History - Tannasg Pipe Band

How and why Tannasg Pipe Band came into being can of course not be explained without a historical look back.

The year was 1968. An eventful year, slightly revolutionary with a generation that had definite ideas about the future. Then Sweden's first bagpipe band was formed; unexpectedly, one has to say, not least considering that the band performed in highland uniforms of military cut.

But thats what happened.

The one who took the initiative and the leadership was Per Colliander, a young cavalryofficer who chose to become reserve officer when the cavalry was dismantled and instead invest in academic studies and to start a bagpipe band. Troop as troop maybe you could say ...

During high school, Per had spent the summers working as a riding instructor in Scotland and a Pipe Sergeant at "The King's Own Scottish Borderers" introduced him to the mysteries of the bagpipe. The idea of ​​creating a Swedish bagpipe band based on the Scottish military model began to sprout early!

The band he formed with a group of friends was named - Thistle Pipe Band. The band developed at a fast pace, gained involvement in large and small contexts, made a number of TV appearances and became a recurring feature in the street scene in Stockholm. The band also competed in competitions in Scotland and Scandinavia, and came home with prestigious prizes and awards.

Per Colliander left earthly life very young, barely thirty years old, but the members, who have now become many; a full band, continued playing in his spirit.

It went well for the band, new musicians were added. Bands that grow big can either split into A-bands and B-bands, which is perhaps less inspiring for those in the B-band. Or new bands are formed, which was what happened.

1976 - The Stockholm Caledonian Pipe Band was formed, which appears in the final scene in Lasse Åberg's film " Den ofrivillige golfaren." (The involuntary golfer) and in the early 1980s  - The Pipes and Drums of the 1st Royal Engineers was formed, which later became - Stockholm Pipe Band.

Several of the veterans from 1968 put down their pipes and drumsticks when life with small children and careers demanded their tribute. But they still kept in touch and were seen every now and then and shed a nostalgic tear in a pint of beer.

On one such an evening, the idea of picking up the pipes again was raised and thus Tannasg Pipe Band 2017 was formed.

Tannasg is Gaelic and means ´Ghost´or ´Spirit´ which to some extent is a true  discription of the veterans who gathered fifty years later to get an outlet for their enthusiasm in the great scottish music.

The idea was to meet and play a basic repertoire that is managable for most bagpipes and drummers who have not played for a long time and do not have the opportunity to practice every week.

So after a bit of a staggering start, we were provided with the Stockholm Caledonian Pipe Band's old drums from Stockholm Pipe Band and were up and running again.

(A big thank you to SPB!)

An acquaintance that Per gained during his time in Scotland was Sir Godfrey James MacDonald, clan chief of the great clan MacDonald.

Sir Godfrey then gave him the title "Honorary Scandinavian Piper" and gave his permission that if he wanted to, his band would become his bagpipe band in Scandinavia.

This was never realized when Per Colliander became ill and died in 1973, but when we were reunited we found Per's old correspondence and contacted Sir Godfrey who very well remembered this.

We were then presented with the title

´Honorary Scandinavian Pipe Band of Lord MacDonald´ and therefore changed from our previous tartan "Black Watch" to "MacDonald Modern" and adopted MacDonald's crest etc.

We now look forward to eventually performing for Lord MacDonald here or in Scotland!