New Letters/ Award for Gordon/ Calum Johnston/Gairloch Juniors

New letters added today headed Competition Notes, Monktonhall Pipe Band and the SPA WW1 concert. Congratulations to RSPBA adjudicator and dedicated teacher of piping, Gordon Lawrie, on his BEM from HM The Queen. Here’s how the local paper reported his receiving the award from  her representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire. Gordon is pictured bottom right: Congratulations too to Bleary & District Pipe Band (pictured top) on their elevation to the…

PP Editor’s Blog: Northern Meeting/BBC/ Letters etc

The Northern Meeting Clasp competition is a main feature today with a review of that event and of the successful two-day festival of piping held at Inverness.  There was a lot of traffic last week about US piper Dan Lyden playing in torrential rain at Cowal, stoic to the last. But we over here have our own weather warrior too, in the shape of Gold Medallist Faye Henderson. Alister Sinclair,…

Hallkirk Games, Pacific North West Results, AP Campbell on the Games, WW1 Tunes, Tom Peterkin

Results for Hallkirk Games and in the US the Pacific Northwest band and solo competitions, have been posted on the Results pages. The picture above shows Colin Campbell, Aberlour, the Champion Piper at Hallkirk. Colin is playing at Tobermory Games in beautiful conditions under the famous piobaireachd tree. Writer, poet, broadcaster and actor Angus Peter Campbell, father of noted young player Brighde Chaimbeul, had an interesting article on the games…

Rutherglen PB/ Edinburgh Police/Govan Cash/Winnipeg Cash

Our pipe bands of yesteryear department has uncovered this 1948 shot of Rutherglen Pipe Band, the year they were winners of the Worlds Grade 2 title at Scotstoun. In those days bands could play ‘up’ at championships and Rutherglen achieved a notable 5th prize in the contest against the G1 big guns of Glasgow Police, Shotts etc. The Rutherglen band was founded in 1923 by a few local enthusiasts. (Rutherglen…

PP Editor’s Blog: Muirheads Recordings/Roderick Cannon/UK Champs/ FMM Deal

Three new tracks have been added to our pipe band audio archive today. They are of the famous Muirhead & Sons Pipe Band and were all recorded in Toronto, Canada, in the 1970s. The quality is not the best, but listeners will get a good sense of the expert leadership and teaching of P/M RG Hardie and L/D Robert Turner. If any reader has a recording they would like to…