Beth Cleaton
Senior Pipe Major
Air Force City and Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums
​

It is with great sadness the Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums announces the passing of our Senior Pipe Major, Beth Cleaton. We wish to dedicate this page in perpetuity to a great Pipe Major and a Lady in the truest sense.

Beth was a mentor, a teacher and a beautiful player. She will be remembered by many previous students as the driving force behind their achievements. She led always by example. Her greatest love was her family, especially her sons Ian and Sean and her grandchildren. We the Piping and Scouting community were very fortunate to be also included in that list. To the Dominion of Canada Pipes and Drums, to Air Force City Pipes and Drums, and 8 Wing RCAF Trenton she was a leader, an inspiration, and one of the most gracious ladies one could ever meet.
Her love for her family, her Country, Scotland and the Piping and Scouting Community was total. She also had a soft spot in her heart for her friends in Winnipeg where she spent her youth. Between Piping and Scouting, Beth spent countless hours and traveled many miles teaching and nurturing generations of students in honesty, practice and hard work. She always followed the Scout motto "be prepared" and expected no less from all her students. Lord Baden Powell would have been proud. She will be sorely missed by us all.

We will add to this page in the coming weeks to make it a fitting memorial to Beth. The 2021 tour by the Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums, to which she was so eagerly looking forward, will be the Beth Cleaton Memorial Tour and we will take a moment for a special service in Glencoe.

As one of the band members stated, "the Pipes have called her home." 

                 "Introibo ad altare Dei.                                                                    "I will go unto the altar of God
                 AD Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam"                                 To God who has given joy to my youth"
                                                                                             

                                                                     Requiescat in pace .  'Pipey'

James Gordon Titsworth
Charter Member and P/M
Can-Am Pipes & Drums
​and Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums
​

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of James Gordon Titsworth.

Gordon, as we knew him, was a charter member of the Can-Am Pipes and Drums (eventually renamed to The Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums). 

Gordon, "The Energizer Piper" as we knew him, as he never stopped playing, came with us on our first trip to Scotland in 2012 and was with us on our most recent tour in 2018. On that tour, Gordon shared the duties of P/M for the band and one of our fondest memories was him leading us over the causeway bridge at Eilean Donan Castle to All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border. He really loved that tune. 

​Gordon also led the band up the drive to Dunvegan Castle in Skye, again as P/M.

As we all know, Gordon had a great many interests, one of which was a good single malt. May a young lad and lassie on the tour were given expert instruction on how to savour and cherish that golden brew. And a few of us older ones. But it was not just the water of life. Gordon was all about the Pipes, Scotland and music. In fact, as part of his teaching we were all given a Piobaireachd to sing and regular rehearsals filled in the hours on the bus trips.
 
We were planning our tour for last year but unfortunately Covid got in the way. We will be return to Scotland in 2023 but the tour will be a little quieter, a little sadder. Gordon will be missed.
 
Gordon ... from all your friends at Dominion of Canada Pipes & Drums, may we wish you God speed to a well-deserved rest.
 
                                                    Gus an coinnich sinn a-rithist. Until we meet again.