Draws for Captain John MacLellan and National Mod Piping Announced

The Captain John MacLellan MBE Memorial competition takes place on Saturday (Oct 7) at the Army School of Piping at Inchdrewer House Edinburgh. There are large entries in all events, particularly the B and C Grades. Some competitions begin at 8.30am. Visitors welcome. Here are some of the draws: P Piob Christopher ArmstrongInnes SmithWilliam McCallumRoderick MacLeodFinlay JohnstonAngus D MacCollIain SpeirsStuart LiddellGlenn Brown P MSR Iain SpeirsSarah MuirAngus J MacCollBen DuncanStuart…

Reader Requests Help with Medal Mystery

A few years ago while I was living down south, I acquired an extremely large, extremely ornate silver medal presented in 1900 by a piping association that seems to have vanished without trace. My searches at the time for information about the association and the recipient drew a complete blank. Piping Press’s network of readers is a good deal wider than any I could tap into then, and if the…

Lochnell Championship 2023 Line Up and Judges Announced

The Argyllshire Gathering Trust’s Lochnell Intermediate Piping Championship will take place on Saturday, 21 October. The venue is the chapel at Lochnell Castle, Argyll, by kind permission of the Earl of Dundonald and hosted by his son Lord Archie Cochrane. The competition is by invitation only and features Scotland’s finest pipers aged under 22: Ruairidh Brown (2022 Champion), Andrew Ferguson (2022 Piob. winner), Luke Kennedy (CPA Bronze Medal 2023), Gregor…

History of the Clan MacRae Society Pipe Band – Conclusion

During 1967 the unrest within the ranks of the band continued and it was clear a number of members had decided to call it a day. However, to maintain continuity, the group waited till after the last competition of the season before amicably departing in as civilised a manner as was possible in the circumstances. The members were pipers James (Jimmy) MacLeod, Eddie McLellan, Finlay MacDonald, Hugh MacInnes, Donald MacLeod…

Editor’s Notebook: Ronnie & Anne’s Wedding/ Nat & Worlds/ Piobaireachd & Bands/ Matt’s Silver/ John McLellan DCM

It’s not often you get three such giants of piping in the same informal photograph. It shows P/M Ronnie Lawrie and his wife Anne on their wedding day in 1955. All pipers will recognise the piper on the left as Arthur Gillies, and on the right, Duncan Johnstone. The bridesmaid was Anne’s friend Mona Byrne. ‘Big’ Ronnie was born in 1927 and died in 2008. He was the gentlest of…