Part 1
Part 2
“Auld Lang Syne” is a Scottish song traditionally sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay/New Year’s Eve. The text is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788, but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799 it was set to a traditional pentatonic tune.
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.
Chorus
We have again been fortunate to have been given a grant by Pub Charities Ltd, this time to install an air conditioning unit in our drummers’ room, the second largest space in the band rooms.
This area is mainly used by small groups and our drummers but is poorly ventilated resulting in extremes of temperature in summer and in winter. With the installation of an air conditioning unit band members using this space will be able to adjust speed and temperature of the system to manage conditions in the room when practising and teaching.
Pub Charity Limited, which has an extensive history of funding local community organisations, has supported us in the past so we will again be supporting their local venues: Sideline Bar, The Bay View, The Duke Of Gloucester and The Station.
| Caller Herrin bracket | p26/27 practise at 74bpm |
| Mhari’s Wedding/Heyken/s Serenade | p22/23 |
| The Bells of Dunblane | p9 drummers start, solo piper then all play as written |
| The Mermaid Song | p19 solo piper first part, all play first part once then second part repeated |
| Passchendaele bracket | p34 |
| The Green Hills of Tyrol & When the Battle’s O’er | p31 |
| Hundred Pipers bracket | p58 practise at 70bpm |
| Highland Cathedral | p7 standard setting |
| When the Piper Plays | p19 music intro, solo piper plays 1st part, all play first and second parts, repeating each |
| Amazing Grace | p1 standard concert setting |
| Sands of Kuwait | p68 solo piper plays first part then all play as written |
| Scotland the Brave bracket | p40 standard setting |
Our next event is the Tea ‘n Tunes concert, now scheduled for Sunday 27 July at 3pm at the Taradale RSA. Band members are preparing a great programme, including solos, small group pieces, and full band items. We’re also pleased to be joined by our friends from the Hawke’s Bay Caledonian Pipe Band, so it’s shaping up to be a fantastic afternoon of piping and drumming.
Green Hills/ Battle’s O’er
Crags of Tumbledown Mtn
Hector the Hero
Highland Cathedral (flash mob style)
Kilworth Hills bracket
Mhari’s Wedding/Heykens Serenade
Amazing Grace
The workshop about tuning your drones covered the basics.
Sound Theory
Sound consists of longitudinal waves: the particles of the medium through which a sound travels oscillate along the direction in which the sound is travelling. In air, this causes small compressions and rarefactions of pressure, above and below nominal atmospheric pressure. The human ear responds to frequencies between 20 and 20,000 cycles per second, although children can often hear up to 30 kHz whilst older people have a more limited range. Fortunately for the latter, human speech is mainly confined to the region between 300 Hz and 3 kHz.
Bagpipe Drones
Tuning drones is nothing more than blowing your bagpipe to pitch and then adjusting your drones to produce a harmonic sound that blends perfectly with each note on your chanter and with each other. In the simplest example, you want to eliminate all of the “wha wha” that the drones produce when out-of-tune.
Key things to remember
The practical process
“Scotland the Brave” (Scottish Gaelic – Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being “Flower of Scotland”, and “Scots Wha Hae”).
HistoryThe tune probably originated in the late 19th century., the earliest known printing of the tune was in the Utah Musical Bouquet, January 1878, and the earliest known version printed in Scotland is in The National Choir,1891. The lyrics commonly used now were written about 1950 by Scottish journalist Clifford Leonard Clark “Cliff” Hanley
Scotland the Brave
Hark when the night is falling
Hear! Hear the pipes are calling,
Loudly and proudly calling,
Down thro’ the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping,
Now feel the blood a-leaping,
High as the spirits of the old Highland men.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave.
“Soon May the Wellerman Come”, also known as “Wellerman” or “The Wellerman”, is a folk song in ballad style first published in New Zealand in the 1970s. The “wellermen” were supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, three merchant traders in the 1800s who were amongst the earliest European settlers of the Otago region of New Zealand. Here are the lyrics for this song.
There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of that ship was a Billy o’ Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down
Blow, my bully boys, blow
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her, a right whale bore
The Captain called all hands and swore
He’d take that whale in tow
[Chorus]
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale’s tail came up and caught her
All the hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below
[Chorus]
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain’s mind was not on greed
But he belonged to the whaleman’s creed
She took that ship in tow
[Chorus]
For 40 days or even more
The line went slack then tight once more
All boats were lost, there were only four
But still that whale did go
As far as I’ve heard, the fight’s still on
The line’s not cut, and the whale’s not gone
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew and all
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
We’ll take our leave and go
We’ll take our leave and go
Flower of Scotland” (Scottish Gaelic: Flùr na h-Alba, Scots: Flouer o Scotland) is a Scottish patriotic song commonly used as an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. Written sometime in the mid-1960s by folk musician Roy Williamson, its lyrics describe the victory of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, over Edward II, King of England, at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Owing to its historical basis in the Wars of Scottish independence, the song urges contemporary Scots to rise again as an independent nation and remember the day their ancestors deterred Edward’s English invaders.
O flower of Scotland
When will we see your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
The hills are bare now
And autumn leaves lie thick and still
O’er land that is lost now
Which those so dearly held
And stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be the nation again
That stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
NAPIER PIPE BAND INCORPORATED
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
In accordance with clause 18.1 of the Band’s Constitution, notice is hereby given that the Annual General meeting of Napier Pipe Band Incorporated will be held at the Band rooms, Nelson park, on Monday 9th June 2025 at 7.30 p.m.
Members have received, by email, the agenda and reports which can be found on this website.
Please note that there is a vacancy on the Committee to be filled by an Associate member (Supporter). The new Rules adopted recently have made this possible. If you are interested in supporting your Band in this way, please complete the nomination form which is available here.
Please send apologies to secratrary@napierpipeband
Playing members please bring a plate for supper. We look forward to seeing you all.
Amanda Laird
Secretary