Tag: pipe bands

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

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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…

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

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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…

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P/M Paul Burns Appointed King’s Piper

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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…

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Story on John Ban MacKenzie the Athlete and Reaction to Calum Fraser’s Article on Piobaireachd Performance

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Reader Dugald Macleod: This is a story my father Murdoch Macleod (1893 – 1964) had which involved John Ban MacKenzie: One August afternoon in 1822, the whole district of Kilmuir, Skye, was en fête. The occasion was the final reclaiming of thousands of acres of rich agricultural land by the draining to the sea of the expansive sheet of water known as St. Columba’s Loch. Notables from far and near…

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A Classical Musician’s Take on Piobaireachd

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When asked to offer some thoughts about piobaireachd as an art form, I was delighted to oblige. This is not least because I was brought up as a flute-playing Scot in England by a piper for a father. With my career now in the performing arts as a conductor specialising in working with singers, I have regularly looked upon piobaireachd with a great deal of interest, even if my knowledge…

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