Kintyre Schools Pipe Band to perform at Scottish Parliament

[Ninja Mania]

Please has anybody got a copy of the coverage from BBC1. I was working and Craig taped it only to find it didn"t record and as many people have asked did i see the wee fella on the tv. I am gutted. Please help.

Elizabeth Connoly's mum taped it, she told me this today when I was talking to her, maybe she will give you a copy, worth a try.

[the phone girl]

I taped it - will copy it and drop it up to you.

[Annie]

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/scots/index.htm

Gaun, gee thais a wee gander ower yer eyeballs!!!!!!!!

[general jack o'niell]

a great day for all concerned, except i wasn't allowed on tv in case a real camulton accent needed subtitles, but i'm easily spotted on the lefthandside of the screen blethering to the boy when the march paused halfway down canongate.

feeling the effects terrible today as after much negotiations we managed to get into the building, only to find out that anybody could get in once lizzie had nipped across the road to her ain hoose(embra polis are very friendly and polite but not too well informed). then i was sent back out to get the free picnic lunches for seven women(think the other two husbands had found a bar inside, they know who they are!!) that involved standing in a queue for half an hour, but gave me a chance to blether to a few msps who were queueing too, george reid and david steel amongst them (the rest were faces you can never put a name to) then had to queue for another twenty mins to get back into the parly. a wee security guard wasn't going to let us go and watch the band play inside(the 1st minister spoke to my neebur but sloped off when he heard me arueing with the security) not to be beat i collared the lady in charge of visitor access who tolds us that yes there was no problem with us getting into the part of the building where the kids were playing, the guard was just being a jobsworth.

the band played magnificently in the afternoon, the acoustics being remarkably good in the parly, the vikings who gave us a few songs beforehand were a great bunch too, their version of "ring of fire" going down really well. a great honour for kintyre schools, the highlight being when nicola sturgeon posed for pics with them outside and jim mather telling me it was my vote that got him elected and gave the SNP it's majority, i did have the good grace to ask him how many times he'd said that to someone since the election. he phoned alec salmond to tell him i was there and had my own dossier for the second hundred days with me, but seeing as he was very busy i'll need to send it on to him instead.

as for the wife? when she said she was proud, that other favourite alex of ours popped into her head and she went blank for the rest of her interview, i'm only glad she never mentioned "mull of kintyre" theres a few that would have got that into the first sentence.


very much so

[WC1]

What a great day on Saturday. I've never been prouder of any group of young people. They were the smartest and best group in ther entire parade and they played better (imho) than the army band that brought up the rear. Proudest moment was seeing Drum Major Liam Renton salute the Queen as he led the band past her.

Hereis a few photos of the day.

Waiting to march off.



Down the Canongate.



Marching into the Garden Foyer of the Parliament



Playing in the Parliament.



Iain poses for the press (Glasgow Airport knocked us off the front page unfortunately).

[general jack o'niell]

great pics, even better that you can't see any of the locals that were there watching. i for one was a bit bedraggled by then and having a wee seat just behind where shearer is standing in the last band shot

[general jack o'niell]

it would appear one of my earlier posts on this topic was a bit over exuberent in its content, i'll take my slap on the wrist with good grace, sadly for me i wasn't born in the "everyone is a winner" generation and come from the "rub their noses in it" school, my bad, just gets a bit harder with age to be told that one little opinion carries any weight, i'm not that bigheaded to assume it carried any at all.

it was a great honour for the kids and the parents, one we couldn't pass up experiencing, the organisors should be congratulated for theday, the msps for the way they mingled with everyone, not for them a "them and us" attitude, that was left to certain others to convey.

we left the town at 5am, didn't get back till after 9pm and had to suffer all the congestion due to the roadworks, car crashes and the glasgow airport incident, plus the torrential rain, then there was the frustration of finding the proper people to talk to just to get to hear the band play ("thank you to all the pass holders for your help?") it was worth every ache and pain, even if i had to find a seat by the time the band played and it's taken me four days just to get over the car journey.

i wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world, everyone always says the boys and girls are a credit to the town and their tutors, i think they are a credit to themselves and deserve all the praise, i was swamped by band members when we arrived at the gardens outside the parliament building, all wanting to tell me about how great a day it had been and that was before the played inside. i'm told they had an even better time at night, nearly bringing a certain tutor to tears as they whirled round the dance floor in their kilts, luckily there were few parents there to make them feel self consious, as teens do when we are about.

i still can't get over how good the acoustics were in the parliament, the sound of the bands had a marked effect on all who witnessed it, including quite a few MSPs who couldn't believe how absolutely brilliant they were, one, from south ayrshire was close to tears listening to them. what a town we must have, to produce kids like this!!!!

[the phone girl]

Its a very special place, special NICE kids. Well done to all - something for them to remember.

[general jack o'niell]

was that you giving me a wee wave from the studio door the other day? i think it was

[the phone girl]

quite possibly