Category: Pipe Bands

Changes at Field Marshal Montgomery

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News coming out of Northern Ireland is that Keith Orr is retiring from his position as leading tip of World Champions Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band. Our information is that he will be replaced by respected soloist and current FMM corps member Gareth McLees (pictured below). Keith has had an outstanding career as Leading Drummer with FMM, partnering P/M Richard Parkes to numerous World Championship wins and countless major titles….

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Rumours Surround the Future of the BBC’s ‘Pipeline’ Programme

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I hear ugly noises from the depths of the BBC in Glasgow that their piping programme, ‘Pipeline’, could be facing the chop, writes the Editor. A reliable source from the Beeb’s Pacific Quay HQ tells me that the weekly show hosted by Gary West may soon be no more, threatened along with other Radio Scotland stalwarts ‘Jazz Nights’ presented by Seonaid Aitken and ‘Classics Unwrapped’ hosted by singer and broadcaster…

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South Uist and the Day the Barefoot Boy Piper Charmed Sheriff Grant of Rothiemurchus

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John Campbell, Kilberry, has kindly forwarded the above picture. John writes: ‘I enclose a photograph that I found in a box. I don’t know who the gentleman is or the location, and even less so the child who looks a piper in the making. Perhaps he developed into a piper of note.’ John subsequently forwarded the picture to piping history researcher Jeannie Campbell. She replied: ‘I felt that I had…

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John MacFadyen on the Art of Judging – Part 4

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Here we have the penultimate excerpt of John MacFadyen’s comments on judging from the recording made in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1973. In it he discourses on tune selection. He tells an amusing story of the Dunvegan Medal and Sheriff Grant and the confusion between MacFarlane’s Gathering and Too Long in this Condition. He says it is wrong for judges to give favourite tunes to their favourite pipers. He describes…

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Playing Requirements for Major Pipe Band Championships 2023 Announced

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The RSPBA have published playing requirements for the 2023 Major Pipe Band Championships. They have listed them as Major 1 to Major 4 plus the Worlds. They say the requirements are ‘subject to change due to circumstances’. No dates or venues are given for the championships. The Europeans, scheduled for July in Inverness have already been cancelled with a new venue being sought. The UKs have, for the past few…

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