Category: Uncategorized

The Life and Death of Gold Medallist and Military Hero – P/M William Mackie

Posted on      by      1 Comment

Last week we reported correspondence from Mrs Rhonda Whitmarsh-Knight who was trying to trace photographs and information about her Gold Medal-winning grandfather, P/M William Mackie KOSB, who died fighting the Japanese in Hong Kong in 1941. PP readers responded magnificently to the challenge and we are particularly grateful to Ron Abbot, David Livingstone and Trevor Clydesdale for their input carried below. Pipe Major William Keith Craigie Mackie was born in Edinburgh…

More The Life and Death of Gold Medallist and Military Hero – P/M William Mackie

Readers Respond to Article on RSPBA’s MSR Rule Change

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

A mixed bag of response to yesterday’s article by Ian Forbes. (Read it here.) Before we get to them the Editor writes: ‘I was interested in the comment in the rule change which states that four part tunes should be ‘where the tune was written as a four parted tune’. ‘This is misleading. If we look through our older collections we see that many standards we accept today as four…

More Readers Respond to Article on RSPBA’s MSR Rule Change

Some Early Reflections on a Weather Blessed Pipe Band Season

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

Pipe band expert Alistair Aitkendiscusses the pipe band season so far… By Alistair Aitken OBE Since the British Pipe Band Championships at Paisley on 19 May there have been numerous local competitions throughout the UK as well as the UK Pipe Band Championships in Belfast.  What has struck me in particular about the majority of local competitions is the reducing numbers of band entries. Contests which in the past have…

More Some Early Reflections on a Weather Blessed Pipe Band Season

James Campbell Lecture – Part 2

Posted on      by     

Today we continue with the second instalment of the lecture given by Jonathan Gillespie at the Birnam Hotel, Perthshire, in March. One important point to emerge during this part of the talk was James’s dislike for dogmatism in piobaireachd playing or teaching. This excerpt is part of our series of articles about James Campbell, one of the important figures in 20th century ceol mor. Read more here.