The medals pictured above are the subject of a letter from reader Dorothy Tulloch. Dorothy writes: ‘I have pictures and medals of the piper Angus MacMillan. They were given to my dad, Drum Major Eric Allan, for an exhibition some years ago at the World [Pipe Band] Championships. ‘My dad was Eric Allan from Irvine and a member of Ayr Pipe Band as drum major (I think, maybe Irvine and…
Wintry weather did not deter most bands and soloists entered for today’s annual Glasgow Highland Club schools contest held in the city, writes Our Juvenile Grade Correspondent. After the excitement of the large-scale Scottish Schools Championship last weekend, we had a smaller, more compact gathering, with nine bands listed to compete in a March Strathspey & Reel Competition at Hutcheson’s Grammar School, Glasgow. Eighty-four soloists were listed over five competitions. The band…
I snapped this picture in a bar known as the ‘Tilted Kilt’ in Boca Raton, Florida, last month. What intrigued me was that the piper is playing a two-drone pipe. Given that the poster is calling on Irishmen to join up it must have been before the formation of the Irish Republic, and circa the outbreak of WW1. I seem to remember a reference to a regiment called the Irish…
Over the last few weeks we have been running the interview our Editor Robert Wallace conducted with Duncan Johnstone, master player, teacher and composer, in 1996. This is the final instalment of that interview …… When did you start teaching? I didn’t start teaching until the 1970s. I opened the school in Robertson Street in 1976 and when it closed in 1979 I started teaching in the house. I must…
Riona MacInnes of the Highland & Islands Festival has asked us to remind everyone that entries close for this year’s event this Monday, March 19. There are senior piping contests in ceol beag and ceol mor for all grades A/P, B &C. For the juniors there is everything from Junior Chanter Under 12 to a full range of events for the under 18s. For drummers, tenor and side, there are…
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