Nova Scotia Pipers Part 2 and Rory MacNeil, Piper to MacNeil of Barra

A story collected in Cape Breton by Archibald MacKenzie and published in his ‘History of Christmas Island Parish‘ offers some additional information on the skill, strength and endurance of the little-known piper, Rory MacNeil. This story, collected in an area settled by people from Barra in the first few decades of the 19th century, describes one instance where the bagpipe was played by Rory to sound a distress call:  ‘The…

The Lochnell Championship 2022 Line Up and Judges Announced

The Argyllshire Gathering Trust’s Lochnell Intermediate Championship will take place a week on Saturday, 22 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, Andrew Ferguson, Luke Kennedy, Gregor MacDonald, Angus MacPhee, Cameron May and Brodie Watson-Massey….

Nova Scotia Pipers and a New Book ‘Legacy: A Collection of Photographs and Music’

In the opening decades of the 19th century Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island were the new home of several of the family or hereditary pipers mentioned in Angus MacKay’s ‘A Collection of Ancient Piobaireachd’ (1838). It is widely accepted that the notes about these families were written by James Logan. All too often the family sketches in MacKay’s book end with the simple phrase ‘went to America’ leading many…

Editor’s Notebook: John Ban MacKenzie Gravestone/ Rule Change after 214BB Success/ Lochryan Pipe Band Tutor Search

Correspondent Duncan Watson has been in touch: ‘It might be of interest to add this to the bit re John Ban. The headstone is in the burial ground at Kinnetas which is up the hill from the village of Strathpeffer. ‘I have taken one or two people to the grave for some kind of inspirational visit. I have taken photographs of the headstone and of the one next to it which…

P/M Paul Burns Appointed King’s Piper

According to magazine reports King Charles III has confirmed P/M Paul Burns as Sovereign’s Piper. P/M Burns carried out his first official duty last Tuesday at Birkhall, the King’s residence on the Balmoral Estate. He will now play at 9am each morning outside whichever residence the King is staying at. This is carrying on a tradition enjoyed by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Tatler magazine: ‘Paul, of the Royal Regiment…