As far as I know Uilliam stopped posting on this forum of his own free will . I got the impression from his last few posts that this was because he felt unappreciated ,but as you and I know, he was very much appreciated for his no nonsense opinion and indept knowledge of all things piping.
I think it would be a good idea to get him back on the forum . How about if we were each to send him a PM to show him how much he is missed and maybe he might come back .
Yeah, that was the old “drill sergeant in basic training” routine. You have to re-socialise the newbies. Otherwise they’ll think the world is full of shiny happy piping fans and probably get beaten to death with fiddle bows and low whistles at their first real session.
Rough-housing the newbies may seem cruel, but in the long term it probably saves lives. And Uilliam’s existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, SAVES LIVES!!
I appreciate the myriad of opinions on here and even though Uilliam might seem a bit gruff on some posts, so what? It is his knowledge, interest and appreciation of the pipes that impresses me and helps add to the zeitgeist of the board…
Ah, Bill…I take your silence on this board as tacit agreement with me on the Pakistani issue.
Unwrinkle your skirt & come back. These kids aren’t any fun to fight with.
I know as a newbie I could not wait to get my pipes so that Uilliam would give me my first forum thrashing.
Come back please?
and ps, if I do fight with anyone on the board, it’s all in good fun and I will be the first to admit if I’ve gone to far. I feel that people took Uilliam’s heel bit to heart, and they shouldn’t. We are all united by a universal language and that should be how we all connect.
The thing with the Uilliam grumpy old dude attitude is that it is just an act for the forum. In reality Liam Hacket is a mild mannered ex-fireman from Tyrone and London who actually speaks with a very posh London accent ,all this “em frae Glasgee” and “it’s a braw bricht moonlicht nicht” stuff is just his online persona and if you were to meet him you’d probably be shocked to find a very quite and reserved individual who due to his advanced age doesn’t get out very much. Truth be known the forum is the only opportunity he probably gets to converse with people ,so for his own sake lets all get together and hope he comes back.
I’d not so much call the man a “gruff” as I would suggest that too many from the Americas are self-seeking and easily offended. Perhaps some do truly desire to learn of piping from those whom have walked on before but more often than not they seem to fancy having their ego’s fluffed and their inexperienced and naive beginner ponderings validated. Uilliam’s disposition helps to discern between the two. There are those who are for the flattering of others (though it might raise the potential for misguidance) and there are those who would skip a few (unnecessary) pleasantries and extend (necessary) truth and experience. Uilliam was definitely in the latter camp and his offerings to the board were above and beyond what any silver-tongued people-pleaser could hope to provide. Could we all not stand to have our ego’s knocked down a few pegs now and then?
Good Sir Uilliam, please do withhold from us no longer!
