Category: Piobaireachd

Editor’s Notebook: Worlds and Nat/ Old Boggies Celebrate/ Bill’s New Job/ MacKay Cairn/ Angus’s Winning Jig

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There has been quite a lot of overheated speculation about the Worlds and Nat Russell, most of it rather wide of the mark. I have gathered considerable information on what actually happened and what Mr Russell’s placings were but cannot in all honesty share it with you. Nothing would be gained by such exposure. Nat Russell is a Worlds-winning Pipe Major. He is a senior adjudicator with 60 years dedication…

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My Father, Double Gold Medallist William M. MacDonald

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A new book has been published featuring the compositions of the late William M. MacDonald, Inverness, and his son Brian. In his Foreword, Brian gives illuminating insight into his father’s life and career…. My father was born in Kingussie on 6th August 1918 and inherited his musical talent from his mother who was a Munro from Sutherland. As a boy he was first taught piping in Kingussie by Captain Norman…

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All Ireland Solo Piping & Drumming: News, Results and Comment

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This competition was held last Saturday (Sept.16) in a school in Lusk, north of Dublin. It was very well attended by pipers and drummers from both the north and south of Ireland, writes the Editor. Hosts were the Irish Pipe Band Association. They share responsibility for the contest with the RSPBA Northern Ireland. IPBA President Con O’Conaill announced at the prize-giving that he was standing down after 47 years service….

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Piping Photos Query/ World Solo Drumming Deadline/ Balmoral Classic Entry

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Ken Cameron, Chairman of the Lochaber Piping Society has sent the following: ‘Attached are the scans of photos I would like identified. ‘The consensus is that the first two (above and below) are definitely of John Angus Smith and the location is marked on one photo as Glenfinnan – clearly it was just as wet then as it was this year. ‘Opinions vary on the third photo (below) but the…

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‘Pibroch by the Sea’ – A Unique Piping Experience on the Breton Coast of France

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Well I’m pretty sure the weekend we’ve just experienced is unique in the piping world. It begins when you are welcomed off the ferry at St Malo by a piper. The place is Brittany in west France. We are here for the annual ‘Pibroch au Bord de la Mer’, piobaireachd by the sea, event. The setting is Cancale, the village from where Louis XIV sourced his oysters, but which is…

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