Band’s centenary calls for full regalia
In the pre-dawn of Anzac Day this year, Balclutha Pipe Band members will be letting themselves into their hall to get ready for the dawn service.
It’s a ritual that has gone on for 100 years since the South Otago-based band formed in 1919.
Celebrating its centenary this year, the band enjoys the sense of occasion that dressing in the full Highland regalia entails.
This is one of the few times when they get to wear the full fig.
It’s normally just a shirt, tie, waistcoat and glengarry, the small, folded woollen cap that pipe bands wear. But Anzac Day is special.
Street parades were what the band enjoyed the most, even more than competition, pipe major Malcolm Wilson said.
‘‘We would never turn down a parade. If we can make it happen, it will happen.’’
The Hillend farmer has fond memories as a boy of watching the band take to the main street.
And for 32 years he has proudly been part of that parade. He will be one of the 16 members who will arrive at the Balclutha band room early, already in his kilt and stiff, high-necked jacket.
The band has a good core group and it is very much a big family. But it is getting harder to field a band, he said.
‘‘Jobs have changed over the years. It’s not nine to five any more. People are working shifts, weekends. Band competes with sport and lifestyle. It’s not easy.’’
The band enjoys the camaraderie of getting ready for an event. For Anzac Day, that involves the tricky business of getting into the plaid, the swirling length of tartan that accompanies the skirling pipes on special occasions.
The job used to fall to the late Geoff Miller, of Balclutha, arguably one of the best drum majors in the world, who did the honours, wrapping the tartan corset-tight around the midriff and over the shoulder.
He died in 2017. Now the job falls to former pipe major Alex McLaughlin. It’s an exacting job.
‘‘You’ve got to get the length just right and then you’ve got to stick the pin of the big brooch through five layers of fabric.’’
Then it’s time to put the snowy-white spats over the dress black shoes, and tiptoe across the mud and grass to assemble at the Balclutha War Memorial Hall for the parade.
The crowning glory, of course, is the feathered bonnet.
The gear is heavy. It’s welcome warmth on those chilly autumn mornings – but absolute torture if it’s hot.
‘‘Probably the worst thing that can happen, on parade or when you’re standing, is to fall over,’’ Wilson said.
Hence one of the band’s few rules is: Eat a good breakfast so you don’t fall over. Wearing a good pair of woollen socks under your Highland hose so your feet don’t freeze is another good tip.
Anzac Day is a busy day for the band. After a quick cocklewarmer at the Clutha District RSA after the parade, it’s off the Milton for their parade.
Once upon a time each town had its own pipe band, but now the Balclutha band is shared in four locations in the district, including Milton for its parade at 10am, and Owaka and Kaka Point where a solo piper is sent.
Two pipers from other Otago bands are sent to Clinton.
‘‘It is a struggle to cover it . . . but we’ve got young ones coming through,’’ Wilson said.
The band has obtained community funding to hire a drumming tutor who comes from Invercargill weekly. ‘‘There is some hope for the future.’’
One of the band’s few rules is: Eat a good breakfast so you don’t fall over.