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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…..”