The William Grant Foundation and the Sponsorship of Piping

It was reassuring to see Mr Nick Addington, Chief Executive of the William Grant Foundation, the sponsor,  present the prizes at the weekend’s Glenfiddich Championship at Blair Castle. I am sure he would have been impressed by the organisation and the general enthusiasm for the old competition now in its 42nd year, and he will have seen at first hand where the money he disburses on behalf of the Foundation goes…

Glenfiddich Championship Results

The Glenfiddich Champion for 2016 is Roderick MacLeod. He was placed first in Ceol Mor to take the overall title. Runner-up overall was William McCallum with Bruce Gandy in third. The annual competition was held as usual in the Great Hall at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Perthshire. Those unable to travel to the event were able to watch it on Livestream which at one point peaked at 7,000+ viewers. The main picture shows the 2016 winner…

History of the Scottish Piping Society of London/ Letters: City of Whitehorse/ Ceol Beag Tunes

The annual competition run by the Scottish Piping Society of London takes place a week on Saturday in the Kensington Conference Centre. Since the early 1930s it has been one of the highlights of the solo calendar. Today we begin a look back at the history of this illustrious Society and its early beginnings tracing the origins of its famous competitions for the Bratach Gorm and the Gillies Cup. The…

Tommy Millar MBE

It is with sadness that we report on the passing of Tommy Millar a true stalwart of the pipe band movement in Northern Ireland throughout his life. Tommy (84) had not been in the best of health for a number of years. His funeral service was held today in his home town of Ballymena. He was known throughout the Province and was often quoted as saying that the pipe band…

Senior Adjudicator Adds Comments to MSR Tune Selection Discussion

  By  Barry Donaldson Following last week’s letter from Alex Gandy from Halifax, Nova Scotia, regarding comments on his tune selection for the Former Winner MSR event at this year’s Northern Meeting, I thought, as was one of the judges involved in the selection of the competitors’ tunes, I might be able to add something to the debate. The following are my considerations on this matter, however they are mine alone…