Category: Comment

Braemar Gathering Results – Updated with Comment and Pictures

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

One of the last Highland games of the summer was held in cool, dry conditions at Braemar today (September 5). HM King Charles and HM Queen Camilla were in attendance, continuing a royal tradition dating back to the time of Queen Victoria. The king of the piping boards was overall champion Zephan Knichel, Canada – with the coveted piobaireachd Gold Medal going Ben McClamrock, USA. By the Editor First on…

More Braemar Gathering Results – Updated with Comment and Pictures

Northern Meeting Day 2 Complete Results

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Highlight of the second day at Inverness is the Gold Clasp competition, which, with the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering, is the most prestigious ceòl mòr prize in world piping. Gold Clasp1 Callum Beaumont, Nameless Cherede Darievea, £1,000 2 Alan Bevan, Fingerlock, £5003 Ian K MacDonald, £300, My Dearest on Earth4 Connor Sinclair, MacLeod of Colbeck, £2505 Iain Speirs, Port Urlar, £100Judges: I MacFadyen, J Taylor, J Wilson ‘A’…

More Northern Meeting Day 2 Complete Results

Editor’s Notebook: Northern Meeting/ Bronze Medal/ Band News/ Horst Kraus

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

To Inverness today for the 2026 Northern Meeting, the second of the two major solo piping gatherings to be held within the past week. This year is unique in that the Clasp competition has been split into two Thursday heats, six from each going forward to a final on Friday. Most of the top players would be in Inverness on the Thursday anyway for the Former Winners’ MSR but the…

More Editor’s Notebook: Northern Meeting/ Bronze Medal/ Band News/ Horst Kraus

Canada’s Sean McKeown on Winning the Gold Medal

Posted on      by      3 Comments

Winning the Gold Medal is something that I’ve been striving for for some time. It’s every piper’s dream to win ‘the Medal’. To have the opportunity to play for it, first of all, has been a great honour. My first year in the Medal, placing behind my good friend Ian K MacDonald twice on his double win in 2016, was a really special moment for me and now, all these…

More Canada’s Sean McKeown on Winning the Gold Medal

P/M William Lyons BEM, 1940 – 2026

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

William Lyons was taught to play the pipes, as a boy, at the Corbet Pipe Band, just outside Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland. He joined the Irish Guards, in 1957.  During his service, he guest-played with one of Ireland’s top bands of the time, Dromara, under Pipe Major Harold Hook. His first piping instructor in the army was P/M KG Roe of the Scots Guards, and he always described…

More P/M William Lyons BEM, 1940 – 2026