Editor’s Notebook: Young Champ Finlay/ Stress When Playing/ Scottish Schools Latest/ Pipers Memorial

Well done to Finlay Johnston and Gordon Bruce for the cycle ride in aid of cancer research in memory of Finlay’s dad Tommy. They raised just under £5,000 from the effort which started at the Piping Centre in Glasgow and ended at Oban’s Corran Halls. The picture above is of Finlay, a champ in the making, from 20 years ago. He holds the juvenile trophies from the Scottish Pipers’ Association…

Significant Correspondence and Response to Focal Dystonia Request/ New Drum Instructor for CMU

A request for information on focal dystonia from one of our Australian readers, Ken MacDonald, has prompted a good deal of interest and response, some already carried in our comments section but repeated here. Clive Douglas: ‘Good to hear some positive comments regarding focal dystonia. I’ve suffered for over 30 years and I’ve never managed to overcome the condition. I noticed a woman called Ruth Chiles claims to be able…

Editor’s Notebook: John Weatherston/ Band Inactivity in Scotland/ Piob Soc Recital/ Dystonia Plea/ Duncan and the Prince

Thanks to Yves Tison for this picture of P/M John Weatherston. Yves writes: ‘Further to your excellent Piping Press article on Red Hackle pipe band, I have found in my photos an old pic of Pipe Major John Weatherston at the Festival de Cornemuse in Brest, Brittany, in August 1969.’ Good picture Yves. Jock was in the habit of wrapping a sweat-catching handkerchief round his neck. The joys of piping…

Northern Ireland Pipe Band Round-Up: Parades, Contests and Exhibitions Keep Tradition Alive

Over here in Northern Ireland the traditional parading season will wind down over the next month. On Saturday the 28th August the parades of the Royal Black Institution took place on a local basis. These parades have traditionally featured a significant proportion of our pipe bands, many of which will take their autumn break before resuming winter practices, and in most cases the tuition of learner classes supported by grants…

Donald Morrison Archive: Notes on the Introduction of Teaching of Piping to South Uist

This very interesting, but unattributed article is from the archive of Donald Morrison. It gives an insight into the history of piping in the Outer Isles and in particular South Uist. It is not by Donald himself but mentions his father Donald John Morrison. Canon Alexander MacDougall was a native of Morar and died there on 10th December, 1944, at the age of 85 years. His first parish in the…