| aughintober, northern ireland

New Brogues - a big day in the life of any Piper, Drummer, or Drum Major, for that matter. It generally can go two ways (as with much in this life). Either they're super-confortable, or cut the feet off you! Since there was no blood on Glenn's socks, I guess he got the good side of it! Although, with Brogues made out of used tyres, you'd hope they were comfortable!

So, with glenn in his (not so) shiney new shoes, and Ruth & Gail claiming 'Girl Power' in the back row (they actually did turn up dressed as the spice girls), we set off for Cookstown! Well, I didn't, cause I live in Cookstown and was unwilling to Travel to Aughintober, to Travel to Cookstown, to Travel to Aughintober, to Travel to Cookstown!

So once again, with the pipes singing (always happens on parade for some reason!) we sauntered out of the assembly field and onto the main street. For those of you unfamiliar with Cookstown, it's main street, is not only one of the widest, but also one of the longest in Ireland (coming in at around 1.25 miles), so it takes a fair bit of stamina to play the whole way! Thankfully for the band, Pipe Major Jason was no longer in charge, so it wasn't 3 6/8's followed by 3 Hornpipes, followed by dear knows what, leaving the band contemplating a military-style (bloodless, but none the less effective) coup. To PM Glenn Ferry it was, with plenty of breaks, plenty of chat, and a bit of craic to be had in there as well - we even got a few Drum Salutes which was a nice change!

Cookstown, being in the townland of Cookstown, in the District of Cookstown, in the County of Tyrone, in well, Northern Ireland (obviously) dosn't have many cows (on the main street anyway), so instead of our usual audience of Farmer Joe's Frezian Cattle (See http://www.aughintoberpipeband.com/apps/blog/show/3049318-the-tour-endith- if you've forgotten!), we were forced to play for human beings - the nice change being they react to your tunes! I certinly saw disappointment mixed with pride in my own mother's face as we marched past playing Jesus Loves Me! (This is a long running arguement with my mother, who dosn't think hymn tunes should be let loose near bagpipes - but perfers a nice hornpipe instead - go figure!), and my nephew Finn sound asleep!

Anyway - with the 'Girl Power' back row ready to collapse (that's right girls, the real athletes go in the front!), we reached the demonstration field (again, no cows, only people!) to relax, refresh and get ready for the return journey. I wasn't about (Uncle Duties), but from what I'm told, everyone re-stocked vital sugars at the Fosters van, and was super hyper for the return leg!

So once again everyone survived the 12th, and as for the 13th - we'll find out tomorrow! I'm stuck in work on the 13th (today), so once again we will be relying on the wit of Gail to report on the happenings of the day, and i'm told the Guest Writer might even pop in for a natter!

Happy 12th everyone!