GLASGOW, Scotland, Aug. 12 Scottish bagpipers were shut out of the top three spots in this year’s World Pipe Bands Championships.
The winner was the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland. The Irish pipers took first place in all three sections of the competition — march, strathspey and reel and medley, The Scotsman reported.
Two Canadian bands, the Simon Fraser University Band and the Scottish Lion 78th Fraser Highlanders, came in second and third. Scottish bands placed fourth and fifth.
An estimated 8,000 pipers and drummers, playing in more than 200 bands from as far away as Pakistan, came to Glasgow Green for the world’s top piping competition.
Ian Embelton, chief executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, was philosophical about the shutout.
“It’s not unprecedented for the overseas band to get the top three positions, though it’s certainly unusual,” he said. “I’m delighted that international piping is of such a high standard and all the bands have strong Scottish backgrounds and connections.”
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