Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Andrew Robertson: North-east piper honoured by Queen

Andrew Robertson: North-east piper honoured by Queen

A veteran Aberdeenshire pipe major has been honoured for decades of service to traditional Scots music in the region.

Andrew Robertson has served as a pipe major for Ellon and District Royal British Legion Pipe Band for 41 years, and has received a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his efforts.

But the 67-year-old former joiner said it was only the untimely death of his uncle Samuel that lead him to pick up the pipes at a relatively late age.

He said: “My uncle was in the army, in the war and piper, but he died quite young.

“He’d wanted someone in the family to carry on the tradition but nobody was much interested.

“I was quite old at 24 to get involved but I never looked back. I can’t believe I’ve been doing it for so long.

“I was totally speechless when I got the letter back in April from the palace. It’s just something you never expect.

“I’ve been a piper for 42 year and was a pipe major for 31 of them.

“It’s really nice that I have been thought of.

Mr Robertson now helps teach youngsters the craft of pipe playing and says many are interested in learning the Scots instrument.

He added: “I’ve got nine I’m working with just now.

“It’s really rewarding to watch them progress and I just find it great when they show me what they’ve learned.”

Also receiving the BEM is Barbara McFarlane, for voluntary service in Aberdeenshire.

 

Correction: In our Queen’s Birthday honours coverage on Saturday, we published a story about former Aberdeenshire pipe major Andrew Robertson (above). Unfortunately, we carried a picture of his late father. We apologise for the error and upset which was caused. We also stated incorrectly that Mr Robertson was 69, when he is 67, and that he was a pipe major for 41 years when, in fact, it was 31 years.