The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is a grade 1 pipe band from Shotts, in the North Lanarkshire region of Scotland. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships sixteen times. The current pipe major is Emmett Conway.

History

The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band was formed in 1910 by Pipe Major Dugald MacFarlane. The band purchased its first uniform with kilts of the McKenzie tartan in 1914, but despite entering many competitions, the band did not attain competitive success until Pipe Major Tom McAllister took the lead role in 1929. Alex retired in 1982 and Tom in 1984, and were succeeded by leading drummer John Scullion and pipe major James A. Bell.

In 2013, the band announced the end of its decade long sponsorship from The House of Edgar and the name reverted to Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.

In 2015, Shotts won the World Championships again, the first major championship won under Canning and the first victory by a Scottish band since Shotts won the title in 2005. Kilpatrick left the band in October 2015, a statement from the band reported that Kilpatrick had agreed to step down and retire from his position as leading drummer, and that corps member Blair Brown would be his replacement. but in his own statement Kilpatrick stated that his removal from the band was "the final act in a long-running, premeditated and well-planned coup d’état orchestrated by Ryan Canning, Blair Brown, Glenn Brown and perhaps three other members of the Shotts band." Emmett Conway took over as pipe major of the band in late 2018.

The band has performed in many Pre-Worlds concerts, in 2001, 2008, 2017 and 2025.

Pipe Majors

  • Dugald MacFarlane (1910–1929)
  • Tom MacAllister Sr. (1929–1954)
  • J.K. MacAllister (1954–1968)
  • Tom MacAllister Jr. (1968–1984)
  • James A. Bell (1984–1986)
  • Robert Mathieson (1986–2010)
  • Gavin Walker (2010–2012)
  • Ryan Canning (2012–2018)
  • Emmett Conway (2018– )

Leading Drummers

  • George Crawford
  • Willie (Teddy) Gilchrist (?-1949)
  • John Kirkwood (1949–1953)
  • John Kerr (1953–1955)
  • Alex Duthart (1957–1963)
  • Willie Stevenson (1963–1970)
  • Alex Duthart (1970–1982)
  • John Scullion (1982–1986)
  • Arthur Cook (1986)
  • Jim Kilpatrick (1986–2015)
  • Andrew Lawson (2015–2023)
  • Grant Cassidy (2023 - 2025)
  • David Henderson (2025 - present)

Discography

  • World Champions (1960)
  • Champions Supreme (1965)
  • The Covenanter (1968)
  • Parade of the Pipes (1970)
  • Pipes & Drums (1970)
  • Bagpipes, Brass & Accordion (1971)
  • The Shores of Loch Katrine (1974)
  • Bagpipe Marches and Music of Scotland (1976)
  • Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band (1976)
  • Champion of Champions (1981)
  • Another Quiet Sunday (1992)
  • By the Waters Edge (1994)
  • The Pipe Major's Choice (1999)
  • La Boum Ecosse (2001)
  • Legendary House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band (2005)
  • Rise (2018)

References