Review: Lochnell Intermediate Piping Championship

A good day in a splendid place…..eight of Scotland’s best pipers under the age of 22 competed at Lochnell Castle near Oban for this prestigious championship. Three pipers from ‘abroad’ – Ontario, Vancouver, and Australia, were eligible but were unable to make the journey. Eligibility was dependent on this season’s results. Two trophies were on offer – in memory of Jimmy McIntosh for Piobaireachd, and William McCallum Senior for MSR….

Lochnell Intermediate Piping Championship Results

This prestigious contest for professional solo pipers aged under 22 was held yesterday, October 19th, at Lochnell Castle, Benderloch, Argyll, courtesy the Earl of Dundonald. The overall champion, by piobaireachd preference, was Cameron May, from Dillarburn, Lanarkshire. He is pictured above with (l) Ross Conner, Campbeltown, winner of the MSR, and (r) Ruiraidh Brown, Dunblane, winner of the Ceòl Mòr. Cameron received the overall trophy and the Royal Scottish Pipers’…

Editor’s Notebook: Ten Years After – A Decade of Piping Journalism

Just over ten years ago saw the start of Piping Press, the online continuation of our Piper Press magazine. The latter was taken over by the Piping Times in 1999. I then edited the PT for 15 years before departing Otago Street in 2014. Much has happened during the decade including the regrettable, though predictable, demise of the PT and the College of Piping. Four years ago we had the…

Disturbing Legal Action in Canada/ Ken Eller Memorial Gathering

Some of you will be aware that our Canadian piping and drumming cousins are currently involved in a bit of a brouhaha. On the one side we have a disgruntled judge who believes he has been unfairly treated after alleged transgressions. On the other we have the governing body, Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario, which believes that, in taking what it saw as the required disciplinary action, it…

Nicol-Brown Amateur Results/ Lewis & Harris Juniors Results

The 41st Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Contest was held on October 12, 2024, in Rockville, Maryland, USA. Gillian Blaney, from Lower Sackville (pictured above), Nova Scotia, was the overall champion. Gillian receives a $1,000 travel bursary donated by NHSCOT Fund, a special Nicol-Brown McCallum blackwood pipe chanter, and a new Lee & Sons pipe bag. Runner-up overall Malachi Johannsen – $500 scholarship donated by Cathi Nixon (Tennessee) in memory of her father,…