonald Tune Offer for Auction

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Organisers of the prestigious ‘Pipe Major’s Wheel of Fortune’ competition have sent the latest on the competition auction which includes a very generous offer from supremely talented piper, composer and singer, Allan MacDonald….. ALLAN MACDONALD PUTS HIS SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL FOR CAPITAL BAND By Paul White Piper and multi-instrumentalist Allan MacDonald is set to boost the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band’s fundraising efforts by donating a tune for auction…

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PP Editor’s Blog: Sandy Hain/ Donella Beaton/ SPA/ South Florida etc.

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It was a pleasure to talk to Sandy Hain the other day. Sandy is the composer of the popular jig Donald MacKillop, now better known, erroneously, as Duncan MacKillop. The eponymous Donald was from Wick and a piper in the Black Watch through WW2. Sandy was  Pipe Major at the regimental depot in Perth. Sandy ‘did the course’ with Willie Ross 1950 -51 along with Bob Crabb (Scots Guards), Peter…

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Can You Take Highland Games Out of the Highlands?

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Longing for summer? Missing those glorious days at the Games, piping midst all the fun of the fair? Here US piper and enthusiast Peter Beckford looks back on his trip during the Summer of ’15 and compares games on both sides of the Atlantic….. I’ve never been to a Highland games as an impartial spectator. I go for the piping, as a competitor in the US, or parent and fan….

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PP Editor’s Blog: Setting Modern Tunes for Ceol Mor Competition

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I agree with Dr Hester on the need to encourage and promote modern piobaireachd. It is something I have done all my piping life through Duncan Johnstone’s ‘Lament for Alan’, John MacKenzie’s ‘Salute to the Soldier’, playing the tunes of John MacLellan, and in many other ways. Without new works the art stagnates. Two comparatively modern tunes ‘The Phantom Piper of the Corrieyairick’ and a ‘A Son’s Salute to His Parents’ have…

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A Look Back at 2015 with Editor Robert Wallace

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Yesterday we received the annual facts and figures from our web host and they made pleasant and satisfying reading. 400,000 visits from 156 countries in 12 months cannot be bad, and I would like to thank all of our readers and advertisers for their support. It is clear that you approve of a web magazine that educates, informs, criticises and entertains – and always with the highest journalistic standards. I know…

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