OK, it wasn’t Argyll – but let’s hear it for the Dundee Pipe Band at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing

It really was the best kept secret. The Mains of Fintry Pipe Band from Dundee had been chosen as the only European band to play at the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games at Beijing today – and if they had breathed a word of it in advance their invitation would have been withdrawn. The band – whose members range from teenagers to pensioners, played Scotland the Brave throughout the ceremony wearing full Highland dress in the humidity and heat that is Beijing in August, with a worldwide audience estimated at around four billion. Who isn’t proud?