Category: Reviews

Nova Scotia Pipers Part 2 and Rory MacNeil, Piper to MacNeil of Barra

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

A story collected in Cape Breton by Archibald MacKenzie and published in his ‘History of Christmas Island Parish‘ offers some additional information on the skill, strength and endurance of the little-known piper, Rory MacNeil. This story, collected in an area settled by people from Barra in the first few decades of the 19th century, describes one instance where the bagpipe was played by Rory to sound a distress call:  ‘The…

More Nova Scotia Pipers Part 2 and Rory MacNeil, Piper to MacNeil of Barra

Editor’s Notebook: John Ban MacKenzie Gravestone/ Rule Change after 214BB Success/ Lochryan Pipe Band Tutor Search

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Correspondent Duncan Watson has been in touch: ‘It might be of interest to add this to the bit re John Ban. The headstone is in the burial ground at Kinnetas which is up the hill from the village of Strathpeffer. ‘I have taken one or two people to the grave for some kind of inspirational visit. I have taken photographs of the headstone and of the one next to it which…

More Editor’s Notebook: John Ban MacKenzie Gravestone/ Rule Change after 214BB Success/ Lochryan Pipe Band Tutor Search

Story on John Ban MacKenzie the Athlete and Reaction to Calum Fraser’s Article on Piobaireachd Performance

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Reader Dugald Macleod: This is a story my father Murdoch Macleod (1893 – 1964) had which involved John Ban MacKenzie: One August afternoon in 1822, the whole district of Kilmuir, Skye, was en fête. The occasion was the final reclaiming of thousands of acres of rich agricultural land by the draining to the sea of the expansive sheet of water known as St. Columba’s Loch. Notables from far and near…

More Story on John Ban MacKenzie the Athlete and Reaction to Calum Fraser’s Article on Piobaireachd Performance

A Classical Musician’s Take on Piobaireachd

Posted on      by      3 Comments

When asked to offer some thoughts about piobaireachd as an art form, I was delighted to oblige. This is not least because I was brought up as a flute-playing Scot in England by a piper for a father. With my career now in the performing arts as a conductor specialising in working with singers, I have regularly looked upon piobaireachd with a great deal of interest, even if my knowledge…

More A Classical Musician’s Take on Piobaireachd

Editor’s Notebook: Circle Formation/ Royal Piper/ NZ Judges/ Band Medleys/ 1st Port Poem

Posted on      by      5 Comments

Those bands getting themselves into a tizzy over the prospect of a change to the circle formation can rest easy. It ain’t ever going to happen. There has been considerable huffing and puffing since my last foray into this forbidden zone. The ‘we love the circle campaign’ is in full swing. Like us all, bands are change averse and are happy with the status quo. Why should pipers and drummers…

More Editor’s Notebook: Circle Formation/ Royal Piper/ NZ Judges/ Band Medleys/ 1st Port Poem