Category: Letters

Grade 1 Numbers: Readers Have Their Say

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Last week in his Notebook, the Editor bemoaned the dearth of pipe bands entered for the Grade 1 British Championship (Ingliston, May 30). There are only nine, playing in this order: 1 SLOT 2 Police Federation 3 FMM 4 Shotts 5 Boghall 6 Fife Police 7 Inveraray 8 Scottish Power 9 Ravara. Given this low number in the grade, he once more urged a cap on numbers and also voiced…

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Victorian Pipers’ Results/ Virginia Championship Results

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On Saturday April 18th the Victorian Pipers’ Association held its first in-person contest of the 2026 season at Rupertswood Mansion in the grounds of Salesian College, Sunbury (Melbourne, Australia). Forty-one competitors registered for the competition. This was the first time a contest was held at this venue and it holds some historical significance. By Jonathon Quay, President, Victorian Pipers Association The contest was sponsored by the Sunshine Foundation, a charity created…

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Readers Letters: P/M Hamilton Workman and the RSPBA Pipe Band College

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We have received the following comments regarding articles in this week’s Piping Press. Firstly this from reader Joe Hardy on ‘Remembering P/M Hamilton Workman, HLI’: ‘This is a truly wonderful memory of Hammie. So many pipers today don’t really know about him and don’t understand how important he was to piping in the U.S. I attended the North American Academy of Piping [NAAPD] every summer between 1985 and 2007.  ‘Hammie…

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What is Wrong with the RSPBA Pipe Band College?

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The RSPBA Pipe Band College must be the only one in the world which does not have standard teaching terms, and a recognised curriculum. It does run a successful summer school and conduct exams at various branches round the country, hardly sufficient for any ‘college’ worthy of the name. There are three Principals (excluding the Summer School Principal) instead of one – another first in world education. Yet still we have…

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History: The Redundant A Debate, Conclusion

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The final letter in the Oban Times correspondence of 1926 on the ‘redundant A’ controversy. It comes from a reader, Allan Thomson, from Govan, Glasgow. ‘I have been closely following the discussion in your valuable paper about taorluath and crunluath in pibroch [sic], and also crunluath a mach movements. By The Editor ‘I admire the spirit and courage of Mr Grant in backing up the piobaireachd book of Angus MAcKay….

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