Background

Denny and Dunipace Gleneagles Pipe Band is a Grade Two pipe band

Pipe band

A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....

 based in Denny

Denny, Falkirk

Denny is a town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland, formerly in the county of Stirlingshire. It is situated west of Falkirk, and north-east of Cumbernauld, adjacent to both the M80 and M876 motorways...

, near Falkirk

Falkirk

Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The organisation supports two bands, the "big band" in grade 2, and the "wee band" in 4A.

Established in 1964 from a Boys Brigade (BB) band background by Captain John Deuchar, the band has moved through the grades, reaching the pinnacle of Grade 1 in 1989. When in Grade 3A, the band took first place in the 2006 World Pipe Band Championships

World Pipe Band Championships

The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition currently held in Glasgow, Scotland every August. The event has been operating regularly since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association was formed...

 at Glasgow Green

Glasgow Green

Glasgow Green is a park situated in the east end of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde. It is the oldest park in the city dating back to the 15th century.In 1450, King James II granted the land to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow...

, and won the annual Champion of Champions for 3A. This resulted in promotion to Grade 2 for 2007. The grade 4A band completed the 2009 season by securing a promotion to this higher grade, having won prizes at the Major Championships throughout the year.

The band has a strong teaching ethos, and has used this method of filtering players through the ranks for over 40 years. The Grade 2 band is led by Pipe Major

Pipe Major

The Pipe Major is the director of bagpipe music in a Scottish or Irish pipe band. Like Drum Major, the position of Pipe Major is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term Sergeant Piper was used for the role in place of "Pipe Major".Civillian and military...

 David Clunie and Drum Sergeant Arthur Cook. The Grade 4A and is led by Pipe Major

Pipe Major

The Pipe Major is the director of bagpipe music in a Scottish or Irish pipe band. Like Drum Major, the position of Pipe Major is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term Sergeant Piper was used for the role in place of "Pipe Major".Civillian and military...

 David Todd and Drum Sergeant Willie Robertson and both Bands are led by our Senior Drum Major, Drum Major Andy Grant.

The band is sponsored by the Gleneagles Hotel

Gleneagles Hotel

The Gleneagles Hotel is a luxury hotel near Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.- History :The hotel was built by the former Caledonian Railway Company and opened in 1924, originally with its own railway station...

.

Over one hundred previously unpublished pipe music compositions from the band was collected and compiled into the 2006 book entitled, The Denny and Dunipace Collection.

Trivia

The band wears the same tartan as the famous Muirhead and Sons Pipe Band

Muirhead & Sons Pipe Band

Muirhead & Sons Pipe Band was a pipe band based in Grangemouth, Scotland. The band was highly successful, winning the World Pipe Band Championships a total of eight times . This total has been surpassed only by Strathclyde Pipe Band and Shotts & Dykehead who held the title twenty and fifteen times...

; the original Muirheads number 1 uniforms were rescued from storage and donated to the band in the 1970s.

The band has very close ties with the City of Washington Pipe Band

City of Washington Pipe Band

The City of Washington Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band located in Washington, D.C. City of Washington is one of only four grade one bands in the United States, the others being the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band, the Oran Mor Pipe Band of Albany, NY, and the City of Chicago Pipe...

. Indeed, the COWPB was originally called "Denny and Dunipace" and only changed name to avoid a clash of names at a World Pipe Band Championships

World Pipe Band Championships

The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition currently held in Glasgow, Scotland every August. The event has been operating regularly since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association was formed...

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