By Robert Wallace The dust may have settled following the shock Grade 2 result at the British Pipe Band Championship but the problem has not gone away. You will remember the summary sheets last month showed wide discrepancies in the opinions of the piping adjudicators. Some were as much as ten placings and more apart. We can dismiss the anonymous verbiage on social media decrying the RSPBA ship and all…

The promoters of the Lochaber Gathering have announced a date change for 2019. The date has been moved to August 24 to better accommodate overseas pipers who will be in Scotland for the contests at Oban and Inverness . The venue will be as before at the Nevis Centre, Fort William, and there will be the usual wide range of events for all grades: P/A Piobaireachd for the Gold Lochaber…

A rare recording of one of the great pipers and composers, GS McLennan, has been published by his family on their website. The recording, though of poor quality, is of historical interest and has the young prodigy, pictured below, playing the reel, De’il Amang the Tailors. Listen to it here. I read on the website that there are other recordings of GS in the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh….

PP Publishing has issued two new piping books by PP Editor Robert Wallace. The first is the ‘The Bagpiper’s Handbook’. The full-colour book is described as ‘a concise yet complete handbook for all pipers. Learn how to tie in a stock, adjust your reeds, test your bag and much, much more. A handy size, the book can be kept in the pipe case for easy reference.’ In the Foreword the…

The Mid Ulster Pipe Band Championships took place at the Coolfranky Grounds of Cookstown High School on Saturday (June 1) when there was an entry of 34 bands and 37 drum majors. This is an excellent venue with an abundance of facilities on site in close proximity to the contest arena. County Tyrone is an area which has probably more pipe bands than any area of Northern Ireland and a…