Category: History

PP Ed’s Blog: Article on Pipers in Action in WW1/ Ban on Post 1947 Ivory Pipes Being Sold

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A WW1 article in the Scotsman at the weekend made poignant reading – five hundred pipers killed and six hundred wounded. It read: ‘London-born Sir Philip Gibbs (1877-1962), one of five official reporters during the First World War, wrote about the effects of the pipes and the extraordinary bravery of pipers and Highlanders among the British forces at the Battle of Delville Wood near the village of Longueval which raged…

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History: How MacAdam’s Roads Spawned the Modern Day Pipe Band

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The late piping scholar, historian and military music expert David Murray wrote this article for Pipe Band Magazine in 2002. It traces the earliest origins of the pipe band. Of the picture above David wrote: It shows drummers of the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders in 1883. Note the size of the bass drum and that seven of the drummers carry flutes. Seven wear the medals for the 2nd Afghan War of…

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It is Time to Follow the Example of Pipe Bands in Encouraging Our Judges to Teach

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Twelve years ago Pipe Band Magazine reported on an important ruling adopted by the then RSPBA Adjudicators Panel. Headlined ‘Rule Change at AGM Means Judges are Free to Pass on Their Knowledge’ it basically cleared the way for judges judging bands they taught or assisted with. Lordy, lordy pipe bands showing the way for our solo administrators! Compare that with the retrograde rulings from the Solo Piping Judges Association of recent…

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PP Ed’s Blog: CITES, Boghall, David Murray, Jimmy Anderson

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Bagpipe manufacturers looking to explore the CITES regulations and how they affect blackwood trade with Australia should click here. Be prepared for a difficult trawl through. A meeting was held in Bristol last week between the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA), the body that polices CITES in the UK, and the Society of Instrument Manufacturers. I am awaiting info from the meeting, but the latest I have heard is…

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PP Ed’s Blog: Celtic Conns/Red Hackle/ Virginia

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The Celtic Connections festival kicks off next weekend in Glasgow and looking through the programme I could find dashed little of piping interest. The highlight will be the concert by Inveraray & District and Breton band Bagad Kemper at 12.30pm on Jan 28 (tickets  £15). There is also a concert on Feb 3 featuring ‘Breabach’ a folk group that uses pipes but outside of that very little of the piob mhor…

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