Noting the Tradition - a National Piping Centre project

Noting the Tradition

'Noting the Tradition' is a project interviewing people who have been involved with the Scottish piping tradition.  There are interviews to listen to, transcriptions, and photographs.

• Noting the Tradition is project-managed by James Beaton.  Contact details on the website.
• You might also like the Museum and Heritage page at the Piping Centre.

Cellos and Bellows: librarians' tweetup #GLTU4

Glasgow Library Tweetups Pay Us a Visit

Assorted librarians gathered to visit the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and then the museum and newly refurbished library at the National Piping Centre, last Friday (18th May).  This was a joint effort organised by Anabel Marsh, with Karen McAulay at the Royal Conservatoire and James Beaton at the Piping Centre coordinating the visits to each venue.

Preceded by the James Clark lunchtime concert at the Royal Conservatoire, and rounded off by a meal at the Tryst, a congenial and informative visit was had by all.

The event has been blogged by Anabel Marsh - here, on the Glasgow Library Tweetups blog.  (There are pictures!) Anabel has also compiled a Storify story, to collate participant feedback - here. 

James Beaton, piping librarian and oral history project manager ('Noting the Tradition') at the National Piping Centre, contributed his own limerick report on the event:-

The blogs are quite full of it

James and Karen's big hit

They came, saw our books

And our most learned nooks

And went off and thought for a bit.

Noting the Tradition: Piping Centre launches new project

Noting the Tradition: Capturing the Heritage

at

The Piping Centre

Project Officer James Beaton combines the essential skills of professional librarian and skilled piper - and that makes him uniquely suitable for his new role at The Piping Centre.

The Piping Live festival this week was particularly appropriate for the launch of the Piping Centre's new project on Monday 8th August - which aims to capture the stories of the piping community as an oral history for future generations to savour and cherish. 

Not that this is the first time it has been done - various other projects have covered either a wider, more general scope or a smaller sample, such as Tobar an Dualchais, Piper's Persuasion (by Alan Hamilton), or the online magazine Pipes and Drums.

The national Piping Centre Library in Glasgow already has treasures like the recording of piper Angus MacPherson,  who can trace his piping ancestry back to the 18th Century.  Recordings like this will be the jewels in the crown of the new project, which aims to include local schoolchildren and volunteers in garnering the treasured history.

James Beaton is looking forward to embarking on this exciting new project, and is assured of the support of experts in the field, many of whom attended the official launch.

Primary funding is from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

• Follow the discussion on the Footstompin' forum