Piping Press

By Iain Hurst Angus was born at Kilmaha, by Dalavich, Argyll, and raised in Barcaldine, and was taught to play pipes by Donald MacLennan (no relation) and, later by Dochie Ferguson. He joined Oban Pipe Band in 1969/70, and was an active piper and committee member until he passed away unexpectedly on Saturday 2 May 2020 at the age of 66. Angus became pipe major in 1973, when most of…

The Scottish Highland Games Association has estimated that their members generate around £25m each summer for the national economy, cash now lost to the pandemic, the latest cancellation, Skye Gathering, following a sorry pattern we’ve all become immune to. The reckoning from this protracted lockdown is coming our way and will be felt everywhere, not least in the games’ host communitites. Many rely on profit from one year to launch…

By Dr Jack Taylor The following maybe shows piobaireachd is alive and kicking in some way. At what must be the last such gathering for a while, I was at Ballater Games Dinner in late March.  I had been asked to play a piobaireachd, which I did (Duke of Atholl’s Salute). I sat down next to the renowned fiddler Paul Anderson who said he’d just composed a piobaireachd and had played…

A set of pipes said to have been recovered from the fallen body of a hero piper at the Battle of the Somme have been sold at auction to an unnamed buyer for £4,600. After tax and commission the true cost will be over £5,000. The sale was carried out by Lockdales in Ipswich, East Anglia. The pipes, with an original reserve price of only £800, are believed to have…