Review: The British Pipe Band Championships 2026

The 2026 British Pipe Band Championship, the first RSPBA Major of the year, was held at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, to the west of Edinburgh, on Saturday 30th May.  A total of 125 pipe bands had entered and, if my calculations are correct, 114 bands actually competed.  The weather was sunny before turning dull, but thankfully there was only a short period of rain towards the end when…

Silver Chanter Details Announced/ CLASP Results

The pipers who have qualified for this year’s Silver Chanter competition are as follows: Derek Midgley (Skye Clasp runner-up), Steven Leask (Oban Gold Medal), Brodie Watson-Massey (Inverness Gold Medal), Stuart Liddell (Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd, Inverness Clasp), Alistair Brown (Dunvegan Medal), Sandy Cameron (Skye Clasp). The competition will be held at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Gaelic College, Sleat, Skye, on August 5. The adjudicator is Dr Jack Taylor. Each piper has…

British Pipe Band Championships – Shotts Triumph

Shotts & Dykehead are the new British Pipe Band Champions winning Grade 1 today (May 30th) at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, in overcast weather conditions. Two Medleys were required in G1. Shotts were placed first by every judge in a sweeping victory. The other places in the top grade went to: 2 Boghall3 Inveraray4 Fife Police5 FMM6 FederationDrumming: Shotts Judges for the Grade 1 Championship were: R Mathieson, C Edgar, P…

Editor’s Notebook: Competition Light Music/ Funeral Reminders/ Correspondence/ Glenfiddich Date

One thing I found striking about the report this week on the 1934 Argyllshire Gathering was the tunes played in the light music: Shepherd’s Crook, Lochcarron, Piper’s Bonnet, Glengarry Gathering, and what must have been an early run of Mrs MacPherson of Inveran. Here we are, eight years off a century later, and these classic pieces are still what separates the great from the not so great players of ceòl…

History: Games Day at the Argyllshire Gathering, 1934

This article is from the Oban Times and covers the second day of the Argyllshire Gathering in 1934…. The weather on Thursday,, the second day of the Games, was ideal for piping, and lovers of the lighter form of bagpipe music had the pleasure of listening to a wide range of tunes, many which were finely played. Those who took part in the competition for marches, strathspeys and reels are…