Following the article of a couple of weeks back, we asked Breton piper Patrick Molard how he came to have such excellent recordings of Bob Nicol, Balmoral, playing light music. Patrick responded promptly and, we are delighted to say, also supplied us with several other recordings from his archive. Thank you Patrick! He wrote: It is such a long time ago (51 years!) that it is difficult for me to…
How many of you come close to following the guidance in this practice table? I suspect not many will manage the five hours a day. The maximum I could ever do, in say the run up to to Oban and Inverness, would have been two hours. For my pupils I recommend a minimum of an hour a day. This can be split into three sections: 20 minutes on the practice…
With the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last year, I thought some readers might be interested in the two tunes below. They were composed to commemorate Her Majesty’s historic first-ever visit by a British monarch to Scotland’s Western Isles. The year was 1956, and Barra and North Uist were just part of her itinerary. Accompanying her were Prince Philip and their two children at that time, Prince (now…
Nothing epitomises the romance of the games more than this old photograph from Glenfinnan in the 1970s. It shows the famous bench of Seton Gordon, Angus MacPherson, Invershin, and Col. Jock MacDonald, Viewfield, Skye, in confab. Combined ages not that far off 300. Clearly making notes after discussing the playing, but later just as likely to be talking of some arcane ethological phenomena (Seton was a renowned naturalist), a convoluted…
The successful dinner and piping recital held in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1st Port Glasgow BB pipe band winning the 1972 World Juvenile championship raised a significant amount of money, writes Donald McRae. This has now been distributed. The two remaining Boys’ Brigade companies in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, each received £150 to further their good work, and the remaining sum was used to purchase a trophy…
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