Pipe band marks 100 years

Former Balclutha Pipe Band drum major Russell Scott reacquaints himself with the band's mace during centenary celebrations at its Balclutha practice rooms on Saturday.

Balclutha resident Mr Scott (82) was among about 100 past and present members attending a weekend of anniversary events.

His own band career had been "unusual''. He began as a piper in 1953, before becoming drum major about 25 years later.

"I got a bit sick of the piping, and the job came up so that's what I did. It worked out pretty well.''

Given its Scottish origins, Balclutha was relatively slow to establish a pipe band, its centenary booklet suggests.

A Clutha Leader report of the time says a Mr E. Wildey moved for the formation of the band at a public meeting on August 5, 1919: "There [is] no music so stirring as that of the pipes, the music of [our] forefathers. A pipe band should have been formed here long ago.''