The Gurkhas

I have always been interested in these guys. I love it when they march, at 140 beats. No wonder why. So here is very brief article on them. I wonder if any of their traditional music fits in with the pipes!

Andy T

As good as it gets?

Here is Field Marshal Montgomery winning the Grade 1 MSR section at the Worlds Pipe Band Championship 2008.

The tunes - "Highland Wedding", "Blair Drummond" and "Pretty Marion".

Mind-boggling .....

Click here to listen.

Old Angus

Yet more insights into our tunes.

Kate Dalrymple.
A traditional tune with words added by William Watt ( circa 1792). Very popular as a dance tune with folk groups and pipers alike. The words tell the tale of a less than pretty lady, doomed to spinsterhood, with nothing going for her at all until she falls heir to a friend’s estate. Then the wooers start coming thick and fast. A typical bit of Scots humour.


The Bonnie Lass O’ Fyvie.
A popular folk song which (tongue in cheek) tells the tale of Ned, a Captain of the Irish Dragoons, who dies of a broken heart after falling in love with and soon after having to leave, lovely Peggy from the Aberdeenshire village of Fyvie.


Castle Dangerous
"Castle Dangerous" is a novel by Sir Walter Scott, written in 1832. The castle believed to have inspired the novel is Douglas Castle in the Galloway area of south-west Scotland. In 1307, during the Wars of Scottish Independence the castle was captured and garrisoned by the English under Lord Clifford. Sir James Douglas, companion of Robert the Bruce successfully recaptured his family seat by storming the castle on Palm Sunday, while the garrison were at chapel. He had the garrison killed and thrown into a cellar, before the structure was burned. The event has become known as "Douglas's Larder". Grim days, to be sure.


The Hiking Song.
This song was made popular by Callum Kennedy in the 1960’s, and has remained a favourite. It has never been published as a pipe tune however, and our version is simply a transcription taken directly from Callum’s voice.


Will Ye No’ Come Back Again/We’re No’ Awa’ Tae Bide Awa’.
These two tunes are often played together, but they are truly uneasy bedfellows. The first expresses a nostalgic longing for the return of Bonnie Prince Charlie from exile after the ill-fated Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and the other is a cheery drinking song from the streets of Glasgow. Their adaptation to the pipes has given the repertoire a couple of well know tunes whose titles (if not their content) seem to fit nicely into the category of “rounding off the programme” with the happy idea that the players and the audience would be happy to meet again sometime.


Old Angus

How young can you start learning to play pipes ?

This is a photo of the incredible G.S. McLennan when he was ten years old. He had already won the Amateur National Championship for Marches, Strathspeys and Reels. At the age of twelve he won the London Highland Amateur Championship for Piobaireachd, Marches, Strathspeys and Reels.

He became Pipe Major of the 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders at the age of 21 years, making him the youngest ever pipe major in the British Army. He won over 2000 piping awards during his career, was a brilliant composer, and also was a reputable bagpipe maker.

Sadly he died at the age of 45 due to complications of a lung complaint he contracted in the trenches of World War 1.

So it can safely be said that you are never too young to learn - provided your fingers can fit on a practice chanter !!

Old Angus

Worlds Pipe Band Championship Results.

The championship was held in Glasgow Green yesterday (Saturday 16th August).

The first three bands were:

1. Simon Fraser University (Canada)
2. Field Marshall Montgomery (Ireland)
3. Shotts and Dykehead (Scotland).


Old Angus

More insights into our tunes.

Dysart.

I first heard this tune at a contest in Bathgate in the 1970’s, played by the Dysart and Dundonald Pipe Band. I wrote it out for our own band and it proved popular with our members. Some years later the tune was published as “Unknown Retreat” , but we have elected to stay with our original choice of name ll Cullen Bay. The 5/4 Time Signature is enough to make this composition stand out from the pack, but it is also a lovely expressive melody. We play only the first two parts of this four-parter, because long ago it was part of a contest medley with time constraints, and the tradition has stuck !!! Cullen Bay is a beautiful area north of Grampian, between Buckie and Banff. The composer is Ian Duncan – a drummer believe it or not !!! It is worth mentioning that there is another tune by this name, composed in 1959 – a 2/4 march by Pipe Major James Robertson of The Gordon Highlanders, and named after the very same area. Barren Rocks of Aden. Composed by J. McKellar. This tune has four parts but the last two parts are seldom played nowadays. However, it would be hard to imagine a piper of any worth anywhere in the world who doesn’t have the first two measures in his repertoire. It does remind us that once upon a time the British Army was firmly ensconced in that hot and rocky Red Sea port. Flower of Scotland. Little did the popular folk duo “The Corries” realise when they penned and recorded this song that they would release such a flood of Scottish nationalistic feeling. Some people have even suggested it should be the Scottish National Anthem. Certainly it has become the popular choice of Scottish Soccer and Rugby fans at international matches. The words invoke the spirit of the Battle of Bannockburn (1314 ad) when the Scots, under Robert the Bruce, soundly thrashed “Proud Edward’s army” and firmly established Scottish independence.

Old Angus

Jeremy Levett's lost brother

Here is Jeremy's long lost brother, Ranga Levett.
Keep your eye out at band practice, or a band event.
See if you can spot him!

Scotch Tablet

To Old Angus, master of knowledge.

I am wondering where did Scotch tablet originate from and what's your favourite recipe of Scottish tablet. I bet this is easy to work out.

Who is asking (Peter Levett). What’s your favourite Scottish food?

Pipe Band at the Olympic Opening Ceremony

It was lovely to hear a pipe band at that incredible opening ceremony in Beijing, although I felt it would have been good to let us have even a brief glimpse of them.

They played several times with three brackets of marches. It shows the Chinese have impeccable musical taste .......

Old Angus

Found on the web

An English doctor was being shown around a Scottish hospital. 

At the  end of an extensive tour of the operating rooms, medical, 

surgical,  and pediatric units, he was shown into a ward with a 

number of  patients who showed no obvious signs of injury. He

 went to examine the first man he saw, and the man proclaimed: 

"Fair fa' yer honest sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race! 

Aboon them a' ye tak your place, painch tripe or thairm: Weel are 

ye worthy o' a grace as lang's my arm..."  

The doctor, somewhat taken aback, went to the next patient, who 

immediately launched into: 

"Some hae meat, and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But 

we haemeat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit."  

And the next patient: "Wee sleekit cow'rin tim'rous beastie, O what a 

panic'sin thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, wi 

bickering brattle I wad be laith to run and chase thee, wi murdering 

prattle!"  

"Well," said the Englishman to his Scottish colleague, "I see you  

saved the psychiatric ward for last." "No, no, no," the Scottish 

doctor corrected him,  "this is the Serious  Burns Unit."