In this concluding part of the interview given after his band, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia, had triumphed in the 2000 World Pipe Band Championships, the popular pipe major talks us through the actual day of victory. Read the first part of this revealing and informative interview, first published in Pipe Band Magazine, here. ‘I think this year our MSR was better than when we won in 1997, and though people might think…
The prestigious Highlands & Islands Festival piping competitions take place a week on Saturday (April 30th) in Oban. There is a healthy entry in all grades. Adjudicators on duty are Iain MacFadyen, Colin MacLellan, Ronald MacShannon, Stuart Samson, Stuart Shedden and Tom Speirs. The Highlands & Islands Festival was recently honoured by the Scottish Government. A reception at the Holyrood parliament was hosted by local MSP Mike MacKenzie who paid tribute…
Now a respected member of the RSPBA’s Adjudicators’ Panel, P/M Robert Mathieson won no less than five World Grade 1 Pipe Band Championships in his highly successful career at the helm of Shotts & Dykehead. Here we run the second part of the interview he gave to Pipe Band Magazine after winning his third in 2000. It will be of great interest to everyone aspiring to similar success. Robert is pictured…
I was sorry to learn the other day of the passing of Pipe Major Archie Cairns. Archie was aged 87 and throughout his life piping was central to everything he did. An obituary in Canada’s ‘Your Life Moments’ reads: ‘Peacefully at home on 1 April, 2016, at the age of 87 with daughter Fiona at his side. He was a loving and devoted son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather. Archie…
Two senior pipe band adjudicators who recently resigned their positions within the RSPBA’s Adjudicators’ Panel Management Board (APMB) have written to Piping Press to clarify their position. Former Convenor John Wilson and Vice Convenor Joe Noble resigned following a decision by the Board not to re-instate newly qualified adjudicator Ian Duncan. Mr Duncan had resigned after a series of correspondence between the board and himself. Mr Duncan is now taking legal advice as…
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