Glasgow Police Pipe Band is a

grade one Grade 1 may refer to: *First grade, the first school year of primary education. *A Grade 1 Graded stakes race horse race * ''Grade One'' (TV series), a 2014 Chinese TV variety show *Grade 1 listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed b ...

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Founded in 1883 as the Burgh of Govan Police Pipe Band, the band enjoyed its greatest competitive success as the

Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshir ...

Pipe Band.

History

The band was one of the first civilian bands in Britain when it formed in 1883 as the Burgh of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

Police Pipe Band. The first

pipe major The pipe major is the leading musician of a pipe band, whether military or civilian. Like the appointment of drum major, the position is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term sergeant piper was used ...

was William Bremer, who was succeeded by Walter Drysdale in 1890, who was in turn succeeded by Alexander Hutcheon in 1898. The band enjoyed a good reputation, and was recognised nationally for its quality. It wore a tartan designed by the Chief Constable, and played two concerts annually to raise funds. Govan was annexed into Glasgow along with

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

in 1912, and the band became the City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band. In 1913 William Gray, a Gold Medal winner, replaced Hutcheon as pipe major, and the tartan was also replaced with the Royal Stewart. The band won its first

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1920, but due to Gray's focus on events other than competition the next time the band won the Worlds was 1936. Gray was succeeded in 1932 by John MacDonald, a student of Gray for many years and also a Gold Medal winner, having won at both the

Argyllshire Gathering The Argyllshire Gathering is a Highland games held in Oban, Scotland. History A meeting on 23 August 1871 held at the Argyll Arms Hotel led to a resolution to have an "Annual Gathering of the Gentry of the County of Argyll for social purposes" ...

and the

Northern Meeting The Northern Meeting is a gathering held in Inverness, Scotland, best known for its solo bagpiping competition in September. History The Northern Meeting was set up in 1798 "for the purpose of promoting a Social Intercourse", and early editions f ...

within a week. Under MacDonald, the band won the World Championships in 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939, and after the Second World War in 1946, 1949 and 1951. Angus MacDonald succeeded John MacDonald in 1958, and rebuilt the band after the loss of senior players through retirement had reduced the band's competitiveness. Under Angus MacDonald the band won every major championship except the Worlds. Ronald Lawrie succeeded Angus MacDonald as pipe major in 1967, but due to ill health Lawrie was succeeded by

Ian MacLellan Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

in 1972. In 1975,

was formed by the merger of several police forces to form the second-largest police force in Britain, and the respective bands were merged into the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band under the leadership of Ian MacLellan. Under MacLellan and leading drummer Alex Connell the band won the World Championships in 1976 and 1979, being placed second to Dysart and Dundonald in 1977 and 1978. Strathclyde Police then won every year from 1981 to 1986, and then four consecutive times from 1988 to 1991. In 1987, the

78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band The 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, is a grade 1 competitive pipe band from Campbellville, Ontario, Canada. History The band was formed in 1982 by members of the disbanded General Motors Pipe Band with support from a 78th Fraser Highlanders ...

from Canada became the first band based outside Scotland to win the title, and

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

, also from Canada, came second, pushing Strathclyde Police into third place. The run of six consecutive wins remains a record, as does the twenty total wins accumulated throughout the band's history. MacLellan retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Harry McAleer, who led the band until 1996 when he was succeeded by Ian Plunkett. Plunkett was succeeded by James Wark in 2001, who was in turn succeeded by Donald Mackay in 2004, and Don Bradford became pipe major in 2008 after Mackay stood down. In 2009, funding cuts and a restriction on the number of events the band could play at threatened the future of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. Bradford and pipe-sergeant Duncan Nicholson resigned in protest, but returned in January 2010 after a new funding agreement was reached. Duncan Nicholson succeeded Bradford in as pipe major in 2010. In 2013, territorial police forces in Scotland were merged into

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

and the name of the band changed to Greater Glasgow Police Scotland Pipe Band, but the structure of the band was unchanged. In 2016, David Henderson replaced Ward as leading drummer, and the name of the band was changed to Glasgow Police Pipe Band. In December 2019, Iain McPherson stepped down as Pipe Major and Alisdair McLaren was appointed. McLaren later stepped down in January 2020 due to unforeseen family matters. Following McLaren's resignation, Duncan Nicholson, former pipe major, was appointed. Later, the band announced Ewan Henderson would be appointed Pipe Major with immediate effect, succeeding Duncan Nicholson who stepped in as interim Pipe Major.

Pipe Majors

*''William Bremer'' (1883-1890) *''Walter Drysdale'' (1890-1898) *''Alexander Hutcheon'' (1898-1913) *''William Gray'' (1913-1932) *''John MacDonald'' (1932-1958) *''Angus MacDonald'' (1958-1966) *''Ronald Lawrie'' (1966-1972) *''

BEM (1972-1992) *''Harry McAleer'' (1992-1997) *''Ian Plunkett'' (1997-2001) *''James Wark'' (2001-2004) *''Donald Mackay'' (2004-2008) *''Don Bradford'' (2008-2010) *''Duncan Nicholson'' (2010-2015) *''Iain MacPherson'' (2015-2019) * Alisdair MacLaren (2019-2020) *''Duncan Nicholson'' (2020) *''Ewan Henderson'' (2020–present)

Leading Drummers

*''D/M Walker'' (1883 - approx. 1910) *''John Seton'' (approx. 1910-1927) *''Jack Seton'' (1927-1948) *''Alex McCormick'' (1948-1952) *''John Walley'' (1954-1961) *''Alex Connell'' (1961-1985) *''John Kirkwood Jr.'' (1985-1992) *''Roddy Darroch'' (1992-1995) *''Eric Ward'' (1995-2016) *''David Henderson'' (2016–present)

Discography

as City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band *''Selection of Strathspeys and Reels/Eightsome Reels'' - P/M J. MacDonald (Parlophone F.3355) *''6/8 Marches'' - P/M J. MacDonald (Parlophone F.3369) *''Marching With The Pipers'' - P/M A. MacDonald (1966) *''Scottish Pipe Band Music'' - P/M R. Lawrie (Olympic 6145) *''The Choice of Champions'' - P/M R. Lawrie (1968) *''Scotland's Best, Vol. 1'' - P/M R. Lawrie (1970) *''Scotland's Best, Vol. 3'' - P/M R. Lawrie (1971) *''Glasgow Police March Past'' (1972) as Strathclyde Police Pipe Band *''World Champions'' - P/M I. MacLellan (1980) *''Champion of Champions (Champions of the World)'' - P/M I. MacLellan (1983) *''Six in a Row (1981-1986)'' - P/M I. MacLellan (1986) *''Solo Pipers, Quartet and Mini Band'' (1991) *''Pipes, Drums & A Glasgow Girl'' (2006) - with

Joann Gilmartin Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarter ...

as Greater Glasgow Police Scotland Pipe Band *''Ceolry'' - P/M D. Nicholson (2015)

References

External links

Greater Glasgow Police Scotland Pipe Band
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1883 Grade 1 pipe bands Law enforcement in Scotland World Pipe Band Championships winners 1883 establishments in Scotland Scottish pipe bands Police bands