Piobs set for the big solo piping events of 2026

While the hundred or so pipers who pursue such endeavours are still refining their 2025 tunes, the Piobaireachd Society has announced its annual recommendations and requirements for the world’s most significant ceòl mòr events of 2026, giving them 15 months to prepare.

Approximately 60 pipers are accepted to compete in the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal and Silver Medal events at the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban, Scotland, and the Northern Meeting in Inverness, Scotland.

Around 20 are eligible to compete in the Clasp at Inverness and Senior Piobaireachd at Oban, each reserved for Highland Society of London Gold Medallists.

The format continues the five-year system that started in 2023, in which pipers submit six tunes from a long set list and play one. Whatever they play at Oban can’t be in their list at Inverness. In the following years, they aren’t permitted to submit the tunes they performed previously.

Other piobaireachd events around the world utilize these lists, and the tunes set for the Silver Medal, primarily, will be heard frequently in both Open/Professional and amateur contests each year.

The Piobaireachd has stipulated again the tunes in the Gold and Silver medal events that require a crunluath-a-mach variation to be played, but not for the Senior events. Clasp and Senior Piobaireachd contestants—and not the judges—are presumably allowed to choose whether an a-mach is needed in, for example, “Lament for the Earl of Antrim.”

The Piobaireachd Society has been prescribing tunes for over a century, with the primary objective of promoting a wider variety of piobaireachds, thereby ensuring the performance of compositions that might not otherwise be heard.

We’ve alphabeticized the lists for easier reference.

Gold Medal (submit four, play one)
* “Lament for Airds” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 13
“Captain Donald MacKenzie, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 15
“Fair Thee Well, Donald – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 14
* “Finger Lock, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 1; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Lady MacDonald’s Lament” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 8; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
* “MacDonalds are Simple, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 9
“Port Urlar – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 12
* “Pride of Barra, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 5; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr

* Must play the crunluath-a-mach variation

Silver Medal (submit four, play one)
“Bealach Nam Brog, The Battle of” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 9
“Beloved Scotland” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 6; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Castle of Dunyveg, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 1
“Earl of Seaforth’s Salute, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 5; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Iolaire, Lament for the” – Donald MacLeod Piob. 2019 edition
“John Morrison of Assynt House, Lament for” – Donald MacLeod – Piobaireachd (2019 edition)
* “Farewell to the Laird of Islay” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 9
“King’s Taxes, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 5; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Nameless” – Hiharin dro o dro” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 4; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
* “Rout of Glenfruin, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 8; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr

* Must play the crunluath-a-mach variation

Senior
“Abercairney’s Salute” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 11
“Airds, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 13
“Battle of Waterloo, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 11
“Beinn a Ghriain” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 4
“Bells of Perth, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 2; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Children, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Cluny MacPherson, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 14
“Craigellachie” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 6; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Daughter’s Lament, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 6; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Donald Ban MacCrimmon, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 2; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Donald Gruamach’s March” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 2; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Duke of Hamilton, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Earl of Antrim, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Edinburgh Piobaireachd, The” – John MacLellan – Ceòl Mòr
“End of the Little Bridge, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 8; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Farewell to the Queen’s Ferry” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd, 2020 edition
“Finger Lock, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 1; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Good Health to You, Donald” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 13
“Harp Tree, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 12; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Hugh, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 13
“In Praise of Morag” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 1; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“James Campbell, Salute to” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
“John Garve MacLeod of Raasay, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 5; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“John MacDonald, Inverness, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
“King George III, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 14
“Lady MacDonald’s Lament” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 8; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Laird of Anapool, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 9
“Lament for Colin Roy MacKenzie” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“MacCrimmon Cairn at Borreraig, Salute to the” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
“MacDonald of Staffa, Salute to” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 13
“MacDonalds’ Salute, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 11
“MacKenzie of Gairloch, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 10
“MacLeans’ March, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 10
“MacLeod of Colbeck, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 10
“MacLeod of MacLeod’s Lament” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 15; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Mary’s Praise” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 5; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Mrs .MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 11
“My Dearest on Earth, Give Me Your Kiss” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 11
“Nameless” – Cherede Darievea” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 8; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Patrick Og MacCrimmon, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Phantom Piper of Corrieyairack, The” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
“Pipe-Major Robert Reid, Lament for” – Piobaireachd Society 20th Century Piobaireachd (2020 edition)
“Port Urlar” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 12
“Red Hand in the MacDonald’s Arms, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 10
“Red Speckled Bull, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 4; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Roderick MacDonald’s Salute” – Donald MacLeod – Piobaireachd (2019 edition)
“Rout of the Lowland Captain, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 9
“Scarce of Fishing” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 3; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Sir James MacDonald of the Isles’ Salute” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 14
“Son’s Salute to his Parents, A” – Donald MacLeod Piob. 2019 edition
“Sound of the Waves Against the Castle of Duntroon, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 6; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Sutherlands’ Gathering, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 14
“Union, Lament for the” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 6; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr
“Unjust Incarceration, The” – Piobaireachd Society Collection, book 2; Kilberry Book of Ceòl Mòr