30th Anniversary December 2001
PIPERS’ and PIPE BAND SOCIETY
of ONTARIO, OTTAWA BRANCH
President: Graeme Ogilvie (613) 830-9160
(email: )
Vice-President: Charlie King (613) 830-7418
(email: )
Vice-President: Steve Lanning (613) 823-9933
(email: )
Treasurer: Jack Yourt (613) 774-3622
(email: )
Secretary: Douglas Heyland (613) 821-2505
(email: )
The December Ottawa Branch meeting brought an end to the year 2001. It was a great pleasure again this year to have Jake Watson, Pipe Sergeant of the 78th Fraser Highlanders take the time to come up from Waterloo to conduct a workshop during the day and then judge our knock-out contest in the evening. It was also a special treat to have Jake put on a very musical and technically challenging recital for all those who made it out that night. A very special thank you goes out to Colin Clansey of the Air Command Pipes and Drums who filled in as our drumming judge for the meeting.
The results for the December knock-out contests were as follows:
"A" Division results Drumming Results
1st Amos Van Die 1st Rob MacLeod
2nd Bobbie Smith 2nd Sean Donaldson
3rd Taylor Donaldson 3rd Heather Wilson
4th Krissy McLeod
5th Matthew Yuen
6th Will Ridley
Next Meeting Date… Saturday 05 January 2002. Time… 8:00 pm. Place… the Walkey Road Armouries, 2100 Walkley Road, between St. Laurent Blvd and Conroy Ave (the Armouries are on the south side of Walkley Ave, right beside the Walkley Bowling Centre parking lot). *** NOTE: do not park in the reserved parking spots, the Armouries are a 24/7 facility ***.
The January meeting will feature the Major Archie Cairns Cup, sponsored by Major (retired) Archie Cairns, the founder of the PPBSO Ottawa Branch. The contest is open to all Grade 4 pipers and below (note: "B" Division pipers will be awarded points in order of their placing against Divisional competitors in this contest). Tune requirements are a Slow Air and four parts of a 6/8 march (one or two tunes). The winner will receive the Major Archie Cairns Cup and an individual medal. Drummers at the January meeting will play four parts of a 6/8 march (one or two tunes). For this meeting, the piping judge will be Pipe Major Colin Clansey and the drumming judge will be Drum Instructor Steve Lanning, both of the Air Command Pipes and Drums. Following the knock-out contest, Colin and Steve have graciously agreed to put on a recital. Steve has recently returned to Ottawa following a tour as the drumming instructor at 14 Wing Greenwood, as well as being a lead drummer with the Grade 1 Halifax City Police Pipes and Drums. Colin is getting settled back in Ottawa, too, having just won his fourth World Championship with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. He is an exceptional soloist, amply demonstrated by following up the World Championship this year with a gold medal at Oban in late August. This is a "don't miss" event!! Bring out all your friends and let's see a standing room-only turnout.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Future Ottawa Branch Meetings
02 February A Division (four-parted strathspey/reel for pipers (for Grade 3 and below the S/R may be two parted tunes repeated), hornpipe/jig for drummers ( four parts each, but can be 2-parted tunes repeated))
Piping Judge: Scott Bell; Drumming Judge: Chris Bell; Recitalists: Rob Roy Mini-Band
02 March Final Knock-Out Contest (4-6 minute medleys for pipers and drummers)
Piping Judge: Bob Worrall; Drumming Judge: tbd
06 April Ottawa Branch Open Solo Piping Contest
27 April Ottawa Branch 30th Anniversary Dinner
11 May Winchester In-Door Highland Games
Kingston Pipefest 2002
The Pipefest 2002 will be held Saturday 09 February 2002 in Kingston, Ontario. The piping judge will be Bob Worrall. Further details tbd. Mark it on your calendar!!
Almonte In-Door Games
The Almonte In-Door Games will be held Saturday 23 March 2002 in Almonte, Ontario. Games site tbd. Events will consist of solo piping, solo drumming and a mini-band contest (mini-bands consisting of five pipers, two side drummers and a bass). Further details will be published in the January 2002 newsletter. For more info, contact David Clyde at (613) 256-3023.
*** Announcements ***
The Air Cadets of Ottawa are looking for someone to help with piping instruction Monday nights from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Notre Dame High School, just east of Carlingwood. A small financial remuneration is available. If you can help out, please contact Jack Yourt at 774-3622 who will put you in contact with the right people.
*** For Sale ***
Kilts for sale. Various sizes, all in good condition. Nine (9) are Dress Campbell. Six (6) are Royal Stewart. If interested, please contact David Clyde at (613) 256-3023 or email at .
Gillander and McLeod bagpipes, circa 1985, silver-plated furrels, Henderson drone reeds, new bag, pipe case, etc. Korg Yamane AT-2 pipe tuner, brand new, $250 (original retail price $350); new leather ghillie brogues size 9 1/2 $140; for all your bagpipe maintenance needs, contact Jack Yourt at (613) 774-3622.
Three piping jackets approximately size 36 (one is a Prince Charlie with vest) and two kilts (approximately 30-32 waist). Looking for a good home for where they will be used and appreciated. The lady selling them wants to raise some money for a donation towards a wheel chair. Her husband was a Scottish country dancer and fencing expert who died of cancer. There are matching hose tops, a belt and hose but no sporran. Please contact Dr. Dan Cameron at (613) 526-5024.
Sons of Scotland Pipeband Workshop - held Saturday 01 December 2001
with Jake Watson of the 78th Fraser Highlanders
It was an excellent weekend for piping! The weather was uncharacteristically balmy and mild for Ottawa in early December. Jake Watson, a former Pipe Major of Toronto Metro Police, and currently playing with the 78th Fraser Highlanders out of Toronto, conducted a two day seminar in Ottawa, in cooperation with the Sons of Scotland Pipes and Drums. The venue was Carleton University. This was the third such seminar that Jake Watson has conducted in Ottawa over the past year.
The Saturday morning session was held in a general discussion format, with Jake answering any and all questions posed by the attendees. The questions ranged from the very basic with respect to bagpipe maintenance, through tuning of drones and chanters – with and without the use of tuning meters, discussions of new technologies and their application to piping – e.g. different types synthetic bags, water/moisture control in the pipe bag and the drones, various types of synthetic reeds, the use of check-valves (or ‘plugs’) in the drone stocks facilitate clean starts eliminate trailing drones on cut-offs. Jake illustrated all his points with specific examples or anecdotes from his considerable experience as an individual piper, a piper with some of the top bands in North America and the world, and more recently as the person who sets up the 78th Frasers prior to their performances both on stage and in competitions.
The Saturday afternoon session focussed on individual sessions with every participant. Each person had the opportunity to play in front of him and have their technique constructively criticized. He took the time to inspect each instrument and correct any deficiencies on the spot: properly re-hemping drones, adjusting chanter reeds, re-tuning/taping chanters, adjusting drone reeds and re-tuning drones, all the while providing advice and examples.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to hear his recital at the PPBSO Ottawa Branch knock-out that Saturday evening, saw and heard first hand that he knows of what he speaks when it comes to setting up, maintaining and most particularly, playing a bagpipe.
We hope to have Jake back in the late winter/early spring of 2002. Those of us who attended this seminar, and his previous ones, certainly are looking forward to future Jake Watson seminars. For those of you who have not attended such sessions, if you consider yourself as being into piping seriously, it is suggested that you give serious consideration to attending the next one. They are great value for the money and you most certainly will learn something.
Welcome to a new series we will run in the newsletter.... Drummers and pipers play hundreds of tunes for which the origins are often unknown. Here are two popular tunes whose origins are described in the volumes of “SCOTS MINSTRELSIE”:
BONNIE DUNDEE: This march is played, probably, by every pipe band in existence; a great swinging tune which suggest a celebration of the city of Dundee. Not so. “Bonnie Dundee” is none other than that terror of the Coventers, Graham of Claverhouse, afterwards created Viscount Dundee. Sir Walter Scott, in his novel “Old Mortality” described Dundee, in part, as: “This remarkable person untied the seemingly inconsistent qualities of courage and cruelty, a disinterested and devoted loyalty to his prince, with a disregard of the rights of his fellow man.” He redeemed his character somewhat by his zeal and courage at the battle of Killiecrankie (1689) at which he supported the causes of James II. Graham of Claverhouse was short and elegant whose manners, gestures and language indicated that he had spent his life among the noble and well-founded. From the above you can appreciate why the Viscount was ‘BONNIE DUNDEE”.
THE HUNDRED PIPERS: On November 18, 1745, the city of Carlisle, after a two day show of resistance opened its gates to “Bonnie Prince Charlie” then on his southward march to capture the crown. Charles was preceded by a hundred pipers. There is more to the story, but it refers more to soldiers crossing the river Esk to confront and drive out the English. Suffice to say that the tune, an ancient air, came down to us from Charles Edward Stuart’s entry into Carlisle.
TENTATIVE PPBSO GAMES SCHEDULE FOR 200208 June / Georgetown / 01 July / Embro / 03 August / Maxville
15 June / Fort Erie / 06 July / Kincardine / 04 August / Montreal
22 June / Barrie / 13 July / Chatham / 10 August / Fergus
27 July / Hamilton / 17 August / Sarnia (& the Worlds)
28 July / Uxbridge (Gr1 & Gr2 only) / 24 August / Almonte
SFUPB Forum Announcement.... Tartantown wishes to announce it's sponsorship of a brand new forum for discussions relating to piping, drumming and Highland dancing. We would like to invite you to join up and to become active participants. It is our hope that this will become a very active and less trashy forum than other groups out there. Its early in its existence and most forums and moderators are just being put in place. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, please write me privately. I am looking for people outside of SFU, as well as from different parts of the world. I hope you will agree that the look of this site is very clean. Check it out at http://www.bobdunsire.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.
Thanks. Terry Lee
Tartantown Ltd, 555 Clarke Road, Coquitlam, B.C., Canada, V3J 3X4
Toll-Free: 1-877-800-5458 Phone: 604-936-8548 Fax: 604-936-8502
Email: Web: www.tartantown.com
New Web-Site... WELCOME to Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, Isle of Skye. For all the latest in traditional music books and sheet music. We supply Scottish, Irish, Cape Breton and many other styles of traditional music. Check out our website for more details on all our publications: www.scotlandsmusic.com. Or are you looking for a particular tune? A tune search facility is available on this site.