John MacFadyen and Fair Hill Games / Archie Kenneth Quaich Entries Open

An Editor’s Notebook item last week featured results from around the Highland games in the US in 1968. One of the prizewinners mentioned was former professional piper and now senior adjudicator Al McMullin. He writes…. There are always interesting ‘stories’ that are not reflected in results. I offer the following about the ’17 and Under Piobaireachd’ noted in the 1968 results at Fair Hill, Maryland. The late, great, John MacFadyen…

Results from The CLASP ‘Live Online’ Competition

This event ran on Saturday 13th November via Zoom. It was a breakaway from the pre-recorded video submission competition format, and instead each competitor video recorded their live performance which was verified by a stewards’ introduction at the beginning of the performance. A big thank you to the stewards who kindly volunteered their time: Gill Cairns, Sally Mason, Anna Binder, Alister Sinclair, Katrina Sinclair and Karen McLean. The judges for…

The Transformative Sound of the Great Highland Bagpipe

This reader contacted us after we published the article from Scotland’s History magazine ‘The Meaning of Bagpipe Music on the Western Front During WW1‘ My name is Robyn M Pio. I am a 70-year-old American woman raised by a German great-grandmother (who was born in Bremen, 1878). I now live in Chicago, Illinois, but my first language was German. I became a Catholic Francophile whilst living in France years ago. I am…

Editor’s Notebook: Duncan Ban Macintyre/ Raasay/ Livi Drumming/ Pipe Music Software/ 1968 US Results

Last weekend was spent near St Conan’s Kirk, on Loch Awe-side in Argyll. That’s the handsome church you see on your left about twenty miles east of Oban as you head for the Argyllshire Gathering.  It was the venue for a concert to celebrate the life and work of the famous Gaelic poet, Duncan Ban Macintyre. There was piping and poetry and stories. One speaker, Professor Alan Riach of Glasgow…

George Sherriff Amateur Invitational Results

The results for the 2021 George Sherriff Memorial Invitational were announced on Saturday, November 20, in a livestream broadcast. The winners’ names were interspersed with video recordings of the first place performances. The contest was organized virtually this year.  It was the 25th anniversary for the competition which saw the top 10 amateur pipers from Canada and the United States perform in three separate events.  By Bob Worrall The overall champion…