The official handover of the Directorship of the Army School of Piping and Highland Drumming has taken place. Major Steven Small, who has served the post with such distinction, has retired after 35 years in the Army and will take up a new job with the Edinburgh Tattoo. His successor is Captain Gordon Rowan who was Major Small’s second in command at Inchdrewer House in Edinburgh, the School’s HQ. Since its…
The newspapers here are reporting: ‘The Outer Hebrides is the happiest part of the UK, according to the latest wellbeing analysis released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ‘The data reveals people living on the islands off the west coast of Scotland and in certain districts of Northern Ireland ranked their happiness higher than any other part of the country, while people in London reported having the most anxiety. The findings – taken from…
The Captain John MacLellan Memorial Competition is being held at the Army School, Inchdrewer House, Edinburgh, tomorrow. All grades are covered and I hope the Edinburgh piping fraternity turn out to support this worthwhile contest in the Captain’s good name. Here are the draws: I hope my friends and students in South Florida have battened down the hatches in preparation…
The third part of Duncan Watson’s article on the value of James Campbell’s Masters of Piobaireachd letters is published today. Of consideration are the playing of crunluath breabach, the ‘strange’ crunluath found in Battle of the Pass of Crieff and MacKays’ Banner, Variation 1 of the Prince’s Salute and the ‘chelalho’ movement found in the Lament for the Viscount of Dundee. Read Duncan’s piece here. Slight tweaks to the rules of…
Listening to part of the Former Winners’ MSR at the Northern Meeting this year I was struck by the number of comparatively easy tunes some pipers are submitting. All great tunes of course, but is Mrs MacDonald of Dunacht suitable for this level? And whilst I love Donald MacLeod’s music I’m not sure that some of the reels such as Drumlithie are as much of a test as, say, eight parts…
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