Category: Features

Review of Bill Livingstone’s Book ‘Preposterous: Tales to Follow’

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This book shows glimpses of delicious interactions, thought processes and history, writes our special correspondent MacStig. It should become a standard read for anyone interested in the piping art, pipe bands and humanity. It is all there, fame, failure, family, humour, heartache, and hard work. The long anticipated reminiscences of renowned piper, lawyer, husband and now author, Bill Livingstone soar immediately from the opening paragraphs of his book ‘Preposterous: Tales…

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Review – ‘Jock’s Jocks’, A One Act Play by Gary West

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National Piping Centre, 8th August………….. Those who survive war often say nothing of their experience, writes Dr Jack Taylor.  So Gary West’s discovery that Jock Duncan, father of P/M Ian and the late Gordon, had taped, then typed out, reminiscences of some 60 World War 1 survivors over 50 years is a precious one, especially as it was done in dialect, mostly the Doric of Jock’s Aberdeenshire.  They could speak…

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Changes at the College and the Funding of Piping

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Just when things seemed to be settling down at the College of Piping we hear of another departure, that of General Manager Fraser MacInnes, writes the Editor. My information is that the parting was not as harmonious as it might have been. There must have been personality issues here for, according to the Office of Scottish Charities Register (OSCR), the College’s profit last year was £21,000. The old place seemed…

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Good Advice from MacStig on Playing in Arena 1

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‘They seek him here, they seek him there, those pipers seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell, the elusive pipe band pimpernel?’  The MacStig algorithm and spreadsheet stack is more complex than the Cameronian Rant. I’m trying to keep tabs on who is where and when this hectic week. I have been a moving target all week, dipping in and out of practices around Glasgow…

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Weekend Grade 2 Round-Up and Look Ahead to the World Championships

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Some say the only tunes he knows are the ones he takes when he has a cold….others suspect he is a band bus driver on the make, even more that he’s the pay of the RSPBA. All we know is he’s called MacStig…… Phew! That was the weekend that was. To be dubbed the ‘wet and wetter weekend’, as band enthusiasts and bands tried to cram in both main Scottish…

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