The Royal Military College Pipes and Drums alumni site www.pipesanddrums.rmcclub.ca is intended to support current and past members of the Royal Military Colleges Pipes & Drums (both RMC and RRMC).
From this site you will be able to find a way to get into touch with your old pipe band comrades, learn about the current RMC P&D and how you may be able to support them, get you back piping or drumming, or provide a forum to share your piping/drumming experiences. The RMC Club hosts this site via their web server.
Pipes and Drums trivia
Researched by: E3161 Victoria Edwards (2003)
1. The first Royal Military College of Canada Pipes and Drums performance was:
a) during a sports night in 1953.
b) at a hockey game in 1956.
c) at a football game in 1956
d) to parade the Ex-Cadets to the arch for the remembrance ceremony on ex-Cadet weekend in 1958
2. Who was the first cadet to hold the position of Cadet Wing Band Officer at RMC?
a) 3536 Norman Sherman
b) 3527 Bruce Cooke
c) S104 Max Stewart
d) 3624 Gerald Freill
3. During the first trip to West Point to help cheer on the hockey team in 1959:
a) the band was so well received that the West Point Cadets forced them out onto the ice to play between periods, and again that night at the dance.
b) the band was so poorly received that an exhaustive training program was established in order to “create” the pipers needed.
c) Sgt. Paquin, an experienced piper and drummer, was added to the RMC drill staff.
4. Who took about 20 volunteers from the recruit class and started work on the chanter practice in the Trophy Room. 5805 Bill Evans (RMC 1963) recounts that it was the smartest thing they could have done because they avoided the 6am morning parade all winter.
a) 5046 Michael Black
b) 5120 Victor Conroy
c) 5019 Gary Mowry
d) 5131 Jon Lynn Moffat
5. Before this time, the P&Ds uniform was no different than the rest of the Wing: scarlet tunic with RMC pants, gators and pillbox.
a) 1955 b) 1965 c) 1975 d) 1985 e) 1995
6. The RMC Pipes and Drums began wearing which Tartan?
a) Mackenzie Tartan, which is a military tartan based on the Black Watch tartan.
b) Province of Ontario Tartan, which is made up of four main different blocks containing the colours red and white with three shades of green and two shades of blue.
c) the Maple leaf tartan, which incorporates the green of the leaves’ summer foliage, the gold which appears in early autumn, the red which appears with the coming of the first frost, and the brown tones of the fallen leaves.
d) the Queen’s University tartan, which weaves together the colours of six Queen’s academic hoods: blue (Medicine), red (Arts & Science), gold (Applied Science), white (Nursing Science), green (Commerce & MBA), and Purple (Theology).
http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/o6-eng.cfm
7. The RMC Pipes and Drums played at the 53rd annual Grey Cup Game in 1965, which was held in Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Who were the Grey Cup champions in 1965?
a) British Columbia Lions
b) Hamilton Tiger Cats
c) Ottawa Rough Riders
d) Saskatchewan Roughriders
e) Winnipeg Blue Bombers
8. Thanks to the efforts of 2364 Air Commodore Leonard Birchall, then RMC Commandant and H8829 Col. The Hon. George F.G. Stanley, then RMC Dean, the RMC pipes and drums were equipped for the first time with:
a) most of their highland kit, including the tartan
b) feather bonnets
c) a mace
d) traditional bagpipes binioù kozh (kozh means “old” in Breton) and the binioù bras (bras means “big”)
9. The funding for the feather bonnet came as a result of becoming a fully recognized band by Canadian Forces Head Quarters in:
a) 1950 b) 1960 c) 1970 d) 1980 e) 1990 f) 2000
10. The Pipes and Drums competed for the first time in 1971 and came in 3rd at the:
a) Niagara Wine and Grape Festival Band Competition.
b) Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario
c) Provincial Championships in Trenton, Ontario.
d) Drum and Bugle band regionals in London, Ontario
11. When RMC Pipes and Drums played on Parliament Hill in 1979, a single piper succeeded in accidentally drowning out:
a) a performance of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra.
b) an introduction by the Deputy Minister of National Defence.
c) a televised interview of the Former Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark, who held office as Prime Minister from June 1979 to March 1980
12. In 1979 & 1988 the RMC Pipes and Drums performed at which major event at Exhibition Place, Toronto:
a) Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). b) Molson Indy Toronto, now known as Honda Indy Toronto.
c) National Home Show. d) Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
13. The Pipes and Drums were requested to play the Air Canada Silver Broom International Curling Championships held in:
a) Montreal, Quebec in 1969 b) Utica, New York in 1970
c) Megève, France, in 1971 d) Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, in 1972.
e) Moncton, New Brunswick in 1980. f) Glasgow, Scotland in 1990
14. Which Commandant, at the time, joined in playing the pipes when the Band performed at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and at USMA in West Point?
a) 2816 William Turner Commandant 1973-77
b) 4860 John de Chastelain Commandant 1977-80
c) 3572 Frank J. Norman Commandant 1982-85
d) 3543 Walter Niemy Commandant 1985-87
15. The Pipes and Drums performed during which ceremony in 1988 for the XV Olympic Winter Games held in Calgary, Alberta
a) torch lighting ceremony. b) opening ceremony.
c) closing ceremony. d) medal ceremony.
16. The Pipes and Drums performed at RMC in 1987 at an informal social gathering known as a _____ in which traditional entertainment includes song, storytelling, music and dance.
a) ceilidh b) ceol c) cheathramh d) chiad e) crioch d) danns
17. The RMC Pipes and Drums played at the 76th annual Grey Cup Game in 1988, which was held in Frank Claire Stadium, Lansdown Park in Ottawa. Who were the Grey Cup champions in 1988?
a) Winnipeg Blue Bombers b) BC Lions
c) Edmonton Eskimos d) Toronto Argonauts
Photo: John de Chastelain
Answers:
1. a) during a sports night in January 1953.
http://pipesanddrums.rmcclub.ca/History/Entries/1953/1/1_The_Fifties.html
2. b) 3527 Bruce Cooke
3. a) the band was so well received that the West Point Cadets forced them out onto the ice to play between periods, and again that night at the dance.
4. d) 5131 Jon Lynn Moffat
5. b) 1965
6. a) Mackenzie Tartan
7. b) Tiger Cats defeated the Blue Bombers 22-16
8. a) most of their highland kit. They began wearing the Mackenzie tartan but continued to wear the pillbox. The feather bonnet came in 1970.
9. c) 1970
10. a) Niagara Wine and Grape Festival Band Competition
11. a) a performance of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra
12. d) Royal Agricultural Winter Fair
13. e) Canadian Rick Folk was victorious at Moncton, NB, in 1980
14. b) 4860 John de Chastelain Commandant 1977-80
15. a) The P&Ds performed at the Olympic torch lighting ceremony. The theme was Share the Flame
16. c) ceilidh (pronounced kay-lay emphasis on the first syllable)
17. a) Blue Bombers defeated the Lions 22-21