Thousands of pipers around the world marked Remembrance Day with a tune in town squares, cemeteries, and churches. The day was one of special significance given that it marked 100 years since the end of the Great War. It is estimated that up to 1,900 pipers were either killed or wounded in the conflict. These pipers were up pre-dawn in Northern Ireland: And in Muthill, Perthshire, Piper Andy Renwick did…

The RSPBA have launched the next stage in their Pipe Band College programme by advertising for a Principal of Piping and a Principal of Drumming. This major development by the Association was approved at the 2018 Annual General Meeting which endorsed the formation of the RSPBA Pipe Band College. The main purpose of the College will be to improve standards in education and training for pipers and drummers leading to…

I hear the RSPBA’s Board of Directors are looking at ways of better using the Friday of the World Pipe Band Championships. One suggestion is that the Friday becomes the Juvenile World Pipe Band Championship day with all Novice and Juvenile bands and Junior Drum Majors completing their contests that day with a separate prizegiving on conclusion. Prizewinners from the Friday might be invited to take part in the finale…

Pipe Major Finlay McGhee of RAF Waddington Pipes and Drums, will be thinking of his grandfather on Remembrance Day and carrying his medals in his tunic pocket.  Willie McGhee DCM enlisted in the 1/5 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1914 aged 17. He served in Gallipoli from June 1915 to December 1916. During the Dardanelles Campaign he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry. [wds id=”2″] His citation in…

The South West Scotland Collection compiled by Karen McCrindle Warren When asked by Piping Press to review this new publication of pipe music, I was a little apprehensive when told there were five books making up the complete collection. I wondered why Karen had undertaken such a demanding task of producing five at once instead of one at a time over a longer period. However, now having played and read…