Jimmy McIntosh Scholarship/ Balmoral Summer Camps

The inaugural cycle of the Jimmy McIntosh Piobaireachd Scholarship was completed with a culminating piobaireachd workshop held the last weekend of February, at Carnegie Mellon University, writes Joyce McIntosh. Thirty-two registered piobaireachd enthusiasts travelled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from eight different states to receive high-level tuition with Mike Cusack and Andrew Carlisle.  Each of the two scholarship winners played a tune he/she had learned over the eight-month course of the scholarship. …

History: Solo Piping in 1985 and the Day the Gold Medal was Paused for Communion

The following is taken from the Oban Times piping column written by Alfred Morrison in late August 1985. He begins in characteristically trenchant fashion with a comment on the Silver Chanter: On Wednesday evening this piping recital was held in Dunvegan Castle. This event in piping used to be a competition for pipers who had already won the Gold Medal at Oban or Inverness, but this year it was demoted…

Editor’s Notebook: JAX School/ North Lanarkshire Job/ Donald, Willie/ Letters/ USPF

We had 40+ students at this year’s Florida Pipes & Drums Academy in Jacksonville. The intake represents a good bounce back after covid. We introduced a new grading system for the pupils this year. It placed them on an attainment ladder which we hope will encourage them to advance upwards. June, one of our students and herself a teacher, said she was impressed with the care and concern the tutors…

AKQ and Ardmore Cup Results (Updated with Pictures)

The winner of the 2023 Archie Kenneth Quaich for amateur piobaireachd was Matthew Kirkwood playing the Battle of Auldearn No. 1, writes Peter McCalister. The competition was held today (Sat Feb 25) in the rooms of the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society in Edinburgh. The prize winning pipers and Mr Derek Fraser (left), Secretary of the Piobaireachd Society, are pictured above. Result: 1 Matthew Kirkwood 2 Ben Hall 3 Leslie Barrett…

More on the Australian Ladies’ Visit to Scotland

Reading Duncan Watson’s article on the Australian Ladies’ visit reminded me that I had a couple of very old cuttings about them from the Campbeltown Courier. There’s information that intimates their visit, followed by a fairly comprehensive report on it. I have copied the reporter’s scripts to the letter for authenticity, though some wording is a bit quaint. By Iain Duncan The first cutting from the Courier, dated October 9, 1926,…