I am about to tell you about a book that includes among its photographs and images a picture of me drinking whisky directly from a bottle. And on that point, it can be said there has never been a book that features bagpipes quite like Richard McLauchlan’s ‘Bagpipes: A Cultural History‘. It has a broad reach: from the instrument’s pre-history over two millennia ago and Emperor Nero, to the Chilli Pipers…

I rose this morning to learn of the passing of Cyril Hall, Zimbabwe. His friend Aiton Shepherd wrote from Western Australia: ‘Cyril died last night in Mutare.  ‘His eldest son, Bobby, who lives here in Perth, phoned with the sad news. I admit to a few tears. The attached photo [above] was taken by Craig Sked a few years ago at the 100 Guineas solo piping competition in Johannesburg.  By the…

Avid pipe music collector Marco Borzacca is looking to add the above book, the ‘Dunoon Highland Gathering Collection’, to his growing library. Marco lives in Genoa, Italy. He writes: ‘I’m looking for a vintage bagpipe music book but, despite all my adverts on various facebook’s pages, I have not found it yet, since I realise it is extremely rare and hard to find. ‘So, I was wondering if your magazine can…