Shotts Formally Details New Sponsorship

Several weeks after rumours spread that the Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band had changed its name, Piper & Drummer Online has been informed formally that the band has struck a deal with The House of Edgar, one of Scotland’s leading specialist tartan companies, in a sponsorship for a sponsorship of £30,000.

The band has officially changed its name to the “House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band.”

Rumours of the band’s sponsorship and name change was leaked after the draw for the Scottish Pipe Band Championships was announced, and the band had submitted its new name to be sure that it would appear in the program as such. The Scottish Championships are to be held Saturday, May 17, in Dumbarton, Scotland.

The band has also revealed that it will wear a specially modified version of the MacLean of Duart tartan that the band has worn since the 1950s. House of Edgar is refitting its band with a new uniform that will be unveiled at the forthcoming European Pipe Band Championships at Dumbarton in Scotland.

“I have done business with the House of Edgar for over 12 years and feel that this is the perfect partnership,” said Robert Mathieson, Pipe-Major of House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead. “We’re all delighted to be associated with this quality end of the weaving industry and look forward to a long and fruitful association.”

“We are extremely pleased to have been offered the chance of teaming up with this superlative band,” said House of Edgar’s Managing Director Blair Macnaughton. “Led so ably by Robert Mathieson and Jim Kilpatrick, its absolute dedication, long list of competition honours and its enviable recording successes have given inspiration to pipe bands around the globe.”

Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia is one of the most storied pipe bands in history. Located in the Lanarkshire mining village of Shotts, the band was sponsored until the late 1970s by the local colliery. Since that time, Shotts & Dykehead has gone without sponsorship. Run for decades by three generations of the famous McAllister family, the band was taken over in 1987 by current Pipe-Major, Robert Mathieson, who joined the band after leading the Polkemmet Pipe Band to consistent major championship success from 1983-’86.

Shotts is also known for its strong drumming. Alex Duthart led the drum section for most of the 1960s and ’70s. John Scullion ran the corps for several years until current lead drummer Jim Kilpatrick came to the band from Polkemmet at the same time as Mathieson.

House of Edgar had previously sponsored the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band of Pitlochry, Scotland, but the relationship was discontinued after in 2001.

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