I discovered how different piobaireachd written and piobaireachd played can be. I have been crash-learning Black Donald's March, and John forgot to mention the scansion, so I assumed it was 4-pulse. So I was playing it HMMH; when it turns out to be 3-pulse, played MMHL, with the light pulse almost as a pick-up note. This completely changes the feel of the ground from common to compound time. Relearning it in a day and a half was a bit of a challenge! Fortunately, only the ground and Var. II follow this pattern; the rest of the tune is played similar to a 6/8 crotchet-quaver (Var III. and its implied doubling) or 2/4 time.

The Scottish Christmas Walk parade in Old Town Alexandria took place this weekend, and went off very well from my perspective. City of Alexandria looked smashing, as did the Appins (with whom I paraded). The morning was very cold, but the pipes were reasonably well-behaved. I played excerpts from the piobaireachds Black Donald's March and Struan Robertson's Salute, the ancient march Hey Tuti Tati, and the strathspey/reel combo Stumpie/Atholl Plaid. I had intended to play The Scots March in the 2nd and 3rd octaves of my wooden whistle in C (fife-style), but my whistle was getting cold, and I thought it might be a good idea to keep it in my waistcoat. Of course, it slipped out without my seeing it, and I crushed it with my foot. The fipple section survived, and the Appins generously donated toward the replacement of the body, which is now on order.

I almost lost my lip during the parade, but I had many compliments on the sound of my pipes (which I thought to be mediocre - the chanter was a bit shawm-like with the kludged reed). We went to Pat Troy's where I ran into one of Elise Kress' flute students (we keep running into each other, and then saying, "you look really familiar!"), and the to Murphy's where I was asked to play a piobaireachd (not too many requests for that!) and I did my march as well, and got a free beer out of it.

The Royal Mile session was a lot of fun, and better attended than any since spring. And I made Chris the offer to join the Devil's Tailors, and he volunteered to play Bodhran as well as guitar, which opens up even more options for us! I can't wait to brainstorm arrangements with Anders with this additional talent to draw from. Now we just need 1-2 girls to sing and play flute for us.