In Scotland Again


I have been here for pretty much a week now, and ytoday met up with the rest of the pipe band in Glasgow. Most of the band members arrived this afternoon in Glasgow. Since arriving, I have watched the Grade 1 and a few Grade 2 bands at the European Championships in Greenock, and have travelled around a lot, and played at two Highland Games.

Met some pipers from The Blacktown bands from Australia, and some friends from the UK and Canadian piping scene. Most impressive so far was Field Marshal Montgomery. They were stellar in the pouring rain, and would have been very deserving winners of that competition. Had the best pipe tone by a wide margin, plus a great overall package. 5th in ensemble? Not in my books.

Tayside Police were also very good indeed, and had a better sound than a few Grade 1 bands I heard. 12th in piping? Either something very bad happened that only one piping judge heard, or one of the judges had a bad day.

And a mystery solved: it turns out that the North Berwick people have "78th Fraser Highlanders" in the draw, when what they mean is "78th Highlanders, Halifax Citadel." Arrived at the dorms in Glasgow to find gate passes and the draw from the committee in North Berwick, and it seems that someone made an understandable error when entering the bands for the draw.

So, we will prepare the field for the 78th Highlanders [Halifax] at North Berwick, and not the 78th Frasers. "There can be only one.." [off-stage left, deep voice that sounds like Bill Livingstone.]

The title of this post: next time you're in a used book store, have a cruise through the Scottish and travel books to see if you can find this title by "H.V. Morton." He also penned "In Scotland," anbd they are charming travelogues from an era past. As we meander through the countryside, I often think of Morton, and what he would make of modern Scotland.