THERE were MacGillivrays, McKenzies, Davidsons and Blows - Scots and their descendants who arrived in Pyramid Hill from the 1870s onwards.
Proud of the native land they left behind, these Scots were part of the Pyramid Hill community fabric for generations.
They formed a caledonian society, a pipe band and celebrated all things Scottish with haggis, whisky, music and dance.
The contribution of the Scots to Pyramid Hill have been chronicled in a book to be launched by the town’s historical society this Sunday at its Scots Whae Hae day.
Once more, there will be music ringing around the memorial hall like there was in the town back in 1921 when the caledonian society, just two years old, hosted a visit by the Australian Ladies’ Pipe Band.
ANZAC veteran and former Bendigo Base Hospital ward orderly William Darwin brought his band of young pipers, drummers and dancers to town as they prepared lofty plans to tour Scotland.
The Melbourne-based band did make it to Scotland in 1926, playing before King George and Queen Mary and performed with Sir Harry Lauder.
That was the same year Pyramid Hill staged its fifth highland gathering  and just 12 months after forming its own pipe band.
Highland gatherings were big in the years leading up to World War Two.
Articles compiled from the former Pyramid Hill Advertiser by Margaret Williamson and assisted by Helen Stevens have been put into the book whose launch has been three years in the waiting after COVID scuttled earlier plans.
The history of the pipe band and contributions of the MacGillivray family are chartered through the years - hosting visiting pipe and brass bands, heading off to other towns in the region and being part of the Maryborough Highland Gathering, the oldest Scottish event in the Southern Hemisphere, first held in 1857.
The band was a member for many years of the Victorian Highland Pipe Band Association, the first pipe band association formed in the world and this year marking its centenary.
For the caledonian society itself, there 

was membership of the Victorian Scottish Union. And in 1926, Pyramid H