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,…

EUSPBA’s New President Speaks to Piping Press

At 56 Bill Caudill is the recently-appointed President of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association. By geographical area, and perhaps numbers, it is the largest piping association in the world. This week he has been instructing at the Florida Pipe and Drum Academy in Jacksonville and our editor took the opportunity of interviewing him about his new role. Membership?: ‘We have in excess of 700 solo members and more…

Interesting Photograph of the Australian Ladies

I came across the above photograph in a book and thought it might be of interest to readers. It is of the Australian Ladies Pipe Band when they visited the Braemar Gathering in 1926 as part of their world tour. One of the purposes of the tour was to raise funds for ex-servicemen from WW1 and the Ladies were sponsored by Sir Harry Lauder and his wife who of course…

British Championships: Readers Have Their Say

The controversy surrounding the cancellation of the 2023 British Pipe Band Championship continues to draw comment from the pipe band public. Further concern was added yesterday with the revelation that the RSPBA did not approach Cowal Games to discuss a possible contingency for the championship. This may provoke further comment. For now here is what readers have to say regarding Allan Hamilton’s story on PP and also our report on…