History Series: Pipe Major Harry Blair was a true son of Brockville, Ontario. He was born there in 1930, educated there, employed there and spent most of his piping career there. Starting at about the age of fourteen, Harry actually wanted to be a snare drummer, but at the time there wasn’t any room in the Brockville Highland Pipe Band for him to learn drumming. The fallout, or perhaps the happy consequence of that situation, was that he was persuaded by George Beley to take up the other band instrument, the great highland bagpipe.
Mr Beley was also kind enough to take the time to provide some elementary guidance to the young budding piper.