Barry Shears' new collection

A major new collection of Cape Breton pipe music has been published by Barry Shears, a leading light in Cape Breton piping.

The collection comprises two volumes. Volume One contains a wealth of history and information on many of the Scottish piping families that settled in Nova Scotia such as the Beatons, the MacIntyres, MacMillans and MacNeils.

Volume Two is devoted to the music itself and contains 249 melodies and variants.

Mr Shears (pictured), a native of Glace Bay in Cape Breton, says: “Most of the tunes were taken down from the last ear-learned dance pipers in Nova Scotia and this is the most extensive study of the musical culture of the Scottish Gaelic diaspora in this particular part of North America.”

Enquiries to Barry Shears.