Southern Africa

Day 1 - March 29
Would you believe it. We're sitting having a cup of coffee at Heathrow and who appears out of the corner of my eye but Stuart Liddell. Stuart was returning from Dusseldorf where he had been doing a workshop for the Rhinepower band along with drummers Jim Kilpatrick and Tyler Fry. Though he flew out from Prestwick he had been re-routed home via London and Glasgow. Problem was his car was at Glasgow.
Stuart was telling me that he was now full time with the Inveraray band and was looking forward to the coming season in Grade 2. He'd been going out to Vancouver for the SFU for 11 years. Now there's dedication.
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Day 2 - March 30
Have arrived Jo'burg after 10 hour flight. Alan and Merlyn Munro met us and a five our drive took us to the Botswana border where a metal cage ferried us across the Limpopo. Dramatic. Crocs below we were told. Drove through game reserve, saw variety of wild life and am now giving the pipes a blow after a full 24 hour journey from Glasgow. Did two sets after substantial brai (BBQ). Our host, John Dewar (of a Perthshire family), regaled us with a few stories not least of which was the anniversary day his old regiment, the Transvaal Scottish, re-enacted the Battle of Magersfontein with local Africaaners playing the part of the Boers.
John also told of an Atholl Highlander killed in another Boer War struggle, Spion Kop. The previous day the unfortunate victim had arranged a few after battle drinks with his former Harrow schoolmate Winston Churchill a correspondent for (I think) the News Chronicle during that bitter conflict. Passing the bodies of the fallen the day after hostilities ended Churchill noticed that of the dead Harrovian and managed to have a more dignified committal for his former chum than in the communal ditch that was planned. When the present day Atholl Highlanders visited SA a couple of years ago they went to the grave and paid tribute to the soldier. Duncan MacDiarmid, farmer and band member, has named a hill on his farm at Weem, Perthshire, Spion Kop, said John.
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Day 3 - March 31
Superb game drive today seeing many different animals. At night came back and played a few tunes and ran through some stuff for the recital on Friday. The pipes are holding up well in the heat. The still African air seems to have a calming effect. Maybe it's just the duty free. Have kept them in a poly bag with damp cloth inside. Seems to be working. They only take a few minutes to settle. Jo'burg 6,000 feet up will be the real test. Having done this gig before I know how the pipes go through the roof in the thinner air, so have brought a Shepherd 'Orchestral' chanter with me in the hope that the lower pitch will compensate and I won't have to change the drone settings. We'll see. Played a few tunes for the safari lodge staff and they seemed to enjoy it. I was told they had probably never heard the pipes before. They joined in with some percussion and dancing.
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Day 4 - April 1
Leopard and its kill and other treats. Later Alan revealed that the Scottish Piping Society of the Witwatersrand's tape archive, it goes back around 50 years, had been recovered. It had not been seen for a number of years after it was loaned to a member who passed it on to someone else who then vanished into the ether. An ad. was placed in a popular South African magazine appealing for information and out of the blue the phone rang and Chris Mulinder, who'd placed the ad., went to collect the tapes.
Played a few tunes at night. Again the warm African air seems to suit the bagpipe but had no effect on the elephants who were still chewing away outside our lodge when we turned in.