Category: Pipe Bands

PP Editor’s Blog: Highland Games/ Scottish & Worlds/Ulva and MacArthur Pipers

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I am not sure the prestige of Inveraray Games is helped by the pipers being given their piobaireachd a week before the contest. It makes things easier all round for the competitors but is much less of a test. Compare it with Braemar where it’s eight tunes, the chosen piece given at the bench. Promoters often justify the ‘early tune’ decision by saying it cuts down the number of breakdowns….

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Ulster Pipe Band Championships Report

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Field Marshal Montgomery came out on top at the 65th Ulster Pipe Band Championships which were held in Antrim’s Castle Gardens on Saturday, July 23rd, writes Andrew Cromie. This contest is the RSPBA Northern Ireland Branch’s flagship event and as such it attracted a strong turnout of bands playing to a large crowd of spectators who were eager to be entertained.  The highlight of the day was the Grade One event…

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The Worlds – the Final Lists of All Bands Entered

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The full lists of bands entered for the World Pipe Band Championships are published today. A remarkable  234 will be taking part in what is easily the biggest competition of the year. All will gather on Glasgow Green three weeks from this Saturday (August 12 and 13) to battle it out for top honours. The most heavily populated list is, as expected, in Grade 4b where 67 bands have entered with…

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Minor Contests Poll: Overwhelming Call for Support / Roseneath Draw

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The vast majority of the hundreds of readers who responded to our poll on minor band contests are concerned about the lack of support these events are getting. And they are calling on Grade 1 and Grade 2 bands – and the RSPBA – to do more to help. In answer to our question ‘Do Grade 1 & 2 bands have a duty to support the smaller competitions and Highland…

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History: Pipes & Drums of the London Scottish Regiment Part 2

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Our concluding excerpt on the history of the famous London Scottish Regiment and their Pipe & Drums taken from the January 1938 edition of ‘Piping & Dancing’ journal and from the Regiment’s website ….. ‘The Highland Armed Association of London and The Loyal North Britons had been raised in 1793 and 1803 as part of the country’s Volunteer Forces ready to repel Napoleon’s threatened invasion of England. These formations were later…

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