Piping Press

The music here is by the hand of the legendary John MacDougall Gillies and belonged to his pupil Robert Reid. Check out the full score below where you can just make out Reid’s signature bottom right ‘Property of Pipe Major Robert Reid’. All piobaireachd players will recognise the tune as MacFarlane’s Gathering or, as is given here, ‘Togail nam Bo’ (Taking of the Cattle’), rustling to Western fans. I read…

As the years roll on the value of the video interviews conducted by former Strathclyde Police piper Allan Hamilton under the banner of ‘Pipers’ Persuasion’, increase in value. Without them a large part of our piping and pipe band history would have been lost. Here Allan remembers the early days of the project and some of the stumbles on the way….. Pipers’ Persuasion made a great start in 2010 when…

All of the following interesting information is taken from the May 1936 edition of ‘Piping & Dancing’ magazine…… Advert for RG Lawrie: ‘Nothing less than the best is good enough if you would play on the Pipe. Lawrie Bagpipes are made by craftsmen whose life-work is to produce the best bagpipes on the market. These men have the assistance of all the aids that skill and science can devise…’ Lawrie…

Congratulations to Inveraray Pipe Band for being chosen as ‘Pipe Band of the Year’ and to Iain Ruari Finlayson as ‘Music Tutor of the Year’ at Saturday’s Scottish Traditional Music Awards. It was the third time that Inveraray, the current World Champions, had won this award sponsored by the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust. Their prize was picked up by band members Ross Miller and Callum Brown. Iain Ruairi is the…

The Scottish Piping Society of London held their Annual General meeting on Saturday 7th December at ‘The Mudlark’ pub adjacent to London Bridge and elected Mike Fitzhenry as the new President. (Mike is pictured above after winning the Gold Lochaber Axe for piobaireachd at Fort William in 2015.) Attendance at the AGM however was very disappointing with only six members attending in person and retiring society President Andrew Hall participating…