Piping Press

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…

All in all, the event went very well. Last year CMU held its first competition which was confined to students at the University. This virtual competition was opened up to all. Being a virtual event, I include video links of the prizewinners in Grade One and Open. We had a waiver on the entry form that gave the University permission to post the prizewinning performances online. By Andrew Carlisle, Professor…

It was with considerable sadness that I learned of the passing of Iain MacDonald, Pipe Major of the Neilston Pipe Band, and a man who did so much to build bridges between the piping world and the folk. Iain, who was 70, was a great enthusiast and collector of bagpipes of other countries and amassed an estimable personal collection. He had a great life travelling to folk festivals the world…