The Scottish Pipers’ Association Annual Juvenile competition was held today, 7th September, in the National Piping Centre (Otago Street). There was a high standard of playing in all events. Prizes were presented by Anne Lore, France, a long time supporter of the SPA. 18 and under Piob:1st Hazel Whyte 2nd Cameron May3rd Thomas Young 18 and under March: 1st Hazel Whyte2nd Thomas Young3rd Cameron May 4th Kyle Gordon  18 and under S&R:1st Cameron…

It was never warm, but when the sun broke through Braemar blossomed into a right royal gathering with thousands flocking to the Duke of Fife Memorial Park, writes the Editor. This small granite village in the Cairngorm National Park is always worth a visit even without the piping . At 10am my fellow judges and I settled down to a fairly good ceol mor competition. Inveraray Pipe Band had some…

The adjudicator placings across the four Grade 1 competitions were in the main consistent, apart from some wide differences between drumming and ensemble in the Saturday MSR competition.  I would have expected these placings to have been closer as both adjudicator disciplines should be considering, among other aspects, the influence of the drumming on the piping.  The consistency of piping results has improved markedly since the start of the 2019…

SPA President Tom Johnstone (above) has sent this: Firstly, to remind you that the SPA , founded in 1920, is now in it’s 100th year!Knockout Contest – 3rd Heat   The third heat of the Knockout featuring Steven Leask and Sarah Muir is this Saturday, 7th September, at NPC Otago St starting at 7.00pm for 7.30pm. This promises to be a great evening of piping as these two fine young players battle…

It was a pity Cowal Senior Solo piping was cancelled this year due to the clash of dates with the Northern Meeting competitions – but it couldn’t be helped. Just to rekindle some memories I have attached a photo [above] which might interest piping historians. It shows four Pipe-Majors taking a break from judging duties at Cowal. They are (l – r) Ronnie MacCallum (Inveraray), my father John Maclean (North…