London Championship 2017 – Bratach Tunes & Pictures Added

A very full day of top class piping in the capital and a good crowd at the Kensington Conference Centre. Competitions began at 8.30am and ran into the evening. There was a good representation from overseas with many pipers flying in for the event from Europe and North America. Bruce Gandy from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was declared Champion Piper for 2017. Bruce is pictured with other prizewinners above. Results below. Stay…

PP Ed's Blog: London/ Critiques/Bellows Collogue/SPA/ Florida

To London today for the annual solo championships. A huge number of events with around 100 pipers taking part. The judges will have their work cut out for sure. Kensington Conference Centre is the place to be from 8.30am tomorrow and I’ll have results here as soon as I get them. ‘Charlie’ comments again on Glenfiddich asking if I could review the performances via the videos. Not something I do…

History: Pipers, Piping and Pipe Music in the Seaforth Highlanders 1778 -1924

Today we begin abridged excerpts from the above book by Ian Hamilton Mackay Scobie. The book was published in 1924 and is now out of print. It contains interesting details on the origins of titles such as ‘Pipe Major’ and the author also comments on drums drowning out pipes, questions whether playing in a band helps the piper’s playing and gives a date for the formation of the first pipe…

PP Ed's Blog: Glenfiddich/ B Cal Airways Band/ Harry McNulty/ Joe Wilson

Thanks for all the comments regarding the Glenfiddich competition. I hear that the tuning wasn’t too bad this year and that may have been something to do with the positioning of a clock by which the competitors could perhaps gauge the time spent adjusting the drones. Only one small step now and we could have lights and a huge improvement in listeners’ enjoyment. In particular, think how the livestream experience…

A Tale of Stolen Bagpipes – Don’t Leave them in the Car!

After reading of Niall Stewart’s stolen pipes a couple of weeks ago, a weird sort of déjà vu! Over the years, I know of five sets I have made that have been stolen. The set Nicholas Taitz plays here in South Africa were actually stolen out of our house. Nick had given them to me to remount with engraved mounts and they were standing inside our front door in a…