78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band

History

In the 1930s, the Halifax Police Department sponsored a fife and drum band, which was dissolved in 1939. After the war, some of its members joined, as teachers, the Queen Elizabeth High School Army Cadet Corps Pipe Band. That was dissolved in the mid-60s and its members formed the civilian pipe band The Lovett Scots, which soon became the Wylde Thyme Pipe Band. In 1983, that band aligned itself with the Halifax Police Department, under the sponsorship of the Halifax Police Association.

Under Pipe Major Wayne Moug, the 78th started competing at the grade three level and has since consistently maintained the title of Champion Supreme in Atlantic Canada, in competition through the Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association. In 1991, the band was promoted to Grade 1.

In June 2001, due to budget issues, the band was released by the Halifax Police Department. The band immediately aligned itself with the re-enactor troop for the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and became the 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipes and Drums. It continued to climb in the international Grade 1 rankings, representing Halifax at competitions in Canada, the United States and Scotland. It regularly competes at the World Pipe Band Championships, ranking 8th in 2004, 13th in 2005 and 12th in 2015. In 2003 and 2014, the band won the North American Pipe Band Championships.

At the last North American Pipe Band Championships, in 2019, the band placed third.

The regiment's original pipe major, Alexander McKellar (1824-1895), wrote many compositions named after numerous battles of the 78th Regiment. Some of these including "The 78th's Farewell to Belgaum", "Burning of the Piper's Hut", "Highland Brigade's March to Lucknow" and "The Barren Rocks of Aden". There was some dispute about the authorship of The Barren Rocks of Aden, to which McKellar responded, "The air is mine. The name is mine. Who has a better right to give a name to a child but the father."

The band played the "Mull of Kintyre" live with Sir Paul McCartney on July 11, 2009 in Halifax.

Pipe Majors

• Robert Smith (1983)
• Wayne Moug (1983–1988)
• Doug Boyd (1988–1994)
• John Walsh (1994–1998)
• Roderick MacLean (2001–2011)
• Alex Gandy (2011–Present)

Discography

• The Pipes and Drums Of The 78th Highlanders (1997), Independent
• The World Pipe Band Championships 2004 (2004), Monarch Recordings

References

References

1. "78th Highlanders (Halifax) Win...Aug 2003". Pipes Drumes.
2. "78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel)...Aug 2014". Pipes Drums.
3. "2005 / 78th Highlanders Halifax Citadel". The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
4. "2015 / 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) - Canada". The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
5. "78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel)". 78thhalifaxpipeband.org.
6. [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/rosshire/ross6.htm Electronic Scotland]
7. "ACPBA Sanctioned Games & Results". Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association.
8. "History of the Band". 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band.
9. "2004 / 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel)". The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
10. "World Pipe Band Championships 2015 - 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel)". YouTube.
11. "78th Highlanders pipe band makes finals...Aug 2015". CBC News.
12. "78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) March Off - Maxville 2014". YouTube.
13. "History of the Band". 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band.
14. "78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) - Maxville 2019 Medley". YouTube.
15. "McKellar, Alexander". Halifax Citadel Society.
16. "The Halifax Citadel - Bringing Life to History".
17. "McCartney Halifax Pipe Band".
18. "Halifax pipers join McCartney on stage, July 2009". CBC News.
19. "The Pipes and Drums Of The 78th Highlanders". Discogs.
20. "The World Pipe Band Championships 2004". Discogs.