Category: Piobaireachd

Donald Morrison Archive: A Fateful Letter from Bob Brown, A Rebuke for the Oban Times, and a Report from the Bratach

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In early 1972 Donald received the following letter from Bob Brown resident at Balmoral. It was prior to Bob’s trip that year to Australia to ‘check on what I taught them last year’ [1971]. During the tour he took ill and had to be flown home. Bob, pictured above left with Donald, died a few days after arriving back on Deeside. As the letter explains, Bob had been booked to…

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A Letter from Australia from a Man Dedicated to Preserving Piping History

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Last week we told of the generosity of Robert Bruce McKenzie Baker from Maclean, New South Wales. Robert had donated two handsome snuff mulls to the Northern Meeting, one of which will be used for a prize in their junior competitions. The other has been given on loan to the Piping Centre Museum. Read about the snuff mulls here. Robert, pictured above at a games in 1997, has written an…

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Editor’s Notebook: Harry McAleer/ Piobaireachd Society News/ the CoP, Donald and Seumas

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Wasn’t that a good memeory of the late Harry McAleer to share yesterday? I know from your response that it was much appreciated. One photograph we forgot to include is the one above. It shows Harry (r) with his friend Fred Russell piping at Harry Stevenson’s wedding in 1971. (Harry is the respected RSPBA adjudicator and PP contributor.) In yesterday’s article Fred talked of growing up with Harry in their…

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In Search of Piping on the Beautiful Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides

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This past week saw me take a visit to the Inner Hebridean islands of Eigg and Muck with my bagpipe for company. Eigg is small but there is plenty of walking and quite a few historical places of interest to visit. It’s mainly a farming community with a few other enterprises which keep everyone employed. Once part of Clan Ranald lands, the island was the subject of a community buyout…

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Nashville Rocks Stone Mountain/ World Online Piping and Drumming Championship Entries Open

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A bright sunny day greeted crowds who turned out for the 49th Annual Stone Mountain Highland Games, in Stone Mountain, Georgia last Saturday, October 16.  This second major competition of the Southern USA fall season saw 16 bands in competition and a slightly reduced, yet still healthy, turnout of soloists.  A new layout of the Games site to reduce crowding due to COVID concerns was well received. By Bill Caudill…

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