Congratulations to Iain Speirs of Edinburgh who won the Piobaireachd event at the 2011 Glenfiddich Championship. This caps off a remarkable season for Iain, following his wins at the Argyllshire Gathering. Iain has for many years played a McCallum chanter. 

Also in the prizes at the same event playing the McC² chanter were Willie McCallum (4th Piob, 3rd MSR) and Niall Stewart, 4th MSR.

The overall event was won by Roddy MacLeod MBE and we congratulate Roddy on winning his 4th title.

Only 44 days until Christmas.

More importantly it’s only 42 days until all the little elves at McCallum Bagpipes pack up their hemp and whiskey and head away on their annual 2 week holiday.

Please don’t forget to order sooner rather than later to avoid disapointment and to save the elves from getting too stressed. (especially bob elf)

The Factory will be closed from Friday the 23rd of December until Monday the 9th of January 2012

McCallum Bagpipes New Catalogue
info@mccallumbagpipes.com

New Merchandise

We have finally started a new range of merchandise with the McCallum Bagpipes logo on it after many years of customers requesting something along these lines.  It’s only a small range to start with but will hopefully grow bigger as time goes by.

• Apparel                    Black Hoody/Black Polo Shirt/Black Fleece
• Accessories             Black Golf Umbrella/Navy Coffee Mug
• All items come with the Gold McCallum Bagpipes  Logo
• If you want any additional details you can email info@mccallumbagpipes.com.

All in aid of charity

Hilary and Julie Anne in our Highland Dress department helped fit out the Kilmarnock Fire Station team in their finest kilt outfits so the guys could look their best at the charity event at Ayr Racecourse on 2nd October.

400 lady guests, many of who had come dressed for the 1920′s Orient Express theme enjoyed some shopping lunch and afternoon tea then watched a brilliant fashion show.  At the end of the evening all the guests learned how to perform the Charleston dance to the music of ‘Time of your Life’ Showband. The best part was that the guests raised a fantastic £6,000 which is up on last years total and all of it being fully donated to Cancer Research UK. This brings their total since they began in 2007 to an amazing £160,000.

An extra special well done has to go to Lorna Dempsey, the founder of Butterfly Events who tirelessly organises these events purely voluntarily, as well as working full time.

For more photos of the event and more details of forthcoming events, please visit Butterfly Events.

Congratulations to Willie McCallum on winning the Bratach Gorm for the fourth time in London on 5^th November 2011. Willie capped off a great day by also winning the overall title, by virtue of winning the Bratach Gorm, 2^nd in the Former Winners MSR, 3^rd in the Hornpipe and  Jig and 4^th in the Gillies Cup Open Piobaireachd. Willie was playing his own design McC² chanter. By virtue of winning this title Willie qualifies for the Glenfiddich Championship in 2012, making it his 25th time in succession at the competition.

 It was without doubt a successful day for many other competitors who were playing McCallum chanters and/or pipes. Iain Speirs continued his fine form by coming 2^nd overall by virtue of 2^nd in the Gillies Cup, 4^th in the Bratach Gorm, 3^rd in the Former Winners MSR, and 2^nd in the Hornpipe and Jig.

 Niall Stewart took 1^st in the JB Robertson March and 3^rd in the Gillies Cup.

 Alex Gandy won the Hornpipe and Jig, also coming 4^th in the A grade MSR and 3^rd in the B Piobaireachd.

 Steven Leask was placed 1^st in the C grade MSR and Hornpipe and Jig playing a full set of McCallum Bagpipes and McC² chanter.

 Gordon Walker took 5^th place in the Gillies Cup, Callum Beaumont (5^th in the Bratach Gorm / 5^th in the Marches), Bruce Gandy (2^nd Marches), Jenny Hazzard and Andrew Hall (2^nd B MSR). Apologies if we have missed anyone from the list.

All the players mentioned have had great seasons and we at McCallum Bagpipes congratulate all of them and thank them for continuing to play and have faith in our products.

 The SPSL contest has been running since the 1930’s and the 2011 event attracted possibly the biggest entry in its history.

On the 3rd December members of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland Senior Band performed at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards which were held this year at the Perth Concert Hall. The line up for this event included 11 bands such as the Peatbog Faeries, Skerryvore and the Paul McKenna Band who all entertained the enthusiastic audience throughout the evening. The NYPBoS were on towards the end of the night and performed once again “The Dragon’s Lair” which has become one of the signature pieces for the senior band over the past few years. The event was filmed for the BBC and will be broadcast on both the 5th and 9th December on BBC Alba. For UK residents if you’re interested in seeing the band in action please follow this link to access BBC iplayer.

The Arbroath & District Musical (Competitive) Festival Association will hold the Solo Piping and Drumming competition on Saturday 3rd March 2012.
The event is to take place at Arbroath Academy. Entries close on 6th February.
The adjudicators for 2012 are: Gordon Bruce and Finlay Johnston, piping; David Ross and Fiona Wilson, drumming.

• Download Entry Form & Events Info

The Scots Guards Club Knockout contest on Sunday 4th December was a close callwith Glenn Brown narrowly defeating Andrea Boyd. The next event will take place on Sunday 11th December with Jenny Hazzard playing against John Mulhearn. It starts at 4pm, £10 ticket with a meal included.

On the 26th November the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland Senior Band performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The concert was titled, The St Andrews Day Party and included other top class musicans such as Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain. In front of around 2500 spectators the band performed on three occasions. The first saw the full band perform a small jig set which consisted of, The Snuff Wife, The Old Hag at the Kiln and Haste to the Wedding. Later in the evening eight pipers and two drummers performed alongside the RSNO, Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain in two pieces of music, both composed by Phil, Farewell to Govan and Cathcart.

The 2012 edition of the Junior Piping Competition will take place on the 25th of February, here at The National Piping Centre.
Entries are now open – closing date 3rd February 2012.
Please follow this link to the Junior Piping Competition page.