Since the two men in that photo were members of the grade 1 City of Toronto Pipe Band (the one on the right was the pipe major, I don't recognize the one on the left), it is likely that the kilt in...

My first set of pipes was an old, rather dilapidated set of Henderson with casein mounts, ring caps and bushes and plated, soldered brass ferrules. I purchased the pipes in 1958, not long after I...

I too have wide feet. In dress shoes, I usually need at least EE width, even EEE width with some shoes. I can't even wear most sneakers. I recently tried on a pair of walking shoes advertised as...

While participating in the Victoria Highland Games, my band lost not one, but several glengarries. They were stolen overnight along with a few other small items out of our closed up pop-up tent after...

I haven't seen Naill pipes with that type of imitation ivory either, but for about 20 years I did own a Naill long ABW practice chanter that had a ferrule and sole made of that material. The chanter...

Yes, indeed. According to published reports, the majority of the grade 1 bands competing at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow a week ago were tuning above 490 Hz as the unusually hot...

Well... Actually, a good piper friend of mine who recently moved to a condo thought that the green space in front of her unit would be a nice spot to play a few tunes on her pipes. She had barely...

It's not surprising that the bands opted to wear vests without jackets, given the unusually high temperatures in Glasgow last weekend. Mind you, 40 years ago, we used to compete in similar...

Back in the day, when I played with a grade 1 band in southern Ontario summer heat, to keep our reeds cool and provide some needed moisture we used to put a couple of small chunks of ice in our...

If these are Pakistani, they would be the first set of Pakistani polypenco pipes I've ever seen. The Pakistani makers just don't use polypenco. Even Hakam Din, arguably the best of the Pakistani...

That was my feeling, too. To my knowledge, Dunbar has never made smallpipes, let alone polypenco smallpipes. The chanter appears to be a Dunbar long practice chanter, which would, of course, play in...

The aluminum alloy that makers like Dunbar are using is really great. It engraves well, is light and, as stated above, never needs polishing. I had a set of pipes with engraved aluminum alloy...

Nice find. Some idiot probably told the seller that the Royal Stuart bag cover indicated that the pipes were Pakistani. I've seen this nonsense repeated a number of times on online forums over the...

Of interest to those in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest:

The Campbell River Highland Gathering will take place this year on Saturday, 7 August, although with a much reduced format....

Reminds of my late brother-in-law, a Salvationist by upbringing, whose reaction upon first tasting a nice malt scotch was to exclaim: "You mean you drink that stuff and no one makes you!"

Yes, that is a lovely set of Gillanders & McLeod. On behalf of a bandmate, I purchased an identical set a few years ago from a seller in Germany. I personally have two sets of G & M pipes, both made...

In British Columbia, Canada, the Penticton HG (3 July) and the Campbell River Highland Gathering (10 August) have not yet been cancelled. I suspect the Penticton organizers are being a bit too...

In the late 1970s and the 1980s, Kintail was also using a material they called "imitation horn", which may have been the same marbleized material but with darker, greyish colouring. I recall that...

I think a number of pipe makers were using that same "marbleized" imitation ivory in the 1970s and 80s. I can remember one of my students purchasing a brand new set of Kintails around 1976-77 that...

"Scotland the Brave" is a popular tune and one that most non-pipers recognize, although 90% of the latter will call it "My Bonnie Lassie". It has no particular significance as a tune other than that...

I've never actually seen a set of these transparent, acrylic pipes, much less heard a set, but I recall that several years ago a Scottish maker--I think it may have been Ayrshire Bagpipes--was...

It looks as though someone could get a real bargain with these Gillanders & McLeods. If I didn't already have two sets of 1970s G & Ms I would be tempted to bid on them myself. I love the tone of G &...

Personally, I prefer my Jameson and Guinness in separate glasses. Not only do you get the full flavour of both, but you get a whole pint of Guinness!

The music for the tune, in case your friend is tempted to play it, can be found in the Royal Irish Rangers Collection. now, sadly, long out of print, and in the Brigade Book of Irish Pipe Music,...

Certainly much better piping in the Wicked Tinkers than is on display with Clanadonia. Still and all, in both cases--and I'm probably showing my age here--it's a pretty god-awful racket. Not...