Antrim pipers blow rest of world away

Monday 15 August 2011

THE World Pipe Band championships were an international hit, with the action being followed from as far away as Turkmenistan, Borneo, Brazil and Hawaii.

COCK-A-HOOP: Field Marshal Montgomery Band celebrate their title win on Glasgow Green, above, where all ages of both sexes took part in the World Championships. Pictures: Steve Cox

Custom byline text:

Russell Leadbetter

A live BBC internet stream of the high-profile event on Glasgow Green also attracted viewers across Canada, New Zealand and the US, in Haifa, Israel -- and even on the Britannia platform in the North Sea.

More than 30,000 spectators watched nine hours of fierce competition across different grades. The Grade 1 winners and 2011 World Champions were the Field Marshal Montgomery Band, from Lisburn, Co Antrim, who greeted news of their seventh world title with delight.Second was Simon Fraser University, from Canada, while third place went to Scottish Power, which included in its ranks a 31-year-old Canadian-born piper, Jason Briscoe, who has been making monthly trips to Glasgow from his New York home to take part in rehearsals and competitions.The result means it is now six years since the title was last won by a Scottish band -- House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead, who triumphed in 2005.Immediately after winning, Field Marshal Montgomery staged a victory parade out of the Green almost to London Road.Pipe Major Richard Parkes, MBE, who has led the band to all seven of its victories, spoke of his delight at winning again but also said it was getting progressively harder to keep winning the Worlds.“All the bands are getting better, and bigger as well,” he said. “But we’ve been knocking at the door of this prize since last winning it in 2007 -- we’ve been second every year since. It is simply great to win it again.“It’s all down to the quality of the players in the band, the quality of the leadership, and the sheer drive they have to be the best and to play as one.“We’re coming back for the Cowal Highland Gathering at the end of the month. We’ve now won four out of the four Majors, so there’s a possibility of doing the grand slam if we can win at Cowal.”Few bands in Grade 1 have had to endure the misfortunes of New Zealand’s Canterbury Caledonian Society, which lost its hall and much of its equipment in the Christchurch earthquake last February.Chairman Richard Smith told how the band held fundraisers to find the £50,000 needed to bring them to Scotland.The 40-strong band had hoped to perform well enough in the morning session to qualify for the afternoon session, but it did not work out. “We missed the top six by one point. It is disappointing, but that’s life,” said Mr Smith, who described the Worlds as the “Holy Grail -- you want to come here and put yourself up against the best in the world”.Ian Embelton, chief executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, said: “Every year the standard of competition is so high but this year we have seen something extra special. Planning for next year is already under way but we are going to have to pull out all the stops to improve on these championships.”Referring to the online BBC audience, Glasgow’s Lord Provost Bob Winter, chieftain of the pipe band championships, said: “I look forward to, sometime in the future, welcoming a pipe band from Turkmenistan to Glasgow Green.”Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland, said: “ In front of more than 30,000 visitors, the atmosphere and activity provided a wonderful experience for locals and tourists alike.”

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Antrim pipers blow rest of world away

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED