Lord Selkirk Boys Pipe Band

Lord Selkirk Boys Pipe Band is a well-known Canadian Grade 4 youth band with a distinguished history introducing generation after generation of young pipers and drummers to Scotland’s musical heritage. There are 26 pipers and six drummers in the performance band and a smaller contingent in the competition band.

While the band has mastered an extensive traditional repertoire, many other tunes are either composed or arranged by Pipe Major Robert Fraser and other celebrated Canadian pipers such as Bob Worrall, seven-time winner of the North American Professional Championship.

The band has long enjoyed the friendship and tutelage of many famous pipers and drummers. The boys have benefited from workshops and private lessons with pipers such as Bob Worrall and Michael Gray, and world-class drummers John Fisher, and Ty Fry, both with histories at Shotts & Dykehead.

Like the boys themselves, these accomplished musicians are drawn to the band largely because of the energy and warmth of 87-year-old Pipe Major Robert Fraser.

Competitions

The Lord Selkirk Boys Pipe Band competes across Western Canada and plays in concerts and cultural events throughout the year. For the second year, the band has been featured at Folklorama, North America’s largest cultural festival.

The band has traveled to Scotland six times and has competed in highland games and festivals in the United States and in several Western Canadian provinces. Both the band and individual pipers and drummers enjoy repeated success in all competitions. In this year’s highland games in Regina and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, individual members of the band won over 60 medals in 72 events.

The Lord Selkirk Boys Pipe Band has performed for members of the British Royal Family. During the band’s Scotland trip in 2000, they were selected to meet Prince Charles from over 10,000 pipers and drummers in the Marie Curie Cancer Care 10,000 Piper March. The band performed for Queen Elizabeth II in Churchill, Manitoba in 1970.

The Douglas Tartan       

The band wears the Ancient faded green and blue Douglas tartan of Lord Selkirk, a supporter of the Selkirk Settlers of Manitoba. In 1962, a tailor traveled from Edinburgh to Winnipeg to fit the boys for their initial purchase of kilts.