White Horse Coffee & Tea Celtic & Bagpipe Links

The Seven Celtic Nations: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Galicia and beyond (the New Lands - Canada, America, New Zealand, Australia, and wherever else our ancestors brought the culture).

"Celts are men that Heaven made mad, for their battles are all merry and their songs are all sad." - Anonymous

A special thanks to Jim Spiva of Clan Sinclair, a Highland piper who lives in Vallejo, California. Thank you for the friendship, the music, and the heritage.

Celtic Sites
Undiscoverd Scotland is the ultimate online guide to Scotland. This site is a comprehensive combination of visitor guide, accommodation listing and business directory. It also contains great historical references and pertinent suggestions for reading material. I found this site to be of utmost value in learning about Scotland and planning to travel within this beautiful country.
The Mastery of Scottish Arts' Winter School at the beautiful Seabeck Conference Center is an excellent Winter retreat and workshop in piping, drumming, fiddle and dance. Seabeck is located on Washington's beautiful Olympic Pennisula, next to the Hood Canal - across the water from Seattle. The ceilidh, personal instruction, group teaching, heart to heart chatting with your instructors and watching their grand stage performance will all make for a wonderful and memorable experience. MSA has recruited champion faculty members to challenge it's students, both mentally and physically, to help them achieve excellence in their art. We have every confidence that you will come away from the week with a greater passion, higher standard and a deeper knowledge of your Scottish art than ever before. I attended the school in 2006 and loved it - I plan to return in 2007.
Ceolas is a music and dance summer school featuring expert tuition in piping, fiddling, singing, Scotch reels and Quadrilles, step dancing and the Gaelic language. It is set within the Gaelic-speaking community of South Uist. Ceolas explores the vital connections between Scottish traditional music, Gaelic song and dance while allowing ample opportunity for participants to enjoy all these art forms in ceilidhs and in homes, the places which fostered them. Though focusing on Hebridean tradition, Ceolas also has a strong Cape Breton dimension. Gaelic culture taken to Cape Breton (Nova Scotia, Canada) by emigrants from the Gaidhealtachd nearly 200 years ago survived there in relative isolation. Now, Ceolas provides a unique opportunity to bring it all ‘back home'. Celebration of cultural links between music, song and dance, and across the Atlantic, is the School's hallmark. I attended the Ceolas workshop in July, 2006, and loved the experience - well worth the trip. Ceolas is a must for the lover of Gaelic language, music and dance. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.
The Oregon Scottish Society's mission is to celebrate Scottish Culture and Heritage, promote fellowship among it's members, cooperate with those who share it's goals and interests, and educate the public about Scottish history, heritage, culture, achievements and more. This is a great website, especially as a resource to see what's happening in Oregon regarding the Scottish Heritage movement.
CLANRANALD B&B - Need a place to stay while attending Ceolas or visiting the beautiful Isle of South Uist? Stay with Mrs. Angela MacDonald at her inviting B&B. Highland hospitality and Gaelic tradition will surround you. The piping heritage of South Uist is alive well and an intricate part of Angela's family, including her sister-in-law, Rona MacDonald Lightfoot. Clanranald is situated three and a half miles from the Lochboisdale Ferry Terminal, on the main Lochboisdale to Lochmaddy road. South Uist has outstanding natural beauty with its windswept moorland, archaeological treasures and the richness of the Celtic culture. Clanranald is situated overlooking the beautiful hills on the east and the lovely unspoilt beaches on the west. The MacDonald family are direct descendants of the Clan Ranald chiefs who once were landlords of these islands. Their ruined castles are still of great historical interest. Angela is a Gaelic speaker and a firm advocate of the Celtic Culture.
Rick and Debe McCaul are the owners of the Scottish Country Shop, which has been in business in Portland, Oregon for over twenty years. I met them at the Douglas County Scottish Society's Southern Oregon Games in Winston, Oregon. They are good and honest people who care about quality, value and customer service. They carry piping supplies and are a great resource for folks who are looking for various Scottish and Irish goods. Their address is 3568 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202. Phone: 503-238-2528 or 1-800-550-3568 (toll free) fax: 503-238-5152 web: www.scottishcountryshop.com (online shopping available) e-mail: customerservice@scottishcountryshop.com
The Caledonian Club of San Francisco holds their world famous Scottish Gathering and Games over the Labor Day weekend each year in Pleasanton, California (at the Alameda County Fairgrounds). The finest pipers in the world compete in these games. Other competition includes Highland athletics (caber tossing, etc.) and sheep dog events.
Specialists in Celtic imagery, Highlander Graphics features original art of the seven Celtic Nations. Their products include clip art on CD ROM, Celtic fonts, art rubber stamps, clothing, calendars, and more.
"Just around the corner there's a rainbow in the sky. So let's have another cup of coffee, and let's have another piece of pie." "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee" by Irving Berlin, 1932 .....Bradley W. Schenck - Long Playing Computer Graphics......visit his site for great Celtic clip art. Bradley created the animated Celtic bird at the top of this webpage and other Celtic imagery used in many parts of this website. He's also into rich, full bodied, dark roasted coffee......ahhhhhh....... He's an incredible artist and knowledgeable in web design - a great resource.
Lamb Etc. Scottish and Irish Imports - provides USDA inspected Haggis for the American Scottish community, and real Scottish Oatmeal for those who know the difference between rolled oats and milled oats. In addition to these food products, we are the manufacturer of Dalriada Kilt Shirts and Campsie Glen Inverness Raincapes. Imports from Scotland and Ireland include unique items of that cultural heritage and tradition. Please feel free to have a look around our site, and contact us with any questions you might have. Look at our online catalog secure site for convenient online shopping.
For over twenty years Classique Tours have offered a more personal style of touring and exploration which will suit those seeking a very peaceful interlude amidst truly wonderful scenery, meeting people whose pace of life you will surely envy. Our small tour coaches will take you well off the beaten track to the more isolated and scenically dramatic areas of Scotland - including the Hebrides. I have personally travelled with this company - great experience! I plan to use them again.

Bagpipe and Celtic Music Sites
Molly's Revenge specializes in the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland and England, with occasional side trips to other parts of Europe. At a Molly's Revenge performance you will be treated to upbeat, lively renditions of traditional Celtic music and song. The band is well known for it's high-energy performances. The 4 band members play an assortment of instruments, including guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, Scottish Highland bagpipes, small pipes, border pipes, uilleann pipes, whistles, fiddle, and bodhran. This is an incredibly talented group. On occassion, we are fortunate enough to have them play at the coffeehouse.
Mark Saul is one of my favorite pipers and composers of Highland Bagpipe music. Recognised as one of the world’s most successful and respected contemporary composers of bagpipe music, Mark Saul is renown for pushing the idiom into unprecedented realms. Featured on World Pipe Band Championship CDs since 1992, his compositions are continually played and recorded by pipe bands, folk groups and solo artists from around the world. Mark Saul’s highly innovative bagpipe album 'Mixolydian' is available from his web site and at White Horse Coffee. The CD contains new Mark Saul compositions that take piping to yet a higher level of musical exploration. Featuring virtuoso Highland bagpipe playing, accompanied by highly talented musicians playing instruments both new and old, along with modern beats and sounds. For those looking for a new and exciting musical experience, this CD will not disappoint. Truly contemporary ‘Folk’ music! Also - Mark's Antipodes Collection is now available! Mark Saul's popular collection of contemporary bagpipe compositions is available again after a period of being out of print. Currently only available from his website!
Culann's Hounds evolved from the streets of San Francisco, California. Their new album, Year of the Dog, has been called "brilliant." Denny McCarthy, fiddler for New York's favorites Shilelagh Law wrote, "The arrangements of the tunes on this cd are superb. They have stayed true to their roots in trad while creating their own unique sound. In my opinion, this is a group that can hold their own against any of today's Trad-Irish heavyweights including: Solas, Danu and Dervish." Culann's Hounds tour the West Coast frequently bringing their fiddle, guitar, accordion, bodhran instrumentals and lush vocal sets to White Horse Coffee as often as their schedule permits. These folks are class - great music - great people - great soul.
Rona Lightfoot is from South Uist and has been described as a ceilidh personified. She is a great piper, a hugely talented singer, and a veritable treasury of traditional Gaelic songs. What's more, Rona is a terrific raconteur with a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh. As you listen to Eadarainn you will also get a sense of what a great character she is. Rona ’s most immediate musical in influences were her mother Kate, who was one of the most remarkable singers and tradition bearers of her age and Eairdsidh Raghnaill, her father, a piper and seanachaidh of renown. Rona ’s family cherished and fostered Gaelic traditional arts and Eadarainn is a distillation of the cultural legacy which she inherited. Rona is also an instructor at Ceolas (see above). You can find her CD at Gaelic Music (click on image for link) or Music Scotland (www.musicscotland.com/acatalog/Rona_Lightfoot.html).
Iain MacDonald and Iain MacFarlane have played together for many years, growing up not far from one another in Moidart (Glenuig and Glenfinnan respectively). MacDonald has already lent his musicality and technical precision to some of the better recordings in the genre, whilst a part of Ossian and the Battlefield Band. Iain MacFarlane has quickly become one of the most sought-after fiddlers in Scotland, in association with the Blazin' Fiddles and as a teacher and session player. Together, they are testament to how exciting trad can be in the right hands. Iain MacDonald (pictured), the youngest brother of the famous piping family from Glenuig, has been steeped in the Gaelic tradition throughout his life. Now based in Benbecula, he combines a busy performance schedule with tutoring at the new traditional Gaelic music course at Colaisde Beinn nam Foghla, and is the Musician in Residence at Sabhal M�r Ostaig. He has toured extensively with The Battlefield Band and Ossian. Iain MacFarlane was born and brought up in Glenfinnan and was taught by his father, Charlie, and also the late Donald Riddell. He teaches regularly at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School. He is an internationally acclaimed player and teacher in the traditional music world. To order the CD, click on the image above left. To learn more about the album and the two Iain's, click on the image of Iain above right, or go to www.roshvenrecords.com
I met Andrew Lenz at the Monterey Celtic Arts Academy's School of Piping session in June 2005. He's a great guy and an incredible resource on piping. He is a humble individual and very well respected in the piping community. His website is the pulse of oxygen that many pipers need when they hit a wall and don't know where to turn for help.When Andrew first started bagpiping, there wasn't much help out on the web for pipers. A handful of excellent bagpipe sites, but not much advice nor many tips for beginners and some really basic necessary piping information was nowhere to be found. He decided in December of 1998 to start sharing what he had learned—some the easy way, some the hard way—with other bagpipers on their own journey of discovery. This site has expanded to include unique reference material for pipers of all levels, including an exhaustive drone reed identification page. There's always more to know about the Great Highland Bagpipe.
The Southern Oregon Scottish Pipe Band was formed in 1931 by a group of World War I Veterans and the American Legion. It has continued to perform for the public and private engagements ever since. Previously known as the Elks Kilty Band and the Siskiyou Highland Pipes and Drums, SOSPB performs all over Oregon and Northern California. They are also the "home band" for the Douglas County Scottish Society's Celtic Highland Games in Winston, Oregon, which takes place in August.
The WICKED TINKERS perform the kind of Gaelic bagpipe music you might have heard hundreds of years ago at a Scottish wedding, ceilidh, or around the campfire of a Highland raiding party - not the refined piping and drumming of a modern pipe band. They have been blending the emotion and power of the Great Highland Bagpipe with the pounding of raw tribal rhythms for many years and have added the haunting sound of the didgeridoo and the Bronze-Age Celtic Horn - a sound lost for over a millennium. They play the music of the Scottish Highlands, spicing it with the Celtic tunes of Ireland and the many lands graced by the Gaelic people. They get back to a simple roots sound that is the sound of our ancestors - re-animated and re-dressed - to connect with the 21st century - a raw sound that can touch you on a deep emotional level.
The Piedmont Highlanders, of Piedmont, California, have been in existence since the early 1930's. They are a non-competition bagpipe and drum band that carries on the Celtic tradition by performing classic Scottish and Irish tunes. They perform throughout the Northern California Bay Area.
Ian Whitelaw is a master piper in every way: 35 years experience as an accomplished soloist, competitor, performer, band leader and teacher. Ian recently joined the L.A. Scots, a grade 1 pipe band. He is Pipe Sergeant and Music Director for this award winning band. Currently, the band is preparing to compete in Scotland in August for the Worlds. In addition he is a private tutor and mentor for pipers of all levels of ability. Ian is a former member of the world champion bagpipe band, Simon Fraser University, bringing his experience and legendary expertise to bands around the world with lectures, workshops and band consulting. His television and film credits include The Simpsons, West Wing, and The General's Daughter. He specializes in performing at weddings, funerals, wakes, births, parties and special events. Ian is available for bagpipe lessons in Redondo Beach, California and San Francisco, California. Contact me at info@whitehorsecoffee.com for more information on lessons with Ian.
Ann Gray - Piper, Teacher, Competitor, Composer - Born in Nova Scotia, Ann's piping career began with the Stellarton Balmoral Girls' Pipe Band. After a successful career in the amateur grades of solo piping, Ann moved into the professional class at the age of eighteen and became a member of the grade 1 pipe band the Scotia Legion Pipe Band based out of Halifax. She started teaching the same year and was employed as a summer instructor at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton. In 1986, after completing her Master of Arts degree in Celtic Studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Ann moved to Calgary, Alberta, where she still resides. She continues to compete in solo contests around the world and teach at various schools throughout North America, including schools in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Montana, Idaho, Ohio, and Washington State. She also teaches privately in Calgary during the fall and winter months. Ann is also a member of Western Canada's Celtic band "Seanachie," playing various instruments including highland pipes, Scottish smallpipes, whistles, bodhran, and mandolin. She has recorded several CD's, as a solo artist and with Seanachie.
Located in South Whidbey Island, Washington, David Daye is a master Uilleann pipe maker, Highland and Uilleann pipe performer, and instructor. Creator of the Penney Chanter, Daye has come up with a completely new way to build the uilleann pipe chanter from very inexpensive and easily obtained materials. I own a set of his pipes - great sound quality, very playable and very affordable. His support information and instructions are outstanding. It readily comes across to the customer that David Daye truly cares about his craft and the music of piping. For more information, visit his website at www.daye1.com
"The Uilleann Bagpipe is an instrument that captivates like no other. Its unique melody, once heard, is not easily forgotten. It has a quality about it that seems to charm the soul. It is an instrument with a rich history, full of Irish tradition. It is quite modest, often not known, yet often heard. It is a sound that moves you, changes you. It is a sound that is felt, not heard. If you let it, it will become a part of you as it has become a part of me." - CJ Dixon - Uillean Pipe Maker - Ontario, Canada. My friend, Jim Spiva, of Vallejo, California, owns a set of CJ Dixon pipes and writes, "I am an extremely happpy piper. The workmanship is superb. The tone is very pleasing to the ear and the chanter is quite easy to play. The drones are beautiful with a strong bass drone and beautiful resonance with the other drones. The look, feel and sound of Chris' instrument speaks of high quality and the hand work is sheer artistry." www.cjdixon.com
I met Jimi McRae at the Highland Games in Winston, Oregon. He piped effortlessly all day - for the crowds and for the Highland Dancing competition. It was quite an experience. "Jimi McRae [aka Jimi The Piper] has shifted up a gear from the traditional bagpipe themes and sounds of his debut album Pipedreams, taking an evolutionary leap with Earthdance. Although the stories inspiring the tunes remain local, Earthdance has a world music feel mixed with full on funk rock attitude. Tartan stereotypes are tossed aside as McRae's skill proves the pipes as powerful, moving and diverse as any instrument."
Celtic duo George & Anwyn Leverett play at many Celtic and Blue Grass festivals across the US. Their passion for Celtic & medieval music proclaims itself with each performance. Ancient, traditional and contemporary Celtic music comes to life with their wide variety of folk instruments - Irish fiddle, cittern, guitar, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, zither, hammer dulcimer, bowed psaltery and recorder. George's main instrument is the beautiful self-made 36 string "Lady Harp." They blend a kaleidoscope of sounds and textures that makes no two songs sound the same. Their latest CD, 'Altar Wind,' combines George's harp with Anwyn's unique collection of medieval instruments to produce delicate neo-medieval instrumentals as well as several haunting vocal tracks. The duo's music is played on Celtic music radio shows across the US, Canada, Australia, Russia and Brazil, including the world wide syndicated radio show, Thistle & Shamrock. George has recently written and recorded a 5 song sound track for an upcoming television documentary.
This site was created and is maintained by Bob Dunsire, piper and webmaster. Here you'll find the most comprehensive and the largest list of bagpiping sites on the web with more than 2900 bagpipe related links. If it is related to bagpipes (of any type) you'll find a current link to it here. The site is updated on a daily basis.
John McLean Allan is a member of the Grade 1 pipe band, LA Scots. "Stand Easy" is John Allan's latest Celtic Rock record featuring world class musicians who have played with The Chieftains, Korn, Joe Cocker, and the LA Scots Pipe Band. It Contains traditional and Contemporary songs featuring vocals, bagpipes, whistle, mandolin, electric guitars, bass and drums.
Bagpipe Art - This is a site maintained by Aron Garceau, lead guitarist for the Celtic rock band Prydein. Contained in these pages are images extracted from websites as well as some scans that were made from many old books found at the University of Vermont Library, as well as their Special Collections Department. It is easy to spend several hours at this site going through all of the art. Very intriguing!
This group has an incredible sound to which I spend hours listening. MacUmba is a group of eight musicians based in Scotland who mix the traditional sounds of Scottish bagpipes with the sounds and rhythms of Brazilian and Caribbean percussion. Various combinations of flutes, guitars, bass, voices have also been added. Thank you, Randy George, for introducing me to MacUmba music!
Tempest is the world’s only band that seamlessly merges relentless rock rhythms, Irish jigs and reels, Norwegian traditional music, Scottish ballads and inventive, original compositions focusing on mythology and history.
Seven Nations	Seven Nations is a fiercely independent and determined Celtic rock band based in Orlando, Florida. They have logged over 250,000 tour miles and have played in Europe and Latin America, aside from every corner in the US. Their incorporation of the bagpipe into their music is haunting and beautiful.
Tone Czar Bagpipes offers a full range of products and services to pipers and pipe bands of all levels, from the beginning chanter student to the seasoned professional, from the fledgling startup band to Grade One. Tone Czar is owned and operated by Chris Hamilton, who is a member of the City of Washington Pipe Band. Chris is a good resource for piping supplies and advice.