Argyllshire Gathering’s Lochnell Intermediate Professional Piping Championship Draw and Tunes

This prestigious competition for junior professional pipers will be held at Lochnell Castle, Benderloch, Argyll, a week today on Saturday, October 2. Ten leading young pipers aged 22 and under have been invited to take part.  Piobaireachd Draw and Selected Tune1 Luke Kennedy, MacKay’s Banner2 Anna Smart, Old Men of the Shells3 Bobby Allan, MacDougall’s Gathering4 Cameron May, King’s Taxes5 Hamish Drennan, Battle of the Pass of Crieff6 Andrew Ferguson, Earl of Ross’s March7 Brodie Watson-Massey, Lament…

Editor’s Notebook: MFD/ Sherriff Pipers/ ‘Royal’ Games/ Duncan and the Prince/ Hector’s Book/ Round the Games

Final word on MFD. Clive Douglas believes there should be a formal recognition of the condition and a warning about over-zealous, obsessional practice. Clive writes: ‘l’m not sure if you could ever stop the condition appearing in a person, but I do think there is a set of circumstances that should probably be avoided. ‘I wonder if there’s a place for some education in this area through the Piping Centre,…

Focal Dystonia in Pipers – Readers Respond With Touching Personal Stories

We make no apology for this third and final (for now) article on Musician’s Focal Dystonia (MFD). You only have to read the comments below to realise the anguish this distressing condition has caused pipers. We are grateful to these correspondents for sharing their experiences and to Norman Matheson whose erudite articles brought the matter once more to pipers’ attention. Bill Currie: ‘Some 15 years ago I consulted the late…

The Dynamics of Pipe Band Competition Part 2: On the Day of the Event

I will now move on to how bands and pipe majors may like to deal with the logisitics and formalities on the day of competition – logisitics and formalities that are all to easy to forget midst the tension and pressure of the occasion. Firstly, have last year’s trophies been returned? This may seem trivial, but you would be surprised to learn of the the number of bands that have…

Picture Poser Solved/ Solo Contest Round Up: Bratach, Captain John, George Sherriff

In reply to yesterday’s photograph poser, Donald Mackay, Pipe Sergeant of Scottish Power, was first out of the blocks. Donald writes: ‘This photo was taken in 1999 out in Pakistan. ‘The Pipes and Drums of the 1st Btn The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons & Camerons) were out taking part in Queen’s Birthday celebrations all over the country. ‘The band played at various engagements and functions in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore and…