Atholl Gathering Latest/ 100 Guineas Results from South Africa

Piping Convenor Jack Taylor has passed on the following update on entries for the popular Atholl Gathering to be held on May 26 at Blair Atholl. Dr Taylor advises: Players should keep an eye on the entry form for the current position. https://forms.gle/JmXjHKpj9AoB19Fd8 C Piobaireachd is full with 25; 4 reserves, room for one more reserve. B Piobaireachd has 24 entries. Will cap at 25, and take five reserves. Light music is…

Gordon Stewart Clark  1937-2024

Gordon Clark, prizewinning piper, games organiser and member of the Atholl Highlanders Pipe Band, has died aged 87. Gordon was born near Aboyne in Aberdeenshire. Being the son of a piper it was always likely he would follow in his dad’s footsteps. And so it turned out. In his early teens Gordon learned from his father in their home near Aberfeldy. Following National Service, Gordon set sail for New Zealand…

Editor’s Notebook: Balloch Games/ Over 50s Contest/ Piping Tutor/ Contests and Seminar/ Eilidh’s Trust

The news that Balloch Games has been scrapped is both disappointing and bewildering. Disappointing because this was always a popular games right at the start of the Glasgow Fair holidays, this year on July 13. Balloch launched a full week of other piping competitions at the likes of Inveraray, Lochearnhead, Tobermory, Luss (before the day was changed), and the island games. It’s bewildering because the crowds at the wee town…

Historian Comments on Campsie Controversy and Reveals Discovery of Oldest Pipers’ Contract

In response to recent comments, the cases of Alistair Campsie and Simon Fraser are quite different. When the Fraser material in the National Library of Scotland was ‘opened’ to research I did some work on the subject for the late Roddy Cannon. Although Fraser’s MS could be seen as an alternative approach or style, the problem was the claim that it was writ on tablets of stone directly from the…

Tributes for Major John Allan/ MacLean Games Results from Australia

Reader Neil Angus Gillies: ‘The passing of Major Jock Allan is sad news indeed. What’s missing from reports is mention of the years Major Allan spent teaching at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. ‘This was after he left the Army School of Piping, the school being located a stone’s throw from Edinburgh Castle. He was Chief Piping Instructor at Heriot’s throughout the 1990s and 2000s and every pupil that received tutelage…