Black Watch Pipes & Drums coming to SoCal

[Murray]

I totally forgot about this thread...lol. When day did you attend richard? I attended weds.

[Murray]

[cck]

They performed in Austin 2 weeks ago. The venue was the Erwin Center at the University of Texas, a huge facility used for basketball games - capacity 17,900. Seats were only sold on the lower level and half of the oval (my guess about 2500) so everyone was fairly close. They had plenty of room to march and came in from the various entrances. The program was very enjoyable. To me it was a perfect opportunity for kilt wearing, but only about a dozen others felt that way. The tickets were $45 and $25. We old seniors were let in for $10 - a bargain, even if you have Scottish blood.

[OC Richard]

I was there Wednesday too! Here we are, yours truly, piper Colin (as I recall), friend piper Josh Cooper



Murray, if you notice the belt buckle the Pipe Major is wearing, the usual "#355" buckle but with the number "42" superimposed, I picked one up on Ebay yesterday. They had just listed it, and I jumped on it. They don't come up very often.

I asked Corporal Colin here in the photo about if/when all the Pipes & Drums of the various battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland would be put into a generic common uniform (thus abolishing the last remaining distinctions) and he said "they're working on it, but we're fighting it".

If this does happen I would guess, and hope, that it would be the uniform of the pipers of The Black Watch which would form the basis of the new generic kit.

[MacGumerait]

OC Richard ,

I hope this brings back some good memories . I too seen them in 1976 , here is a scan of my 1976 program cover .



Cheers , Mike

[OC Richard]

Yes indeed! That was the first tour I saw. My father took me, part of his encouraging my becoming a piper. I'd been playing only two years at that time, had just got out of High School, and lived in a place where there were no pipers or bands. (We drove for hours to get to that concert.)

Seeing the Black Watch was a huge inspiration. That concert got me to practice the pipes even more fanatically. And I still think they have the nicest uniform of any Pipes & Drums.

About that time we moved to an area where there were bands and a couple years later I was playing in a Grade Two band (by far the worst piper in the band... at the age when I was just learning the pipes, those other guys were winning Silver Chanters.)

A strange thing: I recently met a guy who lives here who was a musician in The Royal Marines on that 1976 tour!

[rsvpiper]

I was there Wednesday too! Here we are, yours truly, piper Colin (as I recall), friend piper Josh Cooper



Murray, if you notice the belt buckle the Pipe Major is wearing, the usual "#355" buckle but with the number "42" superimposed, I picked one up on Ebay yesterday. They had just listed it, and I jumped on it. They don't come up very often.

I asked Corporal Colin here in the photo about if/when all the Pipes & Drums of the various battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland would be put into a generic common uniform (thus abolishing the last remaining distinctions) and he said "they're working on it, but we're fighting it".

If this does happen I would guess, and hope, that it would be the uniform of the pipers of The Black Watch which would form the basis of the new generic kit.

I hope they can fight off the Whitehall numpties for a good few years to come, Is it me or does the soldier over your mates shoulder have some shale we say none regulation facial hair

[OC Richard]

does the soldier over your mates shoulder have some shall we say non-regulation facial hair

That appears to be the Pipe Major, and in some regiments (The Cameron Highlanders) it was traditional for the Pipe Major to wear a full beard.

Beards appear fairly often amongst the pipers of the various Highland battalions.