Glorious sunshine and a very busy Highland Games with lots of different activities and events. Pipe Bands, vintage cars, dancers, birds of prey, rock bands and sprinting races amongst others! Possibly the most varied and entertaining Games on the circuit. Piping was at the top of the hill away from any distracting noise and with a great view of the whole Gathering. All six competing pipers were amateur status. It…
I think I agree with correspondent Ian Forbes about the order of play affecting pipe band results. Does a stick out performance at the start of the Worlds final leave a better impression than one at the end? I think he has a point and there could be an argument for bands that are on early in the MSR being seeded to the end of the Medley. However what about…
Without question the most important event in the week leading up to the World Pipe Band Championships is the major pipe band contest staged each year on the Wednesday by Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band. The concert, now held in Glasgow’s prestigious Royal Concert Hall, has showcased the biggest names in bands and invariably attracts a sell out crowd of 2,000+. The hall provides a spectacular backdrop for the bands…
Grateful to piping historian Keith Sanger for forwarding this letter from the Blair Castle archives. It is dated 1830 and is by Perthshire piper John McGregor. It mentions his (McGregor’s) winning the prize pipe and Angus MacKay (pictured above) coming second. MacKay is intimated as piper to the Duke of Gordon which is news to me. I understood that before royal service with Queen Victoria he was with the Laird…
Lurgan Park, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, once again came alive with the music of pipe bands when the prestigious All-Ireland Pipe Band Championships were held in the picturesque park for the first time on Saturday 1st July, write John Kelly and Andrew Cromie. The championships rotate each year between a venue in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It isnow in its 72nd year. It is one of the…
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