BY JEANNIE CAMPBELL MBE.
At the 2024 world championships 14 bands played in Grade One. Each band played two MSR sets so if the choices of every band had been different then 28 marches would have been heard. In fact there were 21 different marches played.
The majority of these tunes were named for people and others for places, regiments, events, etc. So who were these people? How many of the pipers playing these tunes could identify the people for whom the tune was named? I suspect not many.
Lord Alexander Kennedy was the most popular tunes, and was played by four bands. The next tune in popularity was Mrs John MacColl, played three times. The only other tunes played more than once were The Argyllshire Gathering and Major Manson at Clachantrushel each played twice. All the other tunes were played once only.
Lord Alexander Kennedy was composed by James Honeyman. Lord Alexander Kennedy (1853-1912) was the second son of Archibald Kennedy the 2nd Marquess of Ailsa, a title created in 1831 for the 12th Earl of Cassilis. The Marquess was the chief of the Kennedys and his estates were in Ayrshire. Lord Alexander, a keen amateur piper, served with the 42nd Black Watch as a Major and was later Lt Colonel of the 3rd Battalion. When the 42nd were at Malta Lord Alexander went on leave to the Holy Land and on his return was greeted with the tune Lord Alexander Kennedy’s Farewell to Gethsemane composed by James Honeyman. The title was later shortened to Lord Alexander Kennedy.
James Honeyman was born at Falkirk in 1837 and served with the Black Watch, rising to the rank of Pipe Major. After retiring from the army he worked in the Carron Ironworks. He died in 1906.
Mrs John MacColl was the wife of John MacColl, who composed the tune. She was Ellen Carruthers, born in 1863. The Carruthers family were originally from Dumfries and all the children had been born there but by 1881 they were living at the home farm on the Kilberry estate where Ellen’s father John was the farm manager. Ellen’s brother John was an excellent piper. By1891 Ellen was employed as a housemaid at Dunach, where her elder sister was the cook. A younger sister Jeannie was commemorated in the march Jeannie Carruthers. John and Ellen were married at Dunach in 1894 and set up home at 9 High Street in Oban, where John had been living prior to his marriage. A few years later the family had moved to Kilbowie Cottage and in 1908 they moved to Glasgow. John and Ellen had two sons and two daughters.
The composer John MacColl was born in 1860 at Kentallen in Duror. In summer 1877 John heard Donald MacPhee play at Bonawe Games, and was inspired to emulate him. He took a job at Bonawe quarry and by the autumn of 1878 had saved enough to take him to Glasgow where he worked with MacPhee and was able to learn from him. By 1879 Donald MacPhee was seriously ill and he died in 1880 so John returned to Argyll. In 1879 he played at the Lorn Ossian Games and in 1880 he played at the Argyllshire Gathering. In 1881 he was Piper to MacDonald of Dunach. By 1891 John was able to support himself by competing in piping, dancing and athletics, with some teaching during the winter months when he was employed by the army to teach the TA pipers. In 1908 he returned to Glasgow where he became the manager of R G Lawrie’s bagpipe shop. He won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in 1883 and the Clasp in 1884, 1888 and 1900 and the Strathspeys and Marches in 1882. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Confined Strathspey and Reel in 1880, the Confined March in 1881, the Gold Medal in 1881, the March in 1890, the Strathspey and Reel in 1883, the March Championship in 1892, the Strathspey and Reel Championship 1893, the Open equal first 1901 and first in 1902. He died in Glasgow in 1943.
Major Manson at Clachantrushel was composed by Donald MacLean, Lewis. David Manson was born in 1867 at Cromarty. He enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders in 1887 and served for seven years. He emigrated to Canada in 1895 where he worked as a customs officer and served with the 5th Regt Militia (Royal Highlanders of Canada), being Pipe Major from 1897-1907. In World War One he re-enlisted in September 1914, giving his year of birth as 1872 and served with the Canadian Infantry as Pipe Major from February 1915 to October 1917 in France. He was commissioned Captain and Quartermaster and rose to Major. During the 1930s he visited Lewis where he became a friend of PM Donald MacLean of Lewis. He spent some time in Glasgow where he became an active member of the Scottish Pipers’ Association, supporting events and serving on the committee. After the Second World War he returned to Glasgow for several years during which he attended many piping events, becoming a popular figure of the local piping scene. Major Manson was closely associated with the College of Piping in its early years, serving as a vice-president from 1944 until he died. After his return to Canada in 1948 he continued to take an active interest and to improve relationships between the two countries. During his time in Glasgow he is said to have worked as a silversmith in association with the bagpipe makers, Peter Henderson Ltd, making silver mounts for bagpipes and silver for sporrans, sgian dubhs, cap badges, shoe buckles, belt buckles and kilt pins. The reel Major David Manson by Peter R MacLeod, and Major Manson’s Farewell to the Black Watch of Canada by Donald Sutherland were also named for him. Major Manson died in Canada in 1959.
The composer Donald MacLean was born in 1908 at Ballantrushal, Lewis. He joined the Seaforth Highlanders in June 1926 and was appointed PM in 1936. He served in Egypt, Palestine and France and was captured in 1940 at St Valery. He took over the Scottish Command School of Piping in 1946 then went to the Highland Brigade training school 1947-48. He retired in 1948 with 22 years’ service. He was piper to Sir Edwin de Winton Wills, Glenlyon pre-1953 then manager of the piping department at R G Lawrie’s 1953-64. He won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in 1953. He was President of The Scottish Pipers’ Association in 1957 and 1958. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the March in 1949 and the Gold Medal in 1951. He died in 1964 when attending the Cowal Games.
Brigadier Ronald Cheape of Tiroran was composed by PM William Ross. George Ronald Hamilton Cheape DSO and Bar, 2nd of Tiroran was born in 1881. He served with the Black Watch and the Dragoon Guards during the Boer War and the Great War. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1915 for leading the successful counter attack to regain the Chateau of Hooge near Ypres from the Germans. He rose to be a Brigadier General commanding the 86th Infantry Brigade which was in the 29th Infantry Division, First Army British Expeditionary Force. He therefore commanded during a series of successful attacks and ultimately the breakthrough of the Western Front in 1918. Ronald Cheape was an amateur piper and often judged at the Argyllshire Gathering. He died in 1957.
The composer William Ross was born in 1878 at Camsorrie, Glen Strathfarrar. In 1896 he enlisted as a Boy in the Scots Guards. He served as a piper with the first battalion throughout the South African war, spending almost three years in Africa. In 1905 he became Pipe Major of the Second Battalion, a position he retained until 28th November 1917. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1907 and the Open in 1902, 1907, 1912, 1925. At the Northern Meeting he won the Gold Medal in 1904 and the Clasp in 1905, 1907, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1919, 1923 and 1928. He went to France in 1914 and was invalided home in November 1917 and retired from the regular army in 1919. He then became the instructor at the Army School of Piping, a position he held until he retired in 1958. Between 1923 and 1950 he published five books of pipe music. He died in the Earl Haig home, Edinburgh in 1966.
John MacFadyen of Melfort is another of John MacColl’s tunes. The subject of the tune was identified by Jim Robb in the Piping Times, June 2014. The village of Kilmelford is about 15 miles south of Oban at the head of Loch Melfort. John MacFadyen became the landlord of the Cuilfail Inn when aged 18 and remained as such until 1912. The inn was a stopping place on the road from Oban to Kilberry and John MacColl’s employer Mr N M MacDonald of Dunach accompanied by John MacColl, would often visit the Campbells of Kilberry. Later there would be visits to John’s wife’s family who lived on the Kilberry estate. According to the 1871 census the Cuilfail Inn had 12 rooms. The innkeeper in 1871 was John MacFadyen, aged 26 and born at Craignish. His wife Elizabeth was aged 32 and born at Scone in Perthshire. They had a daughter Jane aged 6 months and three servants.
Morag Ramsay was composed by Peter R MacLeod and published in the second Edcath Collection in 1958. A possible clue to the subject of the tune is that the Edcath Collection was compiled by PM Donald Shaw Ramsay and he had a daughter named Morag Ramsay.
Peter Roderick MacLeod was born in 1878 at Uig on the island of Lewis but moved to Glasgow. He served with the TA from around 1900 and was Pipe Major of the 7th Cameronians Scottish Rifles during the 1914-18 war, serving in Egypt and Gallipoli. He was a shipwright from 1900 to 1914 and 1919 to 1927, but lost his right leg in an accident in 1927. He returned to the shipyards again from 1941 to 1955. Peter was a committee member of the Scottish Pipers’ Association and for many years was the official composer for the Association. He died in 1965 at Erskine Hospital.
Colin Thomson was composed by Roderick Campbell. Colin Thomson was born in 1869 at Resolis, Ross and Cromarty. He was a coachman before joining the army and a bagpipe reed maker afterwards. He served with the Seaforth Militia then enlisted with the Seaforth Highlanders in 1889 at Dingwall. He was transferred to become PM Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1894-1904 and served in the South African War. He was PM 3rd Militia Batt Seaforth Highlanders 1904-08 then PM 5th Batt Seaforth Highlanders until 1918 then was discharged to the reserve 1919. He won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in 1891 and the Strathspey and Reel at the Argyllshire Gathering in 1895. He died in Edinburgh in 1933.
Roderick Campbell was born in 1873 at Loch Broom. He was Piper to Count de Serra Largo, Tarlogie, Tain, Ross-shire, then in 1911 Piper to Col Scott, Draycott House, Derby. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1908 and the Open in 1910. In later life he lived in Edinburgh and was a reed maker and teacher. He worked for the North British Rubber Company at Fountainbridge. He died in Edinburgh in 1937.
PM Willie MacLean was composed by Peter R MacLeod. William MacLean was born at Tobermory in 1878. His family was originally from South Uist but had lived in Raasay for several generations. At the Northern Meeting he won the March in 1900, the Gold Medal in 1901, the Clasp in 1913 and the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering in 1912. During the 1914-18 war he served with the Cameron Highlanders and was Pipe Major of the 5th Battalion. After the war he kept a hotel at Creagorry, Benbecula, was a traveller for Messrs Younger and piper to Malcolm of Poltalloch for a time. He died in 1957 at Kilcreggan.
Allan Dodd’s Farewell to Scotland was written by John M MacKenzie for Allan R Dodd, who was born in 1932 in Dunedin, New Zealand. After early tuition in New Zealand he came to Scotland in 1955 and had further tuition from Archie MacNeill, Bob Brown, Bob Nicol and Peter MacLeod Jnr. He worked as a taxi driver in Glasgow for four years then worked on Lord Airlie’s estate in forestry until his return to New Zealand in 1960. He won the Strathspey and Reel at the Argyllshire Gathering in 1959 and the March at the Northern Meeting in 1958. In the 1980s he moved to Australia where he died in 1997.
The composer John MacLean MacKenzie was born in Campbeltown in 1922. He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 1938 to 1952, becoming Pipe Major aged 22. From 1953 to 1959 he worked for the Anglo-American Corporation in Rhodesia. He returned to Scotland in 1959 and worked for the Naval Ordnance Inspectorate, then he was the Piping Instructor at the Queen Victoria School Dunblane 1964-87. He was awarded the BEM in 1987. He composed many tunes and published a collection of music in 1973. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Strathspey and Reel in 1956 and the Former winners in 1965. At the Northern Meeting he won the March in 1952. He died in Stirling in 1996.
Hugh Kennedy MA B.Sc. was composed by Peter R. MacLeod. Hugh Kennedy was born in Tiree in 1908, son of Hugh Kennedy. The family moved to Glasgow where Hugh junior became a pupil of William Gray from the age of 11. He won many amateur and professional piping prizes including the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering in 1928. Hugh and his father, Hugh senior were both active committee members of the Scottish Pipers’ Association. Hugh Senior was a Vice-President of the SPA during the 1930s and Hugh junior was the Treasurer from 1931 to 1947 and doubled as secretary from 1940 to 1946. Hugh junior became a teacher at a school in Ibrox and also taught a piping class in the school.
Miss Elspeth Campbell was Elspeth Angela Campbell, born in 1873, daughter of Lord Archibald Campbell, the 2nd son of the 8th Duke of Argyll. Her father’s brother, later the 9th Duke, married Princess Louise daughter of Queen Victoria, but had no children so Elspeth’s brother Niall Diarmid became the 10th Duke in 1914 and Elspeth as the sister of a Duke then became Lady Elspeth Campbell. The tune was composed by Thomas Douglas and was first published in Logan’s Book 2 and Henderson’s Tutor, both dating from around 1900 when she was still Miss Elspeth Campbell. Thomas Douglas was from Cowal but nothing more is known of him. There was someone of that name born in 1858 and living in Dunoon in 1871 and 1881 where he worked as a joiner. Elspeth’s father was a noted historian and a great enthusiast for piping and gaelic. In 1890 he founded the Inveraray Pipe bBand and arranged for John MacColl to spend the latter part of the year 1890 in teaching the members of the new band. Elspeth shared her father’s interests and became a capable piper who marched on parade with her father’s pipe band and liked to play round the table after dinner like the Pipe Major of a Highland regiment. She was also a founder member of the Piobaireachd Society in 1902 and the only lady member. She took an active part in the work of the Piobaireachd Society and was the Secretary for a time. In addition to the bagpipe, Elspeth played the spinet, piano and harp. She became the President of the Inveraray branch on An Comunn Gaidhealach and often sang at their ceilidhs and concerts. Elspeth did not compete but she did judge piping at various gatherings. For example, in 1898 she judged the piping at the Highland Gathering of the London Highland Athletic Club and judged at the Strathendrick games. At Inveraray Highland Games she and her father were the piping judges. Elspeth died unmarried at Inveraray Castle in 1942.
The Young MacGregor was composed by John MacGregor Murray. The Young MacGregor was Gregor MacGregor (1925-2003) son of Sir Malcolm MacGregor, Chief of Clan Gregor. He was educated at Eton and commissioned in the Scots Guards in 1944. He inherited his father’s titles in 1958, becoming Sir Gregor. In 1966 he was Lieutenant Colonel, then Colonel of the Scots Guards 1971 to 1973. He was Defence and Military Attaché to Athens between 1975 and 1978, was promoted to brigadier in 1977, and appointed Aide de Camp to Queen Elizabeth in 1979. He retired from military service in 1980. Simon Mann, a former Scots Guard and SAS officer, was rather uncomplimentary in his book Cry Havoc (2011) where he describes MacGregor as a “small, toxic, red-haired, farting, foul-mouthed, stentorian dragon”.
The Oban Times, 24th September 1938, reported that Master Gregor MacGregor, the young son and heir of Sir Malcolm and Lady MacGregor of MacGregor had attended the Clan Gregor Rally at An Clachan in the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow. Master Gregor, aged 12, was with his mother and the Clan piper John MacGregor Murray. According to the article, ‘Young Master Gregor is a keen student of pipe music, and can now finger the chanter with good results, and his teacher, Mr Hugh MacDermid, Lochearnhead, finds in him an apt pupil. The Young MacGregor pipe march, composed in his honour by the Clan Piper, will appear shortly in Pipe Major William Ross’s Third Collection of Pipe Music.’
The composer, John MacGregor Murray, was born at Portmahomack, Tain, Ross-shire, in 1880 and had piping tuition from Donald McLeod, Tain. In Glasgow he was a member of the Scottish Pipers’ Association. He contributed generously to the prize lists of the various piping competitions and gave his active support to everything which had for its object the fostering of pipe music. He was the Clan Piper to Clan Gregor, the official piping steward at the Cowal Gathering from 1919 onwards and was involved with many other piping and Highland associations. He died suddenly in November 1939 at his home, 90 Great Western Road, Glasgow, aged 59. He left his silver and ivory Henderson bagpipes to the Scottish Pipers’ Association. An engraved silver plaque was made for the bass drone and this reads ‘Presented to the Scottish Pipers’ Association in memory of the late John MacGregor Murray, piper to the Clan Gregor 1939.’ The pipes still belong to the Association and are known as the Club pipes. John MacGregor Murray had a large collection of photographs and these too were given to the Association but some years later were passed on to the College of Piping.
Dugald MacColl’s Farewell to France was composed by John MacColl for his elder son Dugald, born in 1895. During the First World War Dugald served with the medical corps and when he returned safely his father wrote the march for him. After the war Dugald worked at R.G. Lawrie’s as a bagpipe maker. He died in 1960.
John MacColl’s March to Kilbowie Cottage was composed by William Lawrie. John MacColl and his wife lived in Oban when they were first married in 1894, then moved to Kilbowie Cottage where they lived until moving to Glasgow in 1908.
William Lawrie was born in 1881 at Ballachulish. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1910. At the Northern Meeting he won the Gold Medal in 1910 and the Clasp in 1911. He was Piper to the Earl of Dunmore and Piper to Col MacDougall of Lunga. During 1911 and 1912 he ran a school for piping at Benbecula. He joined the Volunteer Batt A & SH about 1900 at Dunoon and was appointed PM 8th Batt A & SH TA 1912. He went to France in 1915 as Pipe Major of the 8th Argylls. The Colonel at the time was John Campbell of Kilberry. As a result of illness contracted in the trenches he was invalided to England where he died in hospital in 1916. He is remembered as the composer of many great tunes and if he had lived there would probably have been many more.
The other marches played and not named for people were:
The Argyllshire Gathering. The gathering was founded in 1871 and continues to the present day. The tune was composed by John MacColl and is played every year as the parade of stewards and pipers march on to the field.
The 91st at Modder River commemorates the action which took place there on 28th November 1899 during the South African War in which the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders took part. The regiment had been formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders.The tune was composed by PM William Robb who was born in Stirling in 1863. He joined the 93rd in his early teens and served as a piper then became PM 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1887-91 then PM 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1891-94. He won the Oban Gold Medal in 1893. He served four years as Sgt Piper with the 4th Militia Battalion HLI prior to his death. He died in Glasgow in November 1909 aged 46. His best known tune is The Battle’s Over.
The Stirlingshire Militia was composed by Hugh MacKay who was born at Dornoch in 1813. He enlisted in the 71st around 1830 and was pipe major of the 71st from 1836-1851 and pipe major of the Stirlingshire Militia from 1852 until his death in 1864. He composed many other tunes and is credited as being one of the creators of the 2/4 competition march.
Glengarry Gathering by Angus MacKay was first published in Alexander Glen’s Caledonian Repository in 1860. Alasdair MacDonell of Glengarry 1773-1828 was the 15th chief. In January 1828 the steamer taking him back to Edinburgh was wrecked in a storm off Corran, south of Fort William. The Chief jumped from the ship but hit his head on the rocks. He was taken ashore but died that night. His funeral procession of five miles from Invergarry to Kilfinnan was followed by 1500 men and 150 gentry, the coffin being carried breast-high by eighteen Highlanders. A lament Glengarry’s Lament, was composed for him by his piper Archibald Munro. Glengarry was succeeded by his only son Aeneas, born 1808, but the estate was much mortgaged and heavily in debt. The only solution was to sell off the lands. The Marquis of Huntly bought part of the estate ten years later then sold on the Glengarry portion to an Englishman, Lord Ward (1817–1885).
Angus MacKay was born in 1813, the third son of John MacKay, Raasay. He was piper to Davidson of Tulloch in 1829, then in 1835, the year he won the prize pipe, he became piper to Campbell of Islay. In 1841 Angus entered the employment of Lord Ward who had recently bought the Glengarry estate.
The first report of the Glengarry Gathering was in 1841. About twelve o’clock Lord Ward and his friends repaired to the field, his lordship and most of the gentlemen being in full Highland dress. The usual Highland games commenced shortly afterwards. At the conclusion, Lord Ward and his friends left the field for Invergarry House. As the party withdrew the pipers played an appropriate air, and the people cheered with might and main. Dinner and a ball followed.
The Gathering took place again in 1842 when Angus MacKay is mentioned in the report, but not as a competitor. ‘The games concluded by Angus Mackay, piper to Lord Ward, dancing Gillie Callum in first rate style. At about six o’clock his Lordship, with his friends, left the field, preceded by three pipers as before, for Invergarry House where he entertained his friends to a sumptuous dinner. The party afterwards appeared in the ball-room, where they kept up the Highland reel with great spirit till a late hour, and where the peer and and the peasant mixed promiscuously in the moving maze.’
On 7th April 1843 Angus MacKay was officially appointed as piper to Queen Victoria. Angus became mentally ill in 1854 and died in 1859.
The Clan MacRae Society was composed by William Fergusson who was born in 1885 at Arbroath but moved to Glasgow as a child. By profession he was a woodcarver and joiner. He joined the 7th HLI under PM Farquhar MacRae in 1901, and became Pipe Major of the 7th HLI in 1914 serving in Gallipoli, Palestine, France and Egypt during World War 1. William Fergusson was the Pipe Major of the 52nd Division Pipe Band formed by MacLean of Pennycross.
The City of Glasgow Pipe Band had been founded in 1913 by Farquhar MacRae and members of the 7th HLI band but ceased activities during the war. Farquhar MacRae was tragically drowned on a dark night in 1916 when he fell into the Forth and Clyde Canal while carrying out his duties as an insurance agent. After the war the band was reconvened in 1920 with Fergusson as Pipe Major.
The Clan MacRae Society had been formed some time previously and was active in Glasgow, holding gatherings, concerts and other events. From about 1910 onwards Major (later Lt Colonel) John MacRae-Gilstrap was the Society’s President. In 1924 Fergusson asked Captain Duncan MacRae of Ballimore, son of Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap to become the band president. The band name was changed to the Clan MacRae Society pipe band and the band became closely associated with the society. The tune was composed to mark the occasion. The band won the World Championship at Cowal in 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1925. Willie published a book, Fergusson’s Bagpipe Melodies which contained many of his own compositions. He died in Glasgow in 1949.
Lochaber Gathering was composed by G S McLennan. He was born in Edinburgh in 1883. He enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders in 1899 and was appointed Pipe Major in 1905. He served through the First World War and was discharged in 1922, after which he had a bagpipe and reed making business in Aberdeen. At the Northern Meeting he won the March in 1903, the Strathspey and Reel in 1904, the Gold Medal in 1905 and Clasps in 1909, 1920 and 1921. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the March in 1903, the Strathspey and Reel and the Gold Medal in 1904. He died in Aberdeen in 1929.
The Lochaber Gathering was already well established by 1850 but some years later it lapsed but was revived in 1880 and was held every year. In 1910 the gathering wanted a tune to bear the name Lochaber Gathering. George S McLennan submitted two tunes, the one which now bears the name Lochaber Gathering and a second tune which was afterwards named Inverlochy Castle. At the end of the Gathering George was asked to go up on the platform and play the two tunes so that the committee could decide which of the two would be called The Lochaber Gathering. The competing pipers were all standing round the platform listening and they all preferred the tune which is now Inverlochy Castle. The committee couldn’t decide so they asked George to go to the hotel that evening with his practice chanter. By that time the committee had had a good dinner with appropriate refreshments and eventually the decision was made. To commemorate the composition George received a silver snuff box from the committee.
The Links of Forth. The River Forth flows from Ben Lomond to the Forth estuary. The part near Stirling where the river loops around is called the Links of Forth. The view of the river from Stirling Castle was a popular subject for postcards and paintings. The poet Hector MacNeill, before he departed for the West Indies in 1796 wrote a poem “The Links of Forth”, a work of forty-nine verses describing and extolling this part of the river’s beauty and industry. There is also a Scottish Country dance with the name “Links of Forth”. The composer of the pipe tune is not known.
Incidentally, on popularity of composers, John MacColl comes out on top with four of his tunes on the list, plus one named for him by William Lawrie. In second place is Peter R MacLeod, with three tunes.
Several of the strathspeys and reels played were also named for people who can be identified. For example, the strathspeys Susan MacLeod and Duncan Lamont and the reels John Morrison of Assynt House, Drum Major John Seton, Major David Manson, Mrs MacPherson of Inveran, Cecily Ross, John Garroway, Col D J S Murray and Captain Alex M Fraser.
Every band in Grade One had at least one named person in their MSR choices but St Thomas Alumni were the most people friendly band with all six of their tunes, Miss Elspeth Campbell, Susan MacLeod, John Morrison of Assynt House, Colin Thomson, Duncan Lamont and John Garroway. Quite a dinner party if they could all get together.