Anybody know these pipers?

[biblemonkey]

These guys played for my grandmother's 80th birthday party a few years back and I just now found a photo of them. I owned no camera then so I had to depend on the kindness of Facebook for a copy. They were wonderful. Came marching up the road out of the woods all the way to the cabin we were staying at and played the whole 1/2 mile trek.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7654413...in/photostream

[SlackerDrummer]

Where was this? That information would help considerably.

[biblemonkey]

Sorry, central PA.

[OC Richard]

Usually a pipe band can be tracked down with a little online research. You know the location and their tartan (Gordon).

It's far easier if a band is a competition band. If so, they will be a member of EUSPBA which lists all member bands online.

Trouble is, EUSPBA has Pennsylvania split, East and West, into two different branches. (Ohio Valley and Mid Atlantic if I recall correctly- you can verify on the EUSPBA site). So it will take a bit of looking through the EUSPBA members list to find all the possible bands.

Another quick way to find bands is through the programmes of local Highland Games. These usually list all competing bands, and usually list the band's hometown and their tartan. (Though be aware that the band's "home town" is usually the mailing address of whomever in the band receives Games stuff in the mail, and not necessarily where the band practices.)

Even Games programmes which don't list the bands' tartans and hometowns sometimes lists the tartans and hometowns of solo competitors. If you find several solo competitors from Central Pennsylvania who wear the Gordon tartan they probably play in that band. (Though some solo competitors, especially at the highest levels, will wear their personal kilts for solos in the morning and change into band uniform in the afternoon.)

Now, if the band is a "sweater band" or "street band" (in other words a noncompetition band) these sort of fly under the radar and are more difficult to track down, though there are online sites which attempt to list as many of these bands as possible.

I did just Google images for "pennsylvania pipe band gordon tartan" and a few other variations in wording but didn't come up with any photos which looked like your band. If you keep trying stuff like that, and especially if you know likely towns the band might be from, you'll hit upon them sooner or later.

[Pyper]

Based on the uniforms they don't look like a competition band, but you can't tell for sure.

The Highlander magazine publishes an annual list of bands, games, and so forth that might help you track them down. But it's not complete either, because we don't list our band.

[SlackerDrummer]

Yeah, military style shirts with patches on the sleeves, horsehair sporrans, dirks, diced hose tops with spats, hackles in the glens -- everything points to some police/firefighter or similar parade band rather than a competition band, so not likely to be listed with any of the pipe band associations that sanction competitions. None of the other typical sources list anything I can figure out to be this band either.

[DavidB80911]

I love a mystery. Some of the information in picture leads to some points to research.
1. Three of the members have grey hair suggesting their age as being seasoned.
2. The bass drummer is wearing a scarlet military doublet, a Balmoral with out the red hackle as the other members. Can't say for sure but it looks like a single dark feather.
3. The only cap badge is the one worn by the Bass drumer, someone better eyes than mine might figure out what clan by the design.
I would start the search with area Shriners pipe bands. Shrine pipe bands are more into the parades and that ilk.
Yes I am a Shriner and a former member of the local Shrine pipe band.

[DavidB80911]

Did a little quick research. The piper in the right foreground, only a little of the shoulder patch can be seen but, it has a red bar at the top of the patch.

The Jaffa Shrine Highlanders pipe band, wears the Gordon tartan and from their web site picture, only a part of the shoulder patch can be seen and it also has a red bar on the top of the patch.

A little lead but, it is a start.