The Editor: We continue with the second excerpt of the Oban Times report from Inverness of almost 50 years ago. Thanks to those who have been in touch regrading our quest for the writer’s identity. One described him as a ‘big tall guy who as far as I recall walked with a bit of a limp. He often wore the kilt and seemed to turn up regularly. I can picture him fine, but…

The following series is from an issue of the Oban Times from September of that year. The article is unattributed. We would be interested to know who the writer was if anyone has any information. The article is of considerable length taking two full broadsheet columns – a credit to the newspaper. The writer is clearly someone with a knowledge of the art of piping….. Following upon his success at…

A good entry and a very high standard of play for this competition held today in Lockerbie Academy. P/M Ian McLellan judged all light music and Andrew Frater the piobaireachd. The picture above is of Champion Piper Hazel Whyte, Larkhall. Class 1 – Under 12 Chanter1st Place – Lila St John Claire Class 3 – Under 15 yrs Piping1st Gregor Grierson2nd Curran Stainthorpe3rd Fraser Cruikshank Class 4 – Under 18…

One of the great advantages of the piping ‘off season’, if there is such a thing these days, is that it gives us the chance to look back through old competition and recital programmes and newspaper clippings, and publish interesting articles which would otherwise be lost to posterity. This is from a recital promoted by the Eagle Pipers’ Society in 1966: There must have been quite a turnout for P/M…

By Robert Wallace A reader in the US has written: ‘I’ve joined a new competition band with another bandmate; we’re competing in about two weeks. Yesterday, there was some contention concerning the correct beating for a taorluath. My friend and I have always played the embellishment with the beat on the E grace note; that’s how we learned it from a book. ‘Several of the other band members, including the…