Cameron Drummond to defend Capt. John Medal on Aug. 29th

Cameron Drummond of Edinburgh will compete to gain a consecutive Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Medal for piobaireachd on August 29th at the 2026 Memorial Dinner & Recital Competition at the Caledonian Hotel in Scotland’s capital city.

Organized by the Eagle Pipers’ Society, with sponsorship from the William Grant Foundation, the unique event showcases MacLellan’s music, assigning one of his piobaireachds to each invited piper to perform for a keen, discerning audience attired in formal evening wear, usually of the tartan variety.

As the 2025 winner, Drummond is the only contestant confirmed so far.

The recital-competition is scheduled between the Argyllshire Gathering and the Northern Meeting, when more solo pipers and piobaireachd enthusiasts are in Scotland. There are few, if any, comparable piping events that present elite solo pipers performing in recital fashion following cocktails and dinner at a four-star venue. The competition harks back to a golden age of “black-tie” piping celebrations.

Tickets for the 2026 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Medal Memorial Dinner & Recital Competition will be £65 when they go on sale later this year.

The event’s organization was transferred to the Eagle Pipers’ Society in 2022 after being run by the Capt. John MacLellan Trust since its inception in 2011.

The event is complicated and expensive to organize, and Eagle Pipers’ Society President Douglas Gardiner said, “The Society couldn’t afford to underwrite the evening without significant external funding. The William Grant Foundation generously provides this and is instrumental in the success of the event, particularly keeping ticket prices at an affordable and accessible level.”

The Eagle Pipers’ Society was started around 1960 as an Edinburgh-based social group for pipers in the area. It took the name because the group of co-founders, which included MacLellan, would meet at the Eagle Bar on the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh. The establishment subsequently moved, and the Ensign Ewart pub now occupies the original premises. The organization eventually ran a celebrated solo competition in the 1970s.

The Eagle Pipers’ Society was inactive for 25 years before being revived in 2010. It now has an international membership and holds regular meetings from about October to May. The Eagle Pipers necktie, which members receive on joining, has become a ubiquitous emblem worn by solo pipers worldwide.

Iain Speirs of Edinburgh has won the competition five times since it began in 2011.