PT to bed, PDQB launch, New CDs, Hilary Clinton

Been out of the blog loop for a few days trying to get the PT to bed. This is now accomplished. People do not realise the time that needs to go into a magazine if it is to reach any decent journalistic standard. The easiest thing in the world would be to fill it with rambling interviews with people who do not have very much to say but can't stop talking - huge pictures. That is not what a good magazine is about. You need focus, opinion, comment, interest. You need to sail close to the wind and get people to think a little and entertain them if you can. All of this takes time and thought. Current issue has reports on our new summer schools, the Glenfiddich, one of Canada's most famous military pipers and lots of other good stuff. The editorial is on solo judging -- read the mag. Can I remind CPA members, CoP Members and CoP Students that they can get the PT online for £15 for the first year, a saving of £3. Here's the link.

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The launch of the PDQB/SQA exams all went off pretty smoothly with lots of blathering and a nice lunch. Only remains now for the examination centres to be linked in via the SQA computer and everything will be off and running. Jim Clark, one of the architects of the exams on the drumming side, was there and we spoke about the Winter School in Bruggen. Jim will be joining as our drum instructor and is sure to attract a good class.The band he teaches, George Watson's (above left), did a turn at the launch and very good they were too. Nice sound from their pipes and good, steady playing. Have added a short video of this championship winning band below as promised.

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Regular Spanish correspondent Leslie Thomson has sent this: 'A friend of mine, Patrick Wight, and I were preparing to play at a Wedding Expo in Fuengirola (Costa del Sol). The day before we were battling (unsuccessfully) against the excessive air coming out of the pipes. We were so disappointed that the following morning Patrick called me asking me to bring a sledge hammer for his pipes! But unexpected rescue was coming..... I was called by the organizer of the Expo and asked to go to the airport and collect a piper coming in from Scotland. Imagine my shocked surprise when I was told that it was none other than Robert Mathieson! Of course he sorted out my friend's pipes (and mine) in seconds flat. That was nice but what was really kind was a brief conversation Robert had with Patrick. My friend's despondency was totally eradicated. This is where the quality of the person is measured. P/M Mathieson THANK YOU!'

What you write Leslie doesn't surprise me and Robert is an integral part of our team at Bruggen and elsewhere. He's bringing a mini-band from Shotts to the CoP for our 65th birthday celebration on January 30 so we've all got a lot to thank him for. Incidentally also on the bill will be Stuart Liddell and his Inveraray band. Should be a great night. Tickets are £10. Free buffet included.

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New CD from Dr Angus MacDonald. The blurb reads:

'Dr Angus MacDonald’s musical influences were formed growing up in Glenuig in Moidart and from visits to his mother’s people in South Uist where the piping tradition was especially strong. He has also been influenced by the music and Gaelic song he heard in Cape Breton in the years that he lived there. In the fiddle music, especially in the strathspey playing, Angus recognised the rhythms he was brought up listening to in the songs his father sang and in Gaelic music in general. The words of a song associated with a tune, provide a template which preserves the inherent rhythm and character of that tune over generations. Though a healthy culture will undergo changes, traditional music as played today in Scotland has been influenced by patronage by aristocracy and has been sanitised and made more genteel. The older Scottish and the Gaelic names have been replaced by labels such as “Lady so and so’s favourite”. This did not happen in Cape Breton or to “puirt a beul”, the Gaelic song, dance tunes in Scotland. It is from this platform that Dr Angus’s arrangements and expression of the music comes....For this recording he has added accompaniment to some tracks. The repertoire is largely traditional with several entirely new compositions of his own and of his brothers, Allan and Iain.'
I stopped buying into that Cape Breton, Gaelic song carry on a long time ago. It just doesn't stand up to any serious scrutiny. There's nothing sanitised about the strathspey 'Lady Loudon' for example. Just damned difficult to play well. Still the doc is a great musician and this is sure to be a very good CD. Will have a review in due course.

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New CD too from Iain MacInnes of the BBC. (I hope MacMeannma will be advertising with us given all these plugs they're getting).

Iain's blurb reads:'Iain MacInnes is a consummate musician would have been reason enough to encourage him to produce this CD of bagpipe and whistle music. But with this he combines a sensitive appreciation of how to accompany his preferred instruments with others to produce beautiful music. He also has an intimate knowledge of the nation’s traditional music collections and a deep understanding of Scottish culture in general. As if that were not enough Iain has an uncommon talent when it comes to composing new music. In Sealbh, we have the happy result of Iain’s abundant talents being brought to bear. Sealbh is inspired, full of novelty, and simply beautiful. Currently producer of BBC Radio Scotland’s Pipeline programme, Iain’s musical pedigree is impressive, being a former member of the famous combines, the Tannahill Weavers, Smalltalk and Ossian. His CD, Tryst, published in 1999 received critical acclaim and was hugely popular. The Gaelic word Sealbh (pronounced shall-av) incorporates the idea of inheritance and good fortune, an appropriate sentiment in a CD that draws from the well of musical tradition; a rich inheritance, indeed. The cover photograph depicts a hut in Airigh a’ Bhruaich on the Isle of Lewis (the hut, by the way in not part of Iain’s sealbh) which is just a few miles across the hill from Iain’s parents’ home village of Gravir.'

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My man in Kabul, piper Robert Gunther,presently stationed there with US forces, has emailed:'I got the honour of meeting Secretary of State Clinton yesterday as she was leaving Kabul airport after the Afghan presidential inauguration. It was pretty neat!' Robert sent a pic. Nice coat Hilary!

Old Pipes, Rob MacNeill/SFU, Cops

An anonymous comment to the last post reads: 'Strange you say old sets can't cope with modern pitch, with all the synthetic drone reeds out there, and I'm sure most of the best sounding pipers are playing old pipes. Or do you mean get the cheque book out and try different drone reeds?'
I didn't say all old sets couldn't cope with the higher pitch. Some can. Others need a simple replacement of the bottom joint of the bass drone with one of narrower diameter before they tune satisfactorily. Synthetic reeds will help but there is a limit too how sharp you can make them before they stop. The rule of thumb is this: if after adjusting your reeds the drones are still well below the hempline (assuming your chanter is at an agreeable pitch) then the drones are flat relative to the pitch we play today.

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Robert MacNeill, Band Manager of SFU has written:

'Rob, really enjoyed your blog post of Nov 14 on Jim McMillan. I know that some parts of those "Echoes of Oban" concert recordings appeared in the BC Pipers' Association archive recordings. That's where I remember hearing them years ago. The photo you posted of Jim and Jack is actually part of a larger picture that includes Terry to Jim's right side. I have excerpted some pages from the BCPA Newsletter Fall 2005 that contains a B&W version of part of that photo. The article contains fascinating insights of Jack and Terry on their mentor.
'I'm so glad I convinced both of them to write the tribute on McMillan's passing because their words say so much about the qualities of an excellent instructor, things you see in both of them in their instruction of players in our junior band system, and how the SFU Pipe Band's playing style, attention to detail (in music and organization), and impelling excellence were so strongly influenced by McMillan's mentorship of Jack and Terry.
'Finally, as you are probably aware from your times in Vancouver with McMillan (it is a great story to retell) that picture was taken at the reception when Jack arrived back in Vancouver following his capture of the Gold Medal and Silver Star in 1981 (playing McMillan's 'magnificent Hendersons', as Terry called them). That reception was held on the day he arrived back but his luggage didn't arrive so he was dressed in the same clothes he landed in (I think his Dad got him a tie to wear). At the reception, the BCPA awarded him a Life Membership and on driving home that night I had a new tune developing. When I got home I opened up my manuscript book and wrote out 'Jack's Welcome Home'. Great memories.'

Thanks for that Rob; great memories indeed. Rob is pictured above with the Worlds trophies after SFU's win in 1999.

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Local TV company STV have done a short spot on the Iain Archie MacAskill Campaign. It can be viewed here:
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/136014-campaign-to-bring-bard-of-berneray-home/

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I'm told that the new man in charge at Strathclyde Police 'A' Division where the pipe band is based is a Mr Bernard Higgins. My information is that in the past he has been pro-pipe band. Good news if it's true and we wish Mr Higgins well in his new post. I'm also told that Assistant Chief Constable John Neilston who used to liaise with the band directly has resigned his position. The demise of former 'A' Division Commander, Mrs McGuire, was reported in the local press, the Evening Times, thus: '........After making the life-changing decision, the 52-year-old chief superintendent is relishing the prospect of spending more time with her family...... she is looking forward to devoting time to them and herself. After a year in charge ..... she will walk away from the force after 30 years with sense of pride and achievement and a belief that the streets of Glasgow are now safer. But despite 2009 being a year which has brought controversy, she insists she is not being forced out of the job. Allegations of her officers using robust methods were made the licensed trade in the city and she was later blamed by some for the downgrading of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band......... Mrs McGuire said: 'It was always going to be a difficult decision to take. When you are younger you always have your goal of retiring after 30 years service but as you get nearer that stage doubts and reservations creep in.

'Making the decision to retire is a huge one but it has to be made at some time and this is the right time for me. If the inference is that I have been forced from my role I would contest that.'

My information is that, metaphorically speaking, she had to be dragged kicking and screaming from her desk.

Buffalo 2, Overseas Judges

Paul Ouellette (Windsor, Ontario) has emailed: 'What the Strathclyde Polis effort really needs, are T shirts produced by the College to help raise a few £s for the band...considering what was taken from them. My wee idea is to have a picture of Ann Maguire and over it would be the words 'Save The Polis' and under her picture should be the caption 'Once you know your songs...why practice'? Cheers, P.' Good stuff Paul but I fear any T shirt with her mug on it would not sell well. Will try to keep everyone posted re the next moves. Will no doubt hear more when I get back.

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'Pipe Nite' at the British Shop went well I felt with a good crowd. Good question and answer session afterwards. Great to see Eddie Gorman and Peter Aumonier down from Ontario. Talked over old times and generally put the piping world to rights. They told me there were new ructions regarding overseas judges being invited over by the RSPBA. Again I'll try to find out more when I get back. If I were an overseas judge I'd make sure my contest papers (what this issue revolves round) were lodged for sure. I'd keep my own personal copies (easy enough to photograph them on the the mobile phone) then I'd send them recorded delivery to Washington Street. That way you have the stub and a legally enforceable case of discrimination if they then freeze you out. Seems pretty straightforward but then these things never are. Could be considered a breach of trust by the local association I suppose. One thing is for sure: in last April's Pipe Band Magazine RSPBA Chairman Kevin Reilly gave an assurance in public - I was there at the AGM - that once all the paperwork was once more in order then overseas judges would be welcomed back into the fold. Kevin is not someone to say these things lightly and I think we should remember that.

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Eddie and Peter told me that Bob Allan was retiring after many years at the helm of the PPBSO. Congratulations to Bob on a distinguished tenure of office. The voluntary hours he must have spent in the piping and pipe band cause must be without number.

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It is amazing who you meet at these get togethers. One chap, Bill Prohn, came up to me with two reel-to-reel tapes of the Echoes of Oban concert recorded at the CoP in 1954 or thereabouts. Would you believe it? Seemed they belonged to local piping stalwart John Murchison (hope I got that name correct). He got them from Jim MacMillan in Vancouver who had made copies and must have got his from the College. Jimmy was the great teacher out on the west coast for many years numbering Jack Lee among his pupils (both pictured above). I visited Jim many times from the 80s onwards until his death a few years ago. He and Lena, his late wife, would make you most welcome then you would be invited down to Jimmy's piping grotto - his basement adorned with great piping pictures and other memorabilia. A man of tremendous knowledge and ability, I don't know how they're managing without him out on the coast.

The tapes look in good nick and feature Tommy Pearston, Donald MacPherson, Bob Hardie, Donald MacLeod and P/M Ronnie MacCallum. So thanks very much Bill. They will be digitised and placed in the Museum of Piping for posterity and I'll have your generosity recorded on our Roll of Honour. Might be able to play a few tracks at 'Echoes' on Nov 28.

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Yesterday's workshops drew another good gathering of enthusiasts. We went over technique and tuning and then the exam structure. There were some good sets of pipes on show and some not so good. I explained that some older sets just could not cope with the raised pitch of the modern chanter and sometimes you just had to get the cheque book out in order to get back to enjoying your piping again. I also urged the band players to think about getting a good solo chanter so that they could get pleasure playing on their own with an easier set up than they perhaps may have with their band. I hope anyone in the area who is thinking of investing in a new instrument or chanter will support the British Shop or any of the other excellent firms that advertise with us. The BS is a good supporter of the College and the PT. They recognise how important it is that they help institutions that are teaching pipers - their customers of the present and future.

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Brit Shop proprietors Iain and Moira Donaldson invited me to their home and their daughter Emma played us a tune on her cello and their son Graham showed me his iPhone with a bagpipe player app. Another amazing technological innovation from Murray Blair. The kids did a duet, pipe drone on the 'cello and iPhone. First in history I think.

To the airport now and thanks to everyone for their kindness and hospitality.

Buffalo, Strath. Pol., Echoes

In Buffalo, NY, for a weekend workshop and lecture. Stranded at Newark for five hours. Plane held up by hurricane in Virginia they said. Plenty of time to work on PT etc so not wasted. Scene from the pizza shop window was straight out of 'The Sopranos' TV series. Half expected Pauly to tap me on the shoulder...

'Hey, you the bagpipe guy?'

'Yes'

'Good. Tony wanna hear 'Highland Cathedral'. Come on.'

'But I'm going to Buffalo'

'Don't worry about that. We got people up there. They'll take of everything.'

Was met at Buffalo by my host Iain Donaldson of the British Shop. Iain is a member of the Shotts band and flies over every year to compete with them at the majors. He took over the business from his father Thomas who moved to the States from Edinburgh in the 60s. Since then it has just grown and grown and is now one of the biggest Highland supplies companies in the country serving the whole nation coast to coast. Iain doesn't get much of a break. The Florida games season starts in a few weeks he tells me.

I've to give a lecture tonight 'Over the Isles to America - How the Bagpipe Conquered the New World'. This is a talk I gave a few years ago during Tartan Week in NYC. I intersperse the blethering with a few tunes. Tomorrow it is workshop time and we'll be concentrating on technique, pipe set up and sound and PDQB piping examinations.

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Whilst at the airport I received a text telling me that there are to be changes at the top at 'A' Division Strathclyde Police, the home of the band. I'm told that the Commander there, Anne McGuire, the woman who has been such a bane to the band, is moving on. Don't know the whys and wherefores but it will be a case of good riddance to bad rubbish as far as I am concerned. She's been a nightmare for the band and I hope that our pressure played a little part in her demise. We now need Chief Constable House to appoint a more sympathetic person to the post and we need him to issue a 'hands off the band' edict.

In death there is hope as David Murray once said to me over another matter that I won't go into here.

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CoP Radio will be on the air this weekend and it features tracks from the new Gordon Walker CD. I had hoped that we would have some copies for sale in the shop by now but as the CD is produced in Australia it hasn't been easy getting them. I can't understand why Gordon had it done out there. No harm to the company involved you understand, but it just makes it so much more difficult for retailers in the Northern Hemisphere - his main marketplace. Anyway it is a good CD so worth the effort to get a hold of.

The 'Piobaireachd of the Month' is 'Parading of the MacDonalds' played by Jakez Pincet. It's from a home recording that Jakez made back in 1976 in preparation for his competing at Oban. A good interpreter of the big music was/is Jackez and the sleeve notes tell us that he got third prize with this tune a few weeks after recording it. Jakez blazed a trail for Breton pipers coming over to Scotland to compete and will always be remembered for that.

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Andrea Boyd is doing a great job publicising the 'Echoes of Oban' concert which is on at the CoP on November 28. She's working at the College at the moment as our development officer. If you've any queries about the show or anything else re the CoP give her a ring or drop an email to andreaboyd@hotmail.com .

The 'Echoes' star Jim Murray playing his winning MSR, Alastair Dunn playing his winning piobaireachd 'Lament for the Viscount', Cameron Drummond playing his Silver Medal tune which escapes me at the moment, Inverness Gold Medallist Glenn Brown and others. Admission is £5 and refreshments are available.

Berlin Wall, London

Twenty years since the Berlin Wall came down. Hard to believe. We did a 10 day gig in the GDR capital East Berlin in 1976. What a trip. Cheap Russian vodka and a rich soup, soljanka, were the diet. We recorded an album in a converted studio formerly used as an admin centre by the Nazis. It was right at one of the sentry posts on the wall and we had to walk past with the searchlights, dogs, barbed wire, the whole bit. You would never have believed then that 13 years later it would all be over. Getting into the country was hard going with all the documentation. Getting back into the UK was almost as bad. Special Branch at the airport.

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I'm not sure about the popularity of the pipe in the former GDR but when I was in the Czech Rep. last month I heard there were two or three bands sprouting, one in Leipzig. Only a matter of time before they get the bug and the CoP German Tutor, now in its second reprint, is bound to help. I forgot to mention in an earlier blog that we had our ace translator Justus Twele over in Glasgow a couple of weeks back. What a great job he did on the book and all in the same great spirit of charity that sustains our work. Pity not everyone is so generously minded.
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Stuart Liddell continued his great form by taking the top awards at London. Stuart (left with Bratach) must have coped very well with the poor tuning conditions for the main auditorium events (cold final tuning room, noisy air conditioning and only four minutes on the stage). I'm all for shortening tuning times but surely London can do better than this. Give me the Glaziers any day.

I heard Stuart's Gillies Cup tune the 'Earl of Ross's March' and very good it was too. The pipe wasn't quite right when he blew up but four minutes later it was singing. He seems to know the instrument so well at the moment. It was beginning to drift ever so slightly by the end right enough but at no time detracted from his controlled and thoughtful presentation of what can be a monotonous piece in the wrong hands.

Another tune I heard was Innes Smith's 'MacRae's March'. This earned him fourth prize in the 'A' piobaireachd. I enjoyed his playing but to be honest I have heard Innes in better form and the pipe didn't quite last. His mother Catriona told me that they had been at the Lewis and Harris Gathering the night before so maybe that had something to do with it. Innes is an orthopaedic surgeon and we sometimes forget pipers with demanding day jobs just don't have the same time to commit as some others do.

Another fine young piper I had a word with was Duncan Grant. He tells me he is thinking of moving up to Glasgow to develop his music writing career. He is based in London at the moment working in advertising. Another piper with hidden talent. His music writing is all self taught would you believe, and covers every genre.

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Well done to D Naill and Co for sponsoring London by giving them a smashing set of pipes for the raffle. And the good news is that they went to someone who will make good use of them - Northern Ireland's promising Emmett Conway. As well as the pipes, Emmett, a pupil of Jonathan Greenlees and member of the FMM, took a couple of good prizes too. What a day for the young man! He is pictured above receiving his pipes from London President Adam Sanderson.

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A word too for Liz and Derek Maxwell of sponsors Glenfiddich who were in attendance. I know we in the piping world keep saying it, but where would we be without William Grant and Sons?

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After the contest and a few pix of Stuart it was home. I want to thank big Rod for accompanying me to Victoria for the bus north. We had a few drinks in the bar at the station and he regaled me with some amazing tales of his old days with the B Cal band under P/M Bob Richardson. Trips all over the world with Ronnie MacShannon, Campbell McGuigan, P/M Angus, Rab Turner, Hughie MacInnes and many others. As Rod himself says, they never paid for a flight yet and many of them went first class. Ten days in Barbados all expenses paid and only two small spots to do. St Andrews Nights in downtown Santiago, Chile. Piping for the tyrant Idi Amin.....Someone should write these stories down. I remember saying the same to John Burgess many years ago. He didn't and I imagine most of his stories, Willie Ross et al, are gone forever.

Roddy MacDonald, London, Queensland

To London tonight via the sleeper - something of a flawed description for most people I suspect - but anything is better than airports these days. Will post the results from the Kensington Conference Centre as soon as poss. Looking forward to seeing everyone and hearing some good piping. The Circle Line tube is closed over the weekend so buses and taxis will be the order of the day Sat and Sun.

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Roddy MacDonald, Pipe Major of the Queensland Police PB, was on the phone the other day and tells me he is enjoying his time down there. It's eight years since he moved. He told me of some good Australian piping connections. One chap he knows, Brendan Hood, has the pipes which belonged to P/M George Ross of the Black Watch and the subject of that very fine 'Farewell' march by Willie Lawrie. Roddy says it's not one of his favourites but I think it pretty good and have enjoyed hearing Alasdair Gillies play it live and on CD.

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Roddy says the Queensland band are employed by the Chief Constable not to compete but to perform all the important ceremonial duties associated with his force. Very highly are they thought of too. The band is following closely the fortunes of their Strathclyde counterparts.
Had a call today confirming that they won't be at the Cenotaph in George Square on Sunday.
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Roddy tells me that John Flett, the subject of Donald MacLeod's tune 'Flett from Flotta', died in New South Wales after emigrating. Flett is still a common name in Orkney. Talking of tunes, Roddy's book (left) is selling well and is available from the CoP Shop. There's also a good review in the latest PT by young US piper Derek Midgley. Derek has been getting lessons at the CoP and is a fine player with great potential. He is also a member of Chris Armstrong's Scottish Power band. Derek has just returned to Scotland from a Hallowe'en Party in Las Vegas. He was telling me about it but fell asleep halfway through. Must have been some do.

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At Wellington Point in Queensland lived Skyeman Donald MacKinnon, composer of the reel 'The Sound of Sleat'. He was with Roddy's father on his Pipe Major's Course at Edinburgh Castle. Willie MacDonald, Benbecula, (always called thus to differentiate him from Willie MacDonald, Inverness) remains in hospital and is quite ill so our best wishes to him. One of my earliest, memories of Willie (Benbecula) was at the Chelsea Town Hall in 1976 on my first trip to the London Competition . Willie (pictured right at the Northern Meeting Ceilidh in 1966) came on in the Bratach and, after a few minutes tuning, the bass drone stopped. Undaunted, he laid the pipe down on top of the upright piano on the stage, took off the Glengarry, pulled a suitably long hair from his receding pate, calmly inserted it under the tongue of the bass drone reed, tipped up the pipes again and launched into his tune. I think he got a prize too.

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Roddy tells me that my old BB Staff Sergeant Gordon Ferguson has fully recovered from his illness and is back at work. Great news, and I asked Roddy to pass on my best wishes. Gordon, as you may have read in an earlier blog, was Pipe Sergeant of the 214th BB when I was a mere 12 year old. He was always very kind to the young lads in the band - encouraging and thoughtful. I followed in his footsteps to Muirhead and Sons PB but he left the year before I joined. I used to bump into him every year or so at the Worlds when he was home from Oz. The last time I saw him before he took ill was in Brisbane a couple of years ago when he came along to my recital. Still the same Gordon.

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PT Reader Dave Mason now in Ohio has sent this on: 'The next pandemic! I went to a dinner party last night, where I and other guests enjoyed copious amounts of alcohol. I awoke this morning with flu-like symptoms; headache, nausea, chills, sore eyes. As a result, I have unfortunately tested positive for what a cadre of experts are now calling Wine Flu. This debilitating condition is serious - and it appears this is NOT an isolated case. Reports are flooding in from across the country of others now being diagnosed with Wine Flu. To anyone exhibiting the aforementioned symptoms, experts recommend a cup of tea and a bit of a lie down. However, should your condition worsen, you should immediately rent a DVD and call in sick. Then take the only drug proven to combat this usual type type of flu - a McDonald's Happy Meal. If that doesn't work, further application of the original liquid, in familiar quantities, has been shown to do the trick. Wine Flu does not NEED to be life threatening!'

Glenfiddich Weekend

Just back from Blair Atholl/ Pitlochry where, despite the weather, everyone had a great time. I'll have a full report in the next PT so make sure you get your copy. One of the pipers was Alastair Dunn of the Field Marshal Montgomery band and before I headed north he sent me this nice picture of him and his wife Margaret and their new baby Calum, already christened by some wag 'Alastair's new CD'. During the contest the child was as good as gold sleeping contentedly anytime I saw him at the hotel or in the castle corridor, though MC John Wilson swears he was wakened by what he thought was a howling banshee in the middle of the night but what turned out to be a baby at full throttle. If it was you Calum, good on you. First time Wilson's been defeated in the vocal stakes for a long time.

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We woke to a lovely morning. Perthshire in autumn is

hard to beat and this was the view from our bedroom

window, mist filling the Tummel glen, and trees protruding above. Photographer Derek Maxwell told me that the trees were the legacy of a certain Duke of Atholl who many years ago planted them not for the benefit of guests at the Glenfiddich but so that on maturity they could be cut down for shipbuilding.

It was pleasant to share breakfast at the Atholl Palace Hotel with Gwen and Donald MacPherson. Both looked fit and well and Donald tells me he is still teaching on a Monday and Tuesday and that Stuart Shedden's son has taken his dad's place on the lessons roster.

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Glenfiddich stalwarts John and Sheila Finlay were there. John asked me if the Archie MacLean (left) he'd seen judging in the PT was the same Archie that played with him in the Clan MacRae back in the 70s. I assured him it was. John hadn't seen him since 1974 and was pleased to see his name and to know that he was still involved in piping.
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Friday night was a hoot I must say. Locked into agreeable company with Iain MacFadyen, John Wilson and Bill Livingstone, the master raconteur (John) held the floor with some priceless stories which had us chortling into our beer. Bill insists that John gets these tales, so full of West Highland and Glasgow humour, down for posterity. I agree. So John, get to it.

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My attempts to blog from the hotel met with no success but I later discovered free wi-fi in the reception area and was able to post the results on Saturday evening as soon as I got back.

Now not one to blow the personal trumpet as they say, but is this blog ever wrong? Didn't I tell you Stuart Liddell would win? No, but I did say that if I was a betting man I'd put my money on him. He has been in sparkling form all year. On the Friday I had a quick talk with him and he said that he had expected his solo form perhaps to drop a little given the time constraints his band, Inveraray, placed on him. But as Stuart said himself, when it came to the crunch, he was able to deliver no matter the circumstances. Sign of a great player.

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Bruce Gandy tells me that the Editorial on the College of Celtic Performing Arts a couple of issues ago hit the mark but that I was wrong to describe their piping instructor as of Grade 1 standard. He is actually an Open player now and is going to Bruce for lessons. The piper is determined to improve he said. He couldn't do better than go to Bruce, the outstanding piping figure in the Maritimes and currently installed as instructor at Halifax Citadel.

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On Sunday it was down to Perth for a meeting of the Joint Committee on Judging on which I am the Piobaireachd Society's rep. It was my first stint and I was extremely impressed by the effort that is made by all concerned, the CPA, the judges and the promoters, to get the best possible arrangements for our competing pipers.