Lochaber Gathering Results

This competition was held today, August 28, in Fort William. The senior events were held in and outside the Highland Cinema and the junior events on the lawns in the town centre. P/A Piobaireachd, Gold Lochaber Axe1 Cameron May, MacDonalds are Simple2 Calum Brown, Fingerlock3 Sandy Cameron, King’s Hand4 Zephan Knichel, Earl of Seaforth P/A MSR1 Calum Brown 2 Sandy Cameron 3 Cameron Bonar 4 Gordon McCready Best S&R prize:…

Argyllshire Gathering Day 2 Results Complete

Ceòl beag is the focus of the second day at Oban with competitions for ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade March and Strathspey & Reel and Jig. There is also the Intermediate MSR for young pipers who played in the MacGregor Memorial the day before, and local contests. Conditions were warm and sunny. ‘A’ March, Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society Bronze Star1 Ben Duncan2 Ross Conner 3 Steven Leask4 Ian K MacDonald5 Greig…

Reflections on Day 1 at the 2026 Argyllshire Gathering

What a day for North America! Three of the five major prizes went to either Canada or the US with the other going to New Zealand. Scotland’s honour was saved by Finlay Johnston in the ‘big’ MSR – but with Ontario’s Ian K MacDonal right on his brogue heels. Ian’s compatriot Sean McKeown took the coveted Highland Society of London Gold Medal. This was a very popular win. Over the…

Editor’s Notebook: Bands and Solos/ Edinburgh Job/ Angus Award/ Glasgow Police LP

So that’s the band season more or less over for another year. The piping world now focuses on the solos with major events at Lonach tomorrow, Oban from Wednesday and Fort William next Friday. I suppose from the solo-piper-in-a-band-perspective the calendar works out well, but I still think it is a pity the bands don’t have Cowal or at least some other important event filling out the summer. That won’t…

The Worlds 2026: Views of a Retired Adjudicator

Unfortunately, I was able to attend only the Saturday of the World Pipe Band Championships this year.  Unlike some of the previous years the weather was pleasantly warm, free from rain and with only a mild wind, so the atmosphere was ideal for tuning and for the band performances.  Both days were well attended by spectators (estimated at around 35,000 over the two days).  The official programme showed a total…