During the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980,s The Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band was one of North America’s premier bands. When I broke into Grade 1 in 1972 Ken Eller had only recently taken over and they were awesome. We were all 20-somethings and “The Clan” were all big men blowing awesome bagpipes. There had close ties to the MacAllisters and the vaunted Shotts and Dykehead band of those days. We were a close second place to them but only managed one victory in my years with Waterloo Police.
In 1985 I moved back to Ontario from Edmonton Alberta, where the pipes had stayed mostly under the bed. In 1987 a transfer brought me to St. Catharines and an opportunity to play with The Clan. We were still a pretty good band however the 78th Frasers had displaced us as the top band in Canada. Of course, in 1987 the Frasers were crowned World Champions, and deservedly so.
In 1993 we lost Iain Speirs, Dan Kenny, and David Hicks. All three had been important additions to the band. With remaining small numbers, the band voted to amalgamate with the Metro Toronto Police Pipe Band under Jake Watson’s leadership. That band went on to become the top Grade 1 band in Ontario at that time. Jake liked a sharp pitch and tight unison.
I joined the band in 1987 and remained until its demise. The picture to the right is from that time. I am the skinny guy in the top row with the red mustache.
Video 1 – The band in 1988
Video 2 – 1988 at Maxville playing the other medley
Video 3 – The band at Maxville in 1989.
The audio file below is from 1987, my first year back in the grade after several years away from Ontario and piping. Donald Cameron, Blair Drummond, and McAllister’s Dirk
