Category: Pipe Bands

History: P/Sgt John Maclean, Scots Guards, the 1930 Northern Meeting and a Tribute to Mary Queen of Scots

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I was interested in the Piping Press article (6th Sept. Donald Morrison Archive) regarding the Northern Meeting piping competitions 1930, which mentioned my father John Maclean (North Uist). Only minor error in the newspaper’s report was that my father was in fact Pipe-SERGEANT, not Pipe-Major. He was later Pipe-Major 2nd Btn. HLI. In the Gold Medal he, like Nicol, played Cille Chriosd (Glengarry’s March). His fellow Guardsman, Malcolm ‘Baggy’ MacMillan was…

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The Progress of the Pipe Band and the Importance of Learning from History

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In any organisation it is always good practice to study its history before attempting to make changes or further develop its structure, policies or procedures.  History has a habit of repeating itself on a cyclical basis, so it is always worth considering the background to previous decisions to avoid repeating previous mistakes.  It is also always worth considering whether seemingly new ideas have actually been tried before and failed.  The…

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Editor’s Notebook: MFD/ Sherriff Pipers/ ‘Royal’ Games/ Duncan and the Prince/ Hector’s Book/ Round the Games

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Final word on MFD. Clive Douglas believes there should be a formal recognition of the condition and a warning about over-zealous, obsessional practice. Clive writes: ‘l’m not sure if you could ever stop the condition appearing in a person, but I do think there is a set of circumstances that should probably be avoided. ‘I wonder if there’s a place for some education in this area through the Piping Centre,…

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Focal Dystonia in Pipers – Readers Respond With Touching Personal Stories

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We make no apology for this third and final (for now) article on Musician’s Focal Dystonia (MFD). You only have to read the comments below to realise the anguish this distressing condition has caused pipers. We are grateful to these correspondents for sharing their experiences and to Norman Matheson whose erudite articles brought the matter once more to pipers’ attention. Bill Currie: ‘Some 15 years ago I consulted the late…

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The Dynamics of Pipe Band Competition Part 2: On the Day of the Event

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I will now move on to how bands and pipe majors may like to deal with the logisitics and formalities on the day of competition – logisitics and formalities that are all to easy to forget midst the tension and pressure of the occasion. Firstly, have last year’s trophies been returned? This may seem trivial, but you would be surprised to learn of the the number of bands that have…

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