Forget the clichés, pipe bands are ‘cool’: Thousands meet in Glasgow for annual Worlds competition
WITH pink, fluffy drum sticks twirling in the air with precise co- ordination, it is not your typical image of a traditional pipe band. But yesterday, Spirit of Scotland was one of more than 200 bands gathered at Glasgow Green for the finals of the World Pipe Band Championships.
The prestigious competition, which was won by Field Marshal Montgomery for the 11th time in the Northern Irish band’s history, with Inverary and District Pipe Band second and third going to St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin, is a far cry from the cliché of stern-faced Scottish men marching along piping and drumming.
While there are kilts in abundance, competitors are young and old, male and female, and from more than a dozen countries.
The international mix is reflected in the Glasgow-based Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band, which was set up as a project to bring together top pipers and drummers, including from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and America.
Jim Kilpatrick, leading drummer with the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band, said: “I think it’s cool now to play in a pipe band. When I first started 50 years ago it wasn’t like that – but now it is well promoted and a lot of schools have pipe bands.”
Heather Purvis was one of numerous female competitors at the championships. She had travelled from Winnipeg, Canada, with her mum and dad to compete with the St Andrew’s Pipe Band.
Purvis, who has been playing the bagpipes since she was eight, has been visiting Scotland for “the Worlds” since 1982.
She said: “My dad learned to play when he retired and there was always a chanter lying about the house. I think for Canadians, we want a piece of the heritage, so we grasp onto the music.
“There are a lot of Scots who have come directly from Scotland and settled in Winnipeg. The music ties everybody all together.”
But when it comes to the Worlds there is little doubt the competition is fierce.
As well as competing in the arena, bands huddled under trees or gathered in random spots to get some last-minute practice in.
Several different grades of pipe band compete – ranging from Grade 1, the highest standard of players, through to Grade 4B, with separate categories for juvenile bands.
A large crowd gathered at the Nelson Monument, where the names of bands that had qualified for the finals were being announced on a screen.
Paul and Karen Hawkins, from Hertfordshire, were waiting to find out if their 19-year-old son Alexander had made the finals with the University of Bedfordshire Pipe Band.
The couple have been attending the event for the past six years to support him – but said they had no idea what had sparked their son’s interest in piping.
“I honestly don’t know and if you ask him, he doesn’t know either,” Paul said. “He started when he was 13 or 14 and had never played an instrument before – but he absolutely loves the pipes.”
The popularity of the pipes and drums extends to some unusual countries. Philip Daelman was among a group of members of the Pepingen Pipe Band from Belgium, who had come to spectate.
He said: “The band started after some people were interested in playing the bagpipes individually.
“Little by little more people joined and we are about 15 musicians.
“But it takes time to build it up and improve – maybe in five years we will come back and compete.”