Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Putting focus on proud piping past
THE rich tradition of piping and drumming in Angus is being showcased in a new exhibition charting a century-and-a-half of musical history.
Piping Routes opens in The Meffan, Forfar, today and will go on to tour the county.
It is the result of painstaking research into the figures whose talent and dedication put the area on the pipe band map in Scotland and beyond.
And it reveals the local origins of some of the world’s first civilian bands, as well as the intriguing French connection linking Forfar with Brittany.
Those behind the exhibition hope it will encourage more Angus youngsters to learn the pipes and drums, and perhaps one day restore the county to the heady heights of top level competition it previously enjoyed.
Mike Crofts, a former drummer in Forfar Burgh Pipe Band, has masterminded the exhibition.
He drew on interviews with local musicians and the families of wellknown pipers and drummers who are no longer with us.
“I have had a huge amount of enjoyment out of playing in pipe bands,” said Mike.
“And I am forever grateful for the start I got in Forfar.
“The idea behind Piping Routes is to mark Angus’s tremendous history of piping and drumming.
“My hope is that by celebrating the past we can keep the legacy alive by encouraging the musicians of the future.”
Many of the rediscovered photographs relate to Forfar Burgh Pipe Band.
In the 1960s it achieved
Grade One status – the pipe band equivalent of football’s premiership.
The achievements of renowned Pipe Majors Walter Leslie, Trevor Dear and Hendry Dyker, ex Scots Guards, all feature.
And the influence Pipe Majors Leslie and Dyker had on Breton piping is also commemorated.
The exhibition tells how Jacez Pincet, a famous solo piper regarded as the father of modern Breton piping, came to Forfar for tuition.
He played in the band under the direction of Leslie and Dyker.
Pincet is a key figure behind the massive popularity of the Highland bagpipe in Brittany. He is well known as a solo competitor, tutor, composer and recording artist.
The exhibition also records how pipe bands began to be formed in Angus around the 1870s.
It makes the area home to some of the oldest non-military outfits in the world.
“There are plenty of interactive activities to keep the kids amused, too,” added Mike.
Alongside audio visual displays, visitors of all ages can try playing a practice chanter and have a go with some drumsticks.
Piping Routes runs in the Meffan from today to June 2.
It will also tour Arbroath and Brechin.