A good crowd of 60 or so gathered at St Mary’s Church in Haddington last Sunday to hear 17-year-old Brìghde Chaimbeul from Skye give a very well-received piping recital. Brìghde played a wide-ranging set of tunes on both the Highland pipes and smallpipes. She began with a selection of 6/8 marches, including MacLeod of Mull and MacNeill of Ugadale. She then played some hornpipes and jigs and continued with the MSR, Braes of…
Today’s Luss Highland Games went ahead despite heavy rain showers and gusty winds. The entries were what one might expect in such circumstances: six in the ceol mor and seven in the ceol beag. The above picture shows Donald MacPhee on the piobaireachd board on his way to first prize. Piob: 1 Donald MacPhee, Battle of Auldearn No 1 2 Ben Duncan, MacDougall’s Gathering 3 Rebecca Tierney, Corrienessan’s Salute 4 Ben…
New England Piping Academy Principal Robert Wallace writes: ‘Well here we are in the deep woods of Massachusetts and the birds are singing and the pipes playing. It is quite an idyllic surrounding in which to study the great highland bagpipe. ‘The students are all responding well to treatment, crossing noises diminishing and breathing improving every day. There is the occasional increase in blood pressure when playing in public but most…
Piping trips to the US are invariably characterised by superb hospitality, friendship and good music. Last weekend, at the United States Piping Foundation Maclean Macleod Memorial, was no exception. The contest was held at the University of Delaware. The organising committee led by Arthur McAra, Mike Rogers and Peter Kent, could not have been more accommodating. Visiting adjudicators, as I was, are given the kind of warm welcome that quickly banishes the…
Readers could be forgiven for thinking I had a downer on Roderick Campbell’s fine tune ‘The Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society’. I don’t. I think it a wonderful composition and I am sure the eponymous Society is delighted with a tune that has guaranteed their immortality. However, as I said in my crit on the British Pipe Band Championships, I do not think it is of sufficient difficulty for Grade 1…
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