Stonehouse Pipe Band
Encyclopedia
The Stonehouse Pipe Band are a pipe band
from Stonehouse
in the South Lanarkshire
region of Scotland
.
In 1909 Harry Lauder
suggested a competition for civilian bands at the Cowal Gathering. He had been a miner and knew that many mining villages had pipe bands which would struggle to compete against the military bands in the Argyll Shield. So the civilian contest for the Sir Harry Lauder Shield began.
In 1909 Stonehouse Pipe Band won the civilian contest and went on to retain it in 1910 and 1911.
However the 'bigger news' was that Stonehouse
won the Argyll Shield in 1909 as well. This was, in effect, the World Championships at that time. Winning the world championship means that they would have been up against all the armed forces and police bands, so they must have been quite exceptional. Remember these were miners with coal dust in their lungs!
As detailed in the Piping Times, Volume 45 No 6, by Archie MacNeill:
"The first civilian band to make a real impact was Stonehouse
... Stonehouse
won the world championship shortly before the First War and they made a very good impression on everybody who heard them. Their pipes were so well tuned compared to the bands from the city. Previously very little attention was paid to the tuning of chanters or drones."
As an aside - the Argyll Shield is now the award for Grade One at Cowal, while the Sir Harry Lauder Shield is the award for Grade Two.
The band original wore the McGregor tartan but this was changed to the Hamilton dress tartan in the 1930s after it was donated by Mrs. Janet Millar of Tinto View, Stonehouse. Mrs. Millar’s brother was Alexander Hamilton
of Kidderminster who had also gifted a public park to the village of Stonehouse
in 1925.
The band began to break up around 1939-40 due to increasing pressure and competition from other bands, although the junior band continued into the 1970s.
Stonehouse Pipe Band were reformed in 2007 with the intention of teaching a complete new band of beginners on both pipes and drums.
reformed in 2007 by pipe major Matt Steel and Morag Cook.
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....
from Stonehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
in the South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
region of 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...
.
History
Formed in 1899 under Pipe Major Hector McIness Stonehouse Pipe Band grew steadily during the pre-war years at the beginning of the last century.In 1909 Harry Lauder
Harry Lauder
Sir Henry Lauder , known professionally as Harry Lauder, was an international Scottish entertainer, described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador!"-Early life:...
suggested a competition for civilian bands at the Cowal Gathering. He had been a miner and knew that many mining villages had pipe bands which would struggle to compete against the military bands in the Argyll Shield. So the civilian contest for the Sir Harry Lauder Shield began.
In 1909 Stonehouse Pipe Band won the civilian contest and went on to retain it in 1910 and 1911.
However the 'bigger news' was that Stonehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
won the Argyll Shield in 1909 as well. This was, in effect, the World Championships at that time. Winning the world championship means that they would have been up against all the armed forces and police bands, so they must have been quite exceptional. Remember these were miners with coal dust in their lungs!
As detailed in the Piping Times, Volume 45 No 6, by Archie MacNeill:
"The first civilian band to make a real impact was Stonehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
... Stonehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
won the world championship shortly before the First War and they made a very good impression on everybody who heard them. Their pipes were so well tuned compared to the bands from the city. Previously very little attention was paid to the tuning of chanters or drones."
As an aside - the Argyll Shield is now the award for Grade One at Cowal, while the Sir Harry Lauder Shield is the award for Grade Two.
The band original wore the McGregor tartan but this was changed to the Hamilton dress tartan in the 1930s after it was donated by Mrs. Janet Millar of Tinto View, Stonehouse. Mrs. Millar’s brother was Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
of Kidderminster who had also gifted a public park to the village of Stonehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
in 1925.
The band began to break up around 1939-40 due to increasing pressure and competition from other bands, although the junior band continued into the 1970s.
Stonehouse Pipe Band were reformed in 2007 with the intention of teaching a complete new band of beginners on both pipes and drums.
External links
- The Cowal Gathering
- The Sorbie Family Website (Emigrated from Stonehouse but a good source of information
reformed in 2007 by pipe major Matt Steel and Morag Cook.