George Barlow in the US has asked for information on P/M Joe Rafferty: ‘Could you please check this with your readership. At the annual competition at Inchdrewer House the Army School has a piobaireachd award named after Pipe Major Joe Rafferty whom I met in the 1980s when the Black Watch was on tour here. The P/Sgt. was Alex Brown whom I saw on YouTube doing a recruitment film for the…
With the demise of the Craigmount Junior solos is there any competition for young pipers in the city of Edinburgh? If not I hope someone steps forward to fill the gap. The capital has a much changed piping landscape since the great days of the Eagle Pipers Professional contest held each November, the British Legion contest and the Edinburgh Police contest. Maybe there were no junior contests back then either,…
Two new letters this morning, the first from Brian Mulhearn begins: ‘Hello Rob, Having been following the recent judging developments, I think you are looking at the situation from only one side…. The next is from Bill Robertson in New Zealand and begins: ‘Hello Rab, About two days ago I was on TV for the BBC world news when an item came up about the female Lone Piper for the Edinburgh Military…
According to our copy of that year’s programme, sixty-one pipers entered for the senior events – not too dissimilar to today’s restricted event at Inverness. In 1972 anyone could play but the burgeoning numbers were soon to prove impossible for promoters to handle. This Northern Meeting was held in the Dr Black Hall and the Caledonian Hotel Ballroom – the move to Eden Court a few years off. The dates…
One does not wish to belabour the issues raised yesterday, but I do want to highlight the views articulated so well by Bill Livingstone and which may have been missed by some. Bill wrote: ‘I completely endorse Rab’s comments, and made my views known to the SPJA [Solo Piping Judges Association]. I believe that Rab himself let them know his views and I believe as well that Malcolm McRae and…
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