South Yorkshire Times, July 19th, 1969.
The Skirl Of The Pipes Will Echo Down The Denaby Glens.
After a highly productive haggis warren had been discovered on Conisbrough Crags, a local firm stepped in to promote the town as the now “haggis capital of the world.” Now Denaby, on the bonnie, bonnie banks of the River Don, is to echo to the sound of the bagpipes, and the wind will carry the melancholy notes through the trees of High Melton Woods and down the shafts of Cadeby Colliery.
In the pubs and clubs of Conisbrough and Denaby, there is whispered talk of a Scottish uprising, an plans to colonise the district, and plans to colonise the district. Conisbrough has succumbed in part already, as armies of haggis have left the town to invade the fish and chips shops of South Yorkshire in an attempt to undermine the confidence in the masses in Yorkshire.
Corney hopes to be able to persuade the Headmaster, Mr. A. G. Young, to allow the pupils to take lessons.
“It isn’t too difficult to learn, as there are only nine basic notes,” said Mr. Corney. If the bagpipes catch on in the village, then perhaps Denaby’s theme song will become “Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Don”’! (Apologies to Robbie Burns.)
Drum Major.
Now plans are afoot to make Denaby the centre of England’s bag piping community. The man behind the scheme is Mr. Ted Corney (39), of 95, Tickhill Street, Denaby, a foreman fitter at Manvers Coking Plant, and in his spare time, drum major of the Edlington St. John Ambulance Brigade Pipe Band.
Said Mr. Corney: “We are short of pipers, so we are trying to draw in as many recruits as possible to learn how to play the instrument. At the moment we have about half a dozen pipers in the band, but we really need about twenty altogether.”
Mr. Corney, of the flaming red beard and in a flowing tartan kilt, is the archetype Scotsmen. Even the wallpaper and decorations of his home are reminders of the Highland glens, down to the magnificent claymore above the fireplace. But don’t let it fool you. He has never been within miles of the border, and is a well and truly born and bred Sassenach.
Said Mr. Corney: “It all adds to the atmosphere of the place, and it certainly isn’t done to fool anyone. But it adds to the fun we all have when people believe me to be a Scotsman.”