------Est. 1980 Glasgow city centre's oldest bagpipe shop------
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Dear Piping Enthusiast,
I hope all my customers in Scotland have been enjoying the good weather since our last newsletter, although as I write, things are more back to the norm - dreich! I've recently been to Loch Melfort on the west coast for the May weekend on a "boys' jolly" - my two brothers, my son and the dug.
We had a great time although the fishing was poor - came across a pub with a set of pipes on the wall, along with the great march John MacFadyen of Melfort. This was composed by John MacColl and amongst his myriad of fantastic compositions, it is said that this march was his personal favourite. Check out this great article by the late Seamas MacNeill, courtesy of the College of Piping, and the tune itself.
That was followed by a trip to Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy for a swim in the lake and more fishing. My colleague Malcolm was on duty so hopefully full service continued in my absence.
I'm glad to see Spirit of Scotland doing fantastically well - 5th on first outing at Paisley, 4th at Belfast and 6th at Forres - this is some debut and they add a real sparkle. Begg Bagpipes are proud to be sponsoring SOS - check out some of the background to the Band in the Field Report below and guess who the two young lads are in the photo! Who knows what is going to happen shortly at the Worlds in August - as the results to-date are showing, the Worlds could actually be taken by anyone from about 6 or 7 bands. It is most interesting and exciting and with so many bands capable of winning, it all adds a great new dimension.
We may be leaving the EU with Brexit but rest assured your custom is appreciated and all will settle down in due course - the British ship will steady and all will be well. Of course, with the pound having weakened against all major currencies, our products and services have become even better value for your euro and dollar - great!
Yours aye and as I am still in Italian mode, Ciao.
James Begg
Piping Perfection
News.
I had a coffee with the delectable Tabby Angier in the fantastic new Italian coffee shop above me. Tabby popped in from Garve, north of Inverness to collect last month's Special offer/ auction of ivory pipes. We had a good chat piping and the pipes sounded great, along with an RJM chanter too.
I was sorry to hear that my long term customer and friend George McIIwham passed away last week at the Westerton Care Home. His white tuxedo and black bow tie was so James Bond - what a guy. George was a world renowned flautist and also presented the BBC piping programme for many years. I'm glad to see that his son is also a great flautist and continues the family tradition in London with equally great aplomb. George will be sadly missed and our condolences go out to his family.
For Sale - Highland Dirks
Two Scottish Highland dirks for sale. The first is a traditional steel with ff initialled on it and made in Scotland. Nickel mounts throughout and lovely simplicity - £225 plus post.
The second is more elaborate with a knife and fork. It's in good condition and well worth £200 plus post - quality is good and made in China.
We don't normally deal in used antiques but some readers may be interested.
Special Offer. Keep it dry! Down with Moisture!
Field Report - some thoughts on Spirit of Scotland, following an informal chat with Roddy MacLeod
The idea of reforming the Band from the 2008 world championship event and the 2010 Celtic Connections concert stemmed from a discussion with Colin Maclellan at last year's Glenfiddich solo piping championship. Colin thought it could be a good idea to reform given the availability of Jim Kilpatrick. If SOS could get the best drummer in the world on board then that would be an exciting prospect given the calibre of the pipers in the pipe corps. Roddy suggested he'd think about it and so when Jim Kilpatrick agreed to come on board then everyone got behind the idea and almost all of the 2008 pipe corps signed up along with a few new faces. The crux though was that it should be different from and hopefully even better than 2008. It was decided that the band would play at all 5 major events and so the band would hopefully become a tighter unit over the course of the season. This suited Jim Kilpatrick as he was planning 2016 to be his last year playing competitively at the top The seed was sown and the concept is totally working as can be seen in the results from the first 3 majors.
The list of pipers is essentially the same as 2008 but it's been added to as the requirements for 5 majors will be more demanding and not all players are available over a long period. It's obviously more tricky and costly for the overseas players as well. So out of a pool of 30, the idea is to perform with 20 or so players at each event.
With the world's best pipers and drummers, the management of individual egos was a point we discussed but it seems not to be an issue in that all the players enjoy the camaraderie as a band. In fact, it's a bonus that Roddy has such a huge talent base to advise him. All are involved in decision making and it's a team effort essentially.
Due to his vast experience, Roddy suggested he now finds it easier to delegate and orchestrate the band and of course his standing in the world of piping speaks for itself.
The band have two medleys - one brand new one which came nicely together and the original medley from 2008 has been revamped with band member Finlay Macdonald's composition Anne's March starting it off in a calm and steady manner as opposed to the current trend of hornpipe marches. All the tunes are chosen by Roddy but Finlay and Gordon Bruce provided the harmonies.
All the guys more or less have known each other over the years, through competitions, other bands, summer schools and so on and this all helped the integration into one unit. The band has been helped by their sponsors, including the supply of some 30 sheepskin bags from Begg Bagpipes and SOS are most grateful for the support.
As to the future when the 2016 Worlds are over? Who knows, but there is a hint of a possible concert at some stage.
James C. Begg
From the Archives
Guess who the Likely Lads are - photo taken by P/M Peter MacInnes ex Scots Guards circa 1970. Happy days.
YouReport
If you would like to report on any aspect of the Piping World from wherever you live, or if you would like to comment on any articles or issues, we'd be pleased to hear from you. Email to bill@beggbagpipes.com
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