The Dunedin Naval Band has had several names and various conductors. Before receiving its present name it was known, successively, as the Railway Band, the Railway and Headquarters' Band, the Head-quarters' Band, the Naval Brigade Band, and the Dunedin Ordinance Band. It has had as its successive conductors Mr. Marcus Hume, Mr. D. Wishart, Mr. Charles Coombs, and Mr James Coombs, who was succeeded in 1903 by its present conductor, Mr. Edward Stratton. Though the fortunes of the band have varied considerably, At has on many occasions distinguished itself. At the competitions held at Timaru in the month of October, 1903, when nine bands competed, the Naval Band obtained sixth place in the selection contest, fourth in the marching contest, first at a quartette, first place at the solo contests on the euphonium, second for baritone, and second and third for cornet playing; and also won the Oamaru contest on the 1st and 2nd of January, 1904.

Kaikorai Brass Band: Mr. G. B. Laidlaw, Conductor. This popular band was first started in 1881 with thirteen members, and Mr. Thomas Chapman as its first conductor. In March, 1884. Mr. Chapman retired, and Mr. E. Stratton, the present conductor of the Dunedin Naval Band, was appointed to fill his place. He held the position till 1902, when he was succeeded by Mr. G. B. Laidlaw. The band, which has always taken a high place at association contests, numbers thirty performers, and is supplied with a complete set of Boosey's celebrated brass instruments, supplied by the George Street Pianoforte and Organ Company, London. Three representatives from the band accompanied the New Zealand band on its English tour.

Mr. G. B. Laidlaw , Conductor of the Kaikorai Brass Band, was born in Rothesay, Scotland, in 1863, and studied the cornet, and also harmony, under Monsieur E. T. de Banzie, a leading musician of Glasgow. He subsequently played under Herr Venize, Musical Director of Colonel Mapelson's Italian Opera Company, and for Mr. Good-son, Conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, and numerous other celebrated conductors. For fourteen years Mr. Laidlaw was bandmaster of the first Argyle and Bute Volunteer Artillery Bund, one of the finest bands in Scotland, and during that time was also conductor of the Rothesay Corporation Military Band. During the years 1899 and 1900 he was musical director of the Scottish and National Orchestra. He arrived in New Zealand in 1901, and was shortly afterwards appointed bandmaster to the Kaikorai Band, now one of the leading bands in the Middle Island of New Zealand. Mr. Laidlaw is also conductor of the Lawrence and Ravensbourne Bands. As a Freemason he belongs to Lodge St. Patrick. Irish Constitution.

The Dunedin Pipe Band was first started early in the year 1897. A meeting was then held in one of the rooms of the Caledonian Society, at the instance of the promoters, Dr. Gordon Macdonald, Mr. A. Gray, and Mr. W. Duncan Hume. The meeting appointed a committee, and elected Mr. A. Gray pipe-major, and Mr. W. Duncan Hume secretary. Mr. Gray, a masterly player on the bagpipes and an accomplished student of bagpipe music, twice a week gave instruction to the first members of the band, in a rented room in Rattray Street. The band made its first appearance in public in 1899. Its equipment was, naturally, not so full as it is now; at present it has sixteen pipers, four drummers, a bugler, pipe-major, drum-major, drill instructor and secretary. The original instruments, which cost £250, were bought by the bandsmen, who also expended about £80 of their own money in rent for their practice room. Over £300 was spent on uniforms in Gordon tartan—that worn by the celebrated 92nd Highlanders; and page 223 this money was obtained partly by means of public subscriptions, and partly from concerts and other entertainments given by or in connection with the band. Altogether, it coat more than £550 to equip the band, which, however, started practically free from debt. Its first performance in full uniform was at the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association's show at Tahuna Park, in November, 1900. Since then the band has, in relation to music and public functions in Dunedin, occupied a distinguished place with distinction. When the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York were in New Zealand, in June, 1901, the band was specially invited to take part in the public reception given to their Royal Highnesses in Christchurch. Mr. Gray, who did so much for the band as its first pipe-major, retired some time ago to devote his time to business, and was succeeded by Mr. W. Duncan Hume, the band's first secretary, whose services to the band have been and still are of the very highest value. The band meets for practice every Tuesday evening, at its rooms in Maclaggan Street. Some historical information compiled by the band's present pipe-major may be of interest in this connection. In its rude form the bagpipe cannot be said to belong to any country in particular. The early instrument was simply a pipe fitted with a reed, and an airtight bag for use as a reservoir to enable the player to get a breath without having to stop the sound. Then to subdue the shrill tone of the reed drones were fitted. The Italian pipes have never advanced beyond this stage. How the bagpipe was introduced into Scotland will never be known, for there are many theories, but Melrose Abbey, which was founded in the year 1136, bears an ancient carving in bas-relief of a bagpipe of a very primitive kind. Giraldus Cambrensis, who wrote in the twelfth century (when William the Lion was King of Scotland), bears testimony to the excellence of Scottish music, and adds: “In Scotland they use three musical instrument—the harp, the tabour and the bagpipe.”

The bagpipe was used in war in the fifteenth century, and before the dawn of the sixteenth century it was firmly established, and nearly every burgh in Scotland had its paid piper. Its popularity spread to England, and old records show that it was no unusual thing for Scottish towns to engage English pipers. One thing Scotsmen can claim is that, though bagpipes in the rude form can still be found among the mountaineers of Italy and in other places. Scotland undoubtedly invented the bagpipe as we know it. An old set of Highland bagpipes now in Edinburgh bears date 1409, and at that early period they show an immense improvement on the rude instruments seen in ancient carvings, and are much superior to the Italian pipes of the present day. They are beautifully carved and ornamented, but have only two drones in place of the three now carried. At the present time there are in Britain three distinct makes of bagpipes–the great Highland bagpipe, the English or Lowland bagpipe, smaller in size and worked by bellows under the arm, and the Irish bagpipe, also played by bellows. The English and Scottish bagpipe are very similar, but the Irish bagpipe is quite a different instrument. In the seventeenth century there were academies of music in the Highlands of Scotland, and Pennant, the traveller, who visited the Hebrides in 1774, describes one of these collegiate edifices. The Mac-Arthurs and MacCrimmons were celebrated instructors of bagpipe music, and their reputation was so great that no one was considered a perfect player unless he had been instructed or finished by them. Gentlemen who sent their pipers to these instructors had to pay their board and tuition for from six to twelve years, and that time was entirely devoted to the acquirement of pibrochs alone, for reels or quicksteps were never taught in those establishments. As to bagpipe music, it may be said that its great charm and difficulty lie in the interposition of appoggiaturas or grace-notes used for purposes of embellishment. At any rate, it is a fact that at pubic gatherings and processions, and in military parades and marches, the music seems to get into one's blood and heels, and fatigue is forgotten in the ensuing exhilaration.

Mr. W. Duncan Hume . Pipe-Major of the Dunedin Pipe Band, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to New Zealand in 1893. Mr. Hume has always taken a great interest in all matters pertaining to Scottish national music, and, in conjunction with Mr. Alexander Gray, organised and formed the Dunedin Pipe Band. From the outset Mr. Hume has contributed largely to the band's success, and has been successively its secretary, junior sergeant, and colour-sergeant, and, on the retirement of Mr. Gray, he became its pipe-major. Mr. Hume was also honorary piper to the Dunedin Burns' Club, and an active member and honorary piper in the Dunedin Highland Rifle Corps, but retired from those positions on the formation of the Pipe Band.

Mr. Alexander Gray , the first Pipe-Major of the Dunedin Pipe Band, was born in Aberdeenshire. Scotland, and arrived in Dunedin in 1872. He was for seven years in the Government service, as a mounted constable, and also in the Prison Department. In 1881 he started an ironmongery business in South Dunedin, and carried it on successfully until his retirement sixteen years later. For two years Mr. Gray gave instructions in the violin and the pipes, and in 1899 purchased the Oban Hotel. He originated the Dunedin Pipe Band, now one of the leading pipe bands in New Zealand, and was its sole instructor for three years and a half. Owing to his hotel demanding his time and attention, Mr. Gray resigned his position as Conductor and Pipe Major, and in recognition of his services was presented by the members of the band with a gold-mounted malacca cane, and a gold medal suitably inscribed; and Mrs Gray received a valuable ring. During the South African war Mr. Gray was Pipe-Major at all the patriotic functions held in Dunedin, and was specially requested by the New Zealand Government to act as Pipe-Major to the New Zealand representative volunteers sent to take part at the opening of the Federal Parliament in 1901. When the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York visited Dunedin, the Dunedin Pipe Band took a prominent part in all the functions. Mr. Gray is a member of the Caledonian Society, and as a Freemason belongs to Lodge St. Andrew, 432. Scottish Constitution. He married Miss Isabella Stewart, second daughter of the late Mr. Alexander Stewart, of his Majesty's Customs, a prominent colonist in the early days of Dunedin.