One hundred years ago, in a large house in the Cairngorm woods, the finishing touches were being put to a book which was to alter the course of piping history. Sheriff Iain Grant, Music Committee Secretary for the Piobaireachd Society, was preparing to send off to the printer the first edition of Book 1 in its new collection. This was the Society’s second go at putting together a selection of…

The news that Balloch Games has been scrapped is both disappointing and bewildering. Disappointing because this was always a popular games right at the start of the Glasgow Fair holidays, this year on July 13. Balloch launched a full week of other piping competitions at the likes of Inveraray, Lochearnhead, Tobermory, Luss (before the day was changed), and the island games. It’s bewildering because the crowds at the wee town…