By Robert Wallace There have been few upsides to the current pandemic but one has been the time it has afforded us to sort through ‘stuff’. Old photographs, cuttings choke the PP library. A solid sift last weekend yielded a note and snaps I received from the late Aladair Gillies in 1997 when he was installed at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. I had done an extensive interview with…

In 1953 it was decided that there should be a Coronation Highland Gathering to mark HM The Queen’s ascent to the throne. It was held at Ibrox Stadium on May 30th with 40 bands entering an ungraded contest. A special organising committee had been formed by the then Scottish Pipe Band Association and the competition rules they set raised more than a little debate and interest in piping circles. The…

My book ‘A Boys’ Brigade Collection of Bagpipe Music’, published earlier this year, was dedicated to the memory of twins Dennis and Alan Finch. Dennis was good enough to write the Foreword for me but unfortunately did not live to see the book published. I regarded it an honour to have him involved since he hated to thrust himself forward, always thinking of others and the boys he served and…

I hope children who currently have to learn their piping using eletronic chanters won’t have to do so for too much longer. They have to press the fingers much too hard on the ‘holes’ and as we all know the lighter the grip the better. Learning pipes this way will be like learning piano on an electric keyboard; the sensitivity is all wrong. John MacDougall Gillies advocated treating the chanter…

November 14-15, 2020: The 14th Annual Balmoral Classic, featuring the US Junior Solo Piping & Drumming Championships, began on Saturday morning with piobaireachd contests streaming via YouTube starting at 8:30am EST.  This was the first Balmoral Classic that was online, remote and virtual. Scheduling and logistics were intensive and very competently organized and executed by Sean Patrick Regan, Co-ordinator of Online Programs; Leslie Clark, Balmoral’s Associate Director; Elaine Lee, Marketing…