Category: Pipe Bands

History: Pioneers of the RSPBA

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Donald McIntosh was Honorary Secretary of the SPBA from its inception in 1930 until 1938 and served a second term in the same role between 1950 and 1960.  He was also President of the Association in 1946.  Donald was a piper in Willie Sloan’s Maclean band and later in the Clan McRae band.  He was one of the SPBA officials who was deeply and centrally involved in the initial formation…

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Editor’s Notebook: Lessons from the Captain/ Iain Dall MacKay/ NZ Bands/ Glass Chanter

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One of the pleasant things about doing overseas piping trips is getting to to know your teaching colleagues better. Brian Lamond has been with us this week at the Northern Winter School in Germany. On a quiet evening I was able to ask him about his early career and how he ended up with lessons from Captain John MacLellan. Brian had been started on the chanter by a local man,…

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P/M Jack Geddis, Northern Ireland and British Columbia

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Commenting on our history of Northern Ireland’s Robert Armstrong Memorial band, reader and retired P/M Allan Tutt writes: I have read that John (aka Jack) Geddis (1905-1976) was an honorary member of the Robert Armstrong for many years. I have a watermarked photograph of Jack (courtesy of Kitimat Museum) standing in full uniform playing his beloved pipes upon a seaside pier in front of a passenger ship in Kitimat, British…

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Editor’s Notebook: Fifth Major/ Piper Search/ Stirling Juniors/ Ozzie Reid/ T&C Singlings

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I understand the RSPBA are very close to announcing the venue and date of the elusive fifth Major Championship for 2027. Rumours abound that this Championship, the UK, is heading for either Belfast or Ayr (hot money). The date is likely to be the weekend of 26th June. Already fixed up are the British on May 29 at Ingliston, the Scottish at Dumbarton on July 27th, the Euros at Perth…

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History: How it All Began for the RSPBA

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Piping Press recently published information about the formation in 1930 of the Scottish Pipe Band Association (SPBA), which we now know as the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA), ‘Royal’ status having been bestowed on the Association in 1980. Over the years the Association has undergone several changes, many of which are described in the, ‘How it all began; and the first 75 years’ booklet published by the RSPBA in…

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