Bagpipe News

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And days of auld lang syne?

Chorus (repeated between stanzas):

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint stoop

And surely I’ll be mine

And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet

For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes

And pou’d the gowans fine

But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot

Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn

Frae mornin’ sun till dine

But seas between us braid hae roared

Sin’ auld lang syne.

And here’s a hand, my trusty fiere

And gi’e’s a hand o’ thine

And we’ll tak a right good willy waught

For auld lang syne.

Auld Lang Syne means “old long since” and is adapted from a traditional Scottish folk tune. The basic words date to at least 1711, though some scholars say it was mentioned as early as 1677. Scottish poet Robert Burns is credited with first publishing it, in the mid-1790s, and, researchers say, smoothing out some of the verses and changing the melody.
Singalong New Years - Click Here

The calendar has just a few days left in 2006. On Monday, we will celebrate the New Year, 2007. You can bet from my Scottish heritage I will be singing “Auld Lang Syne” at the stroke of midnight.

In spite of the popularity of “Auld Lang Syne,” those Scottish words probably will be mispronounced, even in Scotland.

 Capital Press - Full Article

Merry Christmas and a Happy Near to you and your family from ours

“Irish piping is considered an almost lunatic fringe, but we have our needs,” said Anderson, who takes home the plant species Arundo donax to cure for two years in his garage rafters, then scrapes the bamboo-like tubes into reeds to place inside his uilleann and highland pipes.

Anderson hunts with passion, squishing through muck, dangling over rapids as the sharp weed slices his hands and looking out for the California canebrake rattlesnake. But a good stalk is hard to find these days, because arundo is considered a botanical pest to nearly everyone but certain musicians. The flammable, nonnative plant spreads prodigiously, destroying ecosystems, redirecting river flows, igniting fires, causing flooding and creating expensive beach cleanup projects once it washes out to sea.

A statewide consortium of environmental and government organizations dubbed Team Arundo methodically kills off the species, which also consumes three times the water of other plants. The state has spent over $25 million to raze cane, but a handful of musical aficionados are raising cane — at least among themselves — over eradication of their beloved reed.

“Team Arundo wiped out some of the best stuff on the Sonoma River,” said Anderson, who also said he understood the plant’s destructive reputation. Two bridges in San Diego County collapsed in recent years when pushed off their pylons by mats of arundo washing downstream. High in wax content, the weed also poses an extreme fire hazard, flaring up like dynamite explosions within a wildfire. “Everybody from firefighters to environmentalists hates it,” said Daniel Cozad, president of Integrated Planning Management, a Redlands water-consulting firm. Arundo is bad seed, all right.

Yet the Europeans importing it during the 1820s prized the reed for windbreaks, roofing, basket weaving, fencing, wicker furniture and animal fodder. For a time, the Army Corps of Engineers planted it for erosion control, later learning its root network can instead rip away riverbanks. “People have sent me nasty letters asking how I could plant such an invasive thing,” said Marsha Taylor, a Eugene, Ore., oboist who wrote her 1971 master’s thesis on arundo while studying at the California Institute of the Arts.

However, Taylor carefully isolates her tiny crop, which she uses to make the softer reeds needed to play Baroque oboe. For musical use, however, nothing compares with arundo, which was used to make the syrinx, or panpipe, of Greek mythology. It also serves folk and historical instruments like the shawm and crumhorn, and classical woodwind players worldwide use it.

Read the Whole Story 

… 11 pipers piping

You could give Christmas a Scottish flair by hiring 11 local bagpipers to do the piping. It will cost $650 to bring in members of the Flint Scottish Pipe Band to play for an hour, said band spokesman Dan Watson.

That’s a big savings over hiring individual bagpipers, for whom the going rate would be $150 per piper per hour, Watson said…

Full Story 

There are more than 11 pipers piping the Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band — and Christmas means time for a break for the group, which is kept busy spring through Remembrance Day.

“New Year’s is the big one for pipes and pipe bands,” says Mel Wilson, the pipe band major.

He says the pipes perform at house parties, ceilidhs, and the Parskville Legion levy on New Year’s Day.

The band has around 25 members from Jim Locke, who turns 87 this month to Keefer McMahon who for three years has played the pipes.

“I have some Scottish inheritance,” says McMahon, about why he decided to pick up the pipes. “Lots of people play them.” …

Full Story - Click Here

Stuart Liddell
Debut CD from one of the world’s top solo pipers. Stuart won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in Inverness in 2000, followed by the Oban Gold Medal in 2004. He has played at events ranging from the Donald MacLeod Memorial Competition in Stornoway, the the Glenfiddich Championship in Blair Atholl, to the final of the Scottish Pipers’ Association Knockout Competition which he won in 2005. He is a joy to listen to, and this recording captures him in full flight both in the studio, and in the intimate surroundings of Breakish Village Hall in Skye.

Click here to order

Read previous issues and order your subscription here:�

Andrew Wright on the spread of the piobaireachd repertory ….
“In the Grade A and the Grade B piobaireachd events, a total of 43 competitors entered names of some 90 different tunes for the consideration of the judges. This figure is of some significance as it represents about a quarter of the available repertory. It also represents more than one third of the total number of tunes published by the Piobaireachd Society in their current series of books started in 1925 and now numbering 15. …..”

Marey Ann MacKinnon on women’s dress …..
“I read the editorial of the last edition (Vol. 59, No. 1) of the Piping Times with much amusement. First of all, to quote Robert Burns, who was essentially a womaniser and probably would have been had up for all kinds of things in this day and age, was not a good start. To then follow this by saying that some of the “lassies insist on…ruining their female form….”

From our feature on ‘toun’ pipers…..
“The main duty of the burgh piper would seem to be to circumnavigate the town in the morning and evening to signal the start and end of the day. Mackenzie tells in his History of Scotland that the pipers, ‘evenings and mornings and other times needful march through the town to refresh the lieges…..”

Ministers are going to overhaul Tartan Week, their annual promotion of Scotland in the US, after six years of failings were highlighted in a consultants’ report.

Although touted at home as a showcase for Scotland, the £650,000 event gathered little news coverage in the US this year, with even participants unclear about its objectives. There was a “low awareness” of events during the week and “low attendance”

Full Story Click Here

CAMPAIGNERS are urging MSPs to support Scots language and culture by singing Auld Lang Syne this Hogmanay.

The Scots Language Centre is calling on the MSPs to do more to recognise the cultural value of the country’s traditional language and dialects.

Anyone who has forgotten the words to Robert Burns’ famous song can get a reminder by visiting the centre’s website, www.scotslanguage.com The website even has a karaoke version to sing along to.

The new research will be presented by Dr David Goldie, of Strathclyde University, and reveals how Burns was a role model for those who supported the war, like James Dalrymple who raised the Glasgow Tramways Battalion. Equally, Burns was an inspiration for many who opposed the war: the suppressed Socialist paper, Forward, in 1916 designated Scots Wha Hae‚ the unofficial song of the Scottish Socialist movement.

Full Story Click Here�

The Ministry of Defence has denied that there is a shortage of kilts in Scotland’s new super regiment.

“At the request of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, these kilts are being trialled to ensure soldiers get the most comfortable material for a variety of weather, with the best clarity of colour and pattern.”

� Full Story

The Boys’ Brigade Sharity Gift Box started in 1988 with a simple objective of teaching the Boys how to care and share for the less fortunate in Singapore. Over the last fifteen years, The Boys’ Brigade in Singapore (BB) has been managing the BB Sharity Gift Box on behalf of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS).

“Tis the season to be jolly, sha la la la la la la la la…” You’ll never believe your ears when you hear Christmas carols being played on the bagpipes! But it’s true, and it’s testimony to the hard work put in by the national bagpipe champions bagged by Northlight Secondary School. It was wonderful music which attracted quite a huge crowd of shoppers to stop by and witness the closing ceremony.

The popular Celtic Rock band, Stand Easy, has announced its new CD release, “Tainted.” The band’s newest CD, “Tainted,” includes 11 tunes, ranging from the powerful “Western Thunder” to the haunting “Leaving Lismore.” More details and MP3s are available on the website: www.myspace.com/standeasy. Stand Easy’s self-titled first CD has been heard on over a hundred commercial radio stations in the U.S.A., Scotland, Canada and Mexico.

Stand Easy is a Celtic Rock band led by Los Angeles-based John McLean Allan, an award-winning bagpiper, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. John has appeared playing bagpipes in numerous feature films and television shows, including the Oscar-winning Best Picture, “Million Dollar Baby,” “Open Season,” “Austin Powers 2,” “West Wing,” “Primary Colors,” “Judging Amy,” ” Sleeper Cell,” “National Security,” and “Providence,” among many others.

The pilgrimage of church leaders from the UK, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, continues with the group praying in Bethlehem yesterday to give thanks to God for the birth of Christ…

… A bagpipe and drum group greeted them on their arrival and accompanied them to their first meeting with the 13 heads of Churches in Jerusalem. The meeting was hosted by Greek Patriarch Theophilus.

� Full Story

Jan Sanders van Hemessen [Netherlandish Mannerist Painter, ca.1500-1566]View Photo

Winterstorm.net is now up and running, and registration
has started for the January 12-14, 2007 Winter Storm Weekend! Please visit
the site for information and registration for the Workshop, the concert,
and all the piping and drumming competitions!

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican’s 2006 Christmas tree did not turn out to be the tallest ever, but its Nativity scene is definitely the most populated. Advertisement In addition to Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and the three kings, the creche in St. Peter’s Square also features peasants, a flutist, a bagpipe player and a shepherd named “Titaoca.”

The inclusion of Titaoca, who carries a baby lamb under his arm and kneels in adoration before the baby Jesus, is typical of Nativity scenes in northern Italy’s Trent region. He is one of 17 new figures, on loan to the Vatican, that are the handiwork of sawyers and sculptors from Tesero, a town of 2,700 people high in the Alps of Trent.

Read More …

London (AP) — It’s the kind of shortage that could leave any Army exposed.

The band of the Georgia State Defense Force, an all-volunteer arm of the Georgia Department of Defense, is looking for part-time musicians to fill the ranks of the recently formed marching/orchestra and dance band as well as buglers, drummers and bagpipe players for the drum/bugle and bagpipe corps currently being formed, to perform in military and civic events in Georgia.

Prior military service is not required.

The band supports both the 530th Georgia Air Guard and 116th Georgia Army Guard bands, www.gasdf.com.