Ballycoan were the first band from Northern Ireland to travel to Scotland to pit their skills against the best. When the first SPBA World Championships were held in Edinburgh in September 1947, Ballycoan was the only band from outside Scotland that competed. They returned to the Worlds in 1948 and then in 1949 when they won the drumming in Grade 3. This indicates that the band were members of both…

The first major Highland Gathering of the summer is due to be held at Blair Atholl on Sunday May 30th. A decision whether it goes ahead ‘live’ will made after the Scottish Government briefing tomorrow, Tuesday 16 March. If it cannot go ahead in person then Piping Convenor Dr Jack Taylor has confirmed that it will do so online with the usual competitions: A/P/Non-CPA Piobaireachd, CPA B and C Piobaireachd,…

Neil Clark: My grandfather, Robert Bishop, was a piper in the Allandale Pipe Band [above], based in the village of Allandale, near Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire. He’s the first piper shown in the video [below]. He was taught to play pipes by the second piper in the video, Robert Irvine. They are both shown in Allandale uniform, around 1938: On the outbreak of WW2 in 1939, the band signed up en masse…

The Piobaireachd Society’s third ‘Talk Piobaireachd’ session of 2021 takes place this Wednesday, March 17, at 8pm GMT. These popular discussions are open to members of the Society and have proved very popular. The Society’s former President Dr Jack Taylor (above) is in the hot seat for what is sure to be another engrossing hour of information, ideas and thoughts on ceòl mòr and particular tunes in the repertoire. It is is suggested…

Murray Blair and Ken Eller have been working on an online show for the popular weekend piping and drumming festival ‘Winter Storm’ held each year in Kansas City, USA. The pandemic forced the cancellation of this year’s live production which should have been held in January. The show is scheduled to air on March 27 and features, among others, Stuart Liddell (pictured making his recording), Callum Beaumont, Jack Lee, and…