Apropos the Somme bagpipe and the doubts and comment thereon, consider this possible sequence of events. The pipes are delivered by the War Office to the family in Northumberland some time in 1917. They have been scraped up from the battlefield mud and blood. It would be fair to assume they were in a state of disrepair after what they had been through, mounts shot up, joints cracked. The grieving…

I hope all is well with everyone and their family in these difficult times. Thank goodness for technology and it’s great to be able to communicate over the internet with band members and have a practice. Sure it’s not the same, but it keeps us in touch with one another. Now that I have a little time on my hands, our band (Black Raven) has the above painting in our possession and I…

By Iain Hurst Angus was born at Kilmaha, by Dalavich, Argyll, and raised in Barcaldine, and was taught to play pipes by Donald MacLennan (no relation) and, later by Dochie Ferguson. He joined Oban Pipe Band in 1969/70, and was an active piper and committee member until he passed away unexpectedly on Saturday 2 May 2020 at the age of 66. Angus became pipe major in 1973, when most of…

The Scottish Highland Games Association has estimated that their members generate around £25m each summer for the national economy, cash now lost to the pandemic, the latest cancellation, Skye Gathering, following a sorry pattern we’ve all become immune to. The reckoning from this protracted lockdown is coming our way and will be felt everywhere, not least in the games’ host communitites. Many rely on profit from one year to launch…

By Dr Jack Taylor The following maybe shows piobaireachd is alive and kicking in some way. At what must be the last such gathering for a while, I was at Ballater Games Dinner in late March.  I had been asked to play a piobaireachd, which I did (Duke of Atholl’s Salute). I sat down next to the renowned fiddler Paul Anderson who said he’d just composed a piobaireachd and had played…