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City of Edinburgh Pipe Band

The City of Edinburgh is the senior piper band in Scotland’s capital. Formed in 1947 in the Midlothian mining community of Danderhall, the band competes in Grade 2 under the leadership of Pipe Major David Clunie, Pipe Sergeant Jamie Franks, and Leading Drummer Simon Grant.

After a few years’ absence, the City of Edinburgh returned to competitive action in 2022.

Since then, the band has attracted praise at home and abroad for its musicality and quality of sound.

Here are some little-known facts about the band:

While Pipe Major Clunie is a native of Fife, he has a strong connection with the Edinburgh piping scene. As a boy, David was taught by Pipe Major George Lumsden of the famous Lothian and Borders Police Pipe Band.
The City of Edinburgh wears the distinctive William Murdoch tartan. The tartan was adopted when the band was known as Scottish Gas Caledonia. William Murdoch was the inventor of gas lighting, while the tartan is based on the blue of the gas flame.
The late, great Gordon Duncan composed his popular jig, The Famous Baravan, in honour of the bar-in-a-caravan which accompanied the band on the competition circuit in the early 1990s.

The City of Edinburgh Pipe Band is delighted to be returning to Piping Live in 2023.