Jeannie Campbell has been a member of the LBPS committee since the very early days. Here she recalls her introduction to the society and some of the people involved.

In 1983 I was aware that a group of Lowland bellows pipers had been meeting occasionally in the College of Piping. I was employed there at the time and I had read reports of their meetings in the Piping Times. On April 16th 1983 at a meeting in the College they were officially instituted as The Lowland and Border Pipers’ Society. A report of that meeting appeared in the Piping Times.
I became involved quite by chance. Seumas MacNeill had been opening the College for their meetings but on Friday 7th October while we were both teaching the piping classes at the Kelvinside Academy, he asked if I was doing anything the following day. I had nothing planned so he asked me to open the College for the bellows pipers, saying I would know some of them and I’d be welcome to stay for their meeting. The President of the new Society was our own Jimmy Wilson, who of course I knew well as he had been involved with the College since its beginnings in the early 1940s; the Vice Chairman, Iain MacDonald, I knew as Pipe Major of the Neilston Band; the Treasurer, David Hannay, I knew from the weekly meetings of the Scottish Pipers’ Association and I had met the Chairman Mike Rowan several times when he had been in to see Seumas and arrange meetings.
So on Saturday afternoon I opened the College at 2pm. There were eleven members at the meeting and they all chatted about pipes and played a few tunes. One of the members, Robbie Greensitt, was a pipe maker and he asked if I would like to try a set of pipes. He strapped me into the bellows, attached the pipes and I had a go, managing a very shaky Scots Wha Hae. By the end of the afternoon I had become a member of the Society and had ordered a set of bellows-blown smallpipes from Robbie. On the advice of those present I went for a chanter in B flat, which was then the popular option for Highland pipers as the finger spacing was the closest to the Highland chanter. Later I had the set converted by Robbie to a combination A and D set. Living in a Glasgow tenement the smallpipes were a more neighbour friendly instrument than the Highland pipes but even thirty years later I admit my first preference is still the Highland bagpipe. When I play smallpipes I use Highland fingering and play mainly Highland tunes although I do enjoy playing duets and harmonies on the smallpipes.
Meetings continued to be held on the second Saturday of every second month at 2pm and alternated mainly between the College in Glasgow and the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh, with occasional meetings in the borders. At the Glasgow meetings I opened the building and made the tea.¹ while in Edinburgh those duties were carried out by either Peter Cooke or Hamish Henderson who was always accompanied by his dog. Usually, we would all go to Sandy Bell’s after the Edinburgh meetings.²,
The office bearers in 1983 were Jimmy Wilson, Cedric Clarke, Mike Rowan, Iain MacDonald, Gordon Mooney, David Hannay and Jim Gilchrist. Others I remember from early meetings were Robbie Greensitt and Colin Ross. Although I remember Cedric Clarke I don’t know much about him. He was an elderly man who I think lived somewhere in the Cowal area. He was a regular at the Glasgow meetings but I never heard him play. Jimmy Wilson had started playing Lowland pipes in the early 1960s when he worked in the College and found a set among the museum pieces. He was pictured on the cover of the Piping Times in July 1965 playing the Lowland pipes in the play Johnnie Armstrong’s Last Goodnight at the National Theatre, Drury Lane, London. There have been several articles on Jimmy in Common Stock. Julian Goodacre and Hamish Moore were both involved quite early in the history of the Society but I don’t remember exactly when I first met them. I do remember buying a copy of his new LP Cauld Wind Pipes from Hamish at a meeting in the College, which according to the date on the LP would have been some time in 1985.
The early meetings would start with a brief business discussion. Mike Rowan was the chairman and there were other office bearers but Mike would say that all the members were the committee. The main part of the meeting would be the playing. Everyone sat round in a circle and would play in turn. Members wore their bellows as a sign that they were willing to play and would take them off if they did not wish to play again. The standard of play was not high but everyone would have a go. Those of us who played Highland pipes had the fingering technique and a repertoire of tunes, but were inexperienced with the bellows, while some others had experience of Northumbrian pipes and had no problems with bellows technique, but were having to learn a new style of fingering.
The first competition was held at the School of Scottish Studies on 3rd March 1984. There were four events. I was eligible for the novice class as the rule then was that novice competitors were those who had been playing bellows pipes for less than a year. There were four entries and I was drawn to play first so I was the first ever competitor in the first competition. I got second prize behind Andy Hunter, with Mike Ward and Mike Rowan coming joint third. I played Teribus which counted as a lowland tune although I played it in normal pipe band style.  
At the first AGM, which was held in the College in June 1984, I was elected as Secretary and I have been on the committee ever since. In December 1984 when David Hannay moved to Sheffield I took on the position of treasurer as well. The main source of income was membership subscriptions and the expenses were Common Stock and postage. I sent out very brief newsletters every two months, to remind members of the next meeting, and sent out Common Stock twice a year. New memberships came to me and I would write a letter in reply and send a copy of Common Stock if one was available. All the envelopes had to be addressed by hand and newsletters were written on an old typewriter. The membership records were on a card index and accounts were kept in an exercise book.
In November 1985 Mike Rowan resigned and Gordon Mooney became Chairman. The other officials and committee at this time were Andy Hunter, Mike Ward, Jim Gilchrist and myself. During 1985 and 1986 meetings were held in Linlithgow, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Borders. Some were informal playing meetings and others had special events such as a featured player or speaker. One meeting included a reed making workshop by Robbie and Ann of Heriot and Allan. Whatever else had been planned at the meetings there was always time for members to play.
I held the positions of secretary and treasurer until the AGM in October 1990 when I resigned and Manuel Trucco took over.  In 1984 the membership was 80 and by 1990 had increased to 115. Manuel was able to computerise the membership records and accounts and modernised the working of the society. When Manuel retired in 1994 the membership had increased to over 200 and his job was split among three people as Secretary, Membership Secretary and Treasurer so this gives some indication of the amount of work he had been undertaking. I continued as a committee member from 1990 onwards but did not attend many committee meetings over the next couple of years. From 1993 onwards I took a more active part again and have been the minutes Secretary since 2003.

Editor’s notes:
1. Jeannie continued to make teas at LBPS events till we started holding them in venues with catering.
2. An Edinburgh howf well known for its traditional music.
Jeannie has been made an honorary member for her heroic services over nearly thirty years.