(Video) Piping Live! Day 2: all round the world

the Ottawa Police, who brought in some Canadian flare with plenty of Canadian-made tunes in their 25-minute performance. The Street Café was completely stowed-out, with overflowing crowds at least 20 deep, soaking in the sun and sounds and not a little history-in-the-making.

The Ottawa duet gave the stage over to Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia and their famous Lead-Drummer Gordon Brown with piper Calum Watson, who filled in for Pipe-Major Ross Harvey, who had to bow out due to work commitments in Edinburgh. Harvey is a teacher at George Watson’s College, producer of great piping talent over the year, including Watson himself. We’re frequently reminded when we hear piping talent like Calum Watson that the Boghall & Bathgate band also produces some of the best young solo pipers in the world.

Last to play on the Pipes+Drums bill was certainly the most newsworthy performer of the day, if not the year, when legendary Spirit of Scotland Leading-Drummer Jim Kilpatrick did his thing with Pipe-Major Roddy MacLeod. Of all the years of Pipes+Drums there has not been a duo with more combined solo and band awards than these two greats of the games. Earlier in the day, pipes|drums broke the story of Kilpatrick’s retirement from competition after the 2016 World’s, following a storied 50-years-plus as a competing pipe band drummer. Indeed, Kilpatrick’s solo performance here could well have been his last while still . . .