Jeannie Campbell MBE researched the stories behind the march, strathspey and reels played at the 52nd Glenfiddich Piping Championship on October 25, 2025.
The competition was won overall by Stuart Liddell with a third place in the Piobaireachd, and a second place in the MSR.
The MSR sets from the top five performances are immediately below, followed by Jeannie’s deep dive into what is known about the tunes, their composers and publishers.
MSR
- Callum Beaumont – Mrs. Duncan MacFadyen, Inveraray Castle, The Little Cascade
- Stuart Liddell – The Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest, Glentruim, The Highlanders’ Institute
- Finlay Johnston – Inveran, The Islay Ball, The Smith of Chillichassie
- Nick Hudson – Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire, Pipe-Major Hector MacLean, The Sheepwife
- Alan Bevan – The Abercairney Highlanders, Blair Drummond, John Morrison of Assynt House
By Jeannie Campbell MBE
Tunes played by Callum Beaumont
- Mrs Duncan MacFadyen
- Inveraray Castle
- The Little Cascade
Mrs Duncan MacFadyen by PM Donald MacLeod.
Mrs Duncan MacFadyen was Effie or Euphemia Beaton before her marriage in 1924 to Duncan MacFadyen. Her death was reported as follows in the Piping Times July 1988. ‘Last month the Highland and the piping community in Glasgow was saddened to hear of the death of Mrs Duncan MacFadyen, mother of the famous piping brothers. A native of Mull she had come to Glasgow where she played a prominent part in the Highland community there. Four of her sons became professional pipers and three of them – John, Duncan and Iain – won Gold Medals at both Oban and Inverness. She was 86 years of age and had survived her husband by two decades. On a bright sunny afternoon she was laid to rest beside her husband in Craigton Cemetery, attended by a very large crowd of relatives and friends.’
•Donald MacLeod was born in Stornoway, Lewis in 1916. His first teachers were his father and John Morrison Assynt House, followed by William Ross and then John MacDonald, Inverness for 25 years. He joined the Seaforth Highlanders in 1937 and was Pipe Major 1941-63, at the Depot 1941-42 then 7th Seaforth1942-46. He was captured with 51st Highland Division but escaped and rejoined the regiment. He was with the 9th Training Batt 1946-47 then Instructor Highland Brigade and Depot 1948-57 and Highland Brigade and Junior Soldiers wing 1957-62. After his retirement from the army he settled in Glasgow and became a partner in Grainger and Campbell Bagpipe Makers. At the Northern Meeting he won the March in 1947, the Strathspey and reel in 1949, the Gold Medal in 1947, the Clasp eight times in 1948,1949,1952,1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964 and the Former Winners in 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1959. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1954, the Open in 1953, 1957, 1961, the March in 1959, the Strathspey and Reel in 1957 and the Former Winners in 1959 and 1961. He won the Jig at the Northern Meeting ten times, six of them with his own compositions. He made many recordings and published six books of mainly light music, containing many of his own compositions and one book of his own piobaireachd compositions. He died in Glasgow in 1982.
Inveraray Castle by William Lawrie
Inveraray Castle is the seat of the Duke of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell. The original castle dated from the 15th century but in 1743 the 3rd Duke decided to have a new castle built on the site and at the same time move the town from around the castle to its present site. The architect was Roger Morrison. The foundation stone was laid in 1746 and the building was completed in 1758 although changes to the internal layout were made by the 5th Duke. After a fire in 1877 the roof was raised to provide the additional rooms with dormer windows and the conical tops to the corner towers were added. The castle in Willie Lawrie’s time would have looked much the same as it does today.
•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 Little Cascade by G S McLennan.
Published in G S McLennan’s 1929 collection. It is said by some to have been inspired by the sound of a dripping tap but not everyone agrees with this.
•George Stewart McLennan was born in Edinburgh in 1883, son of Lt John MacLennan. 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 in 1904. He died in Aberdeen in 1929. Many of his compositions are published in his own Collection and the two volumes of the Gordon Highlanders Collection.
Tunes played by Alan Bevan
- The Abercairney Highlanders
- Blair Drummond
- John Morrison of Assynt House
The Abercairney Highlanders by Angus MacKay
Sir John Moray acquired the lands of Abercairney, near Crieff in Perthshire, by his marriage to a daughter of the Earl of Strathearn in 1344 and the Morays of Abercairney descend from him. Queen Victoria visited Abercairney in September 1842 but it is not known if she heard any piping during her visit. This was before Angus MacKay was appointed as her piper. Angus MacKay’s older brother Roderick MacKay may have been at Abercairney at this time. He won third prize at the Edinburgh competition in 1829 and won the Prize Pipe in 1832 and was described as Piper to James Moray, Esq of Abercairney.Roderick MacKay was born in 1810, the second son of John MacKay, Raasay. He was Piper to Major Colin C MacKay of Arisaig, then to James Moray of Abercairney. He died in Edinburgh in 1854. William Fraser from Breadalbane, winner of the 5th prize at the Edinburgh competition was Piper to Moray of Abercairney when competing 1819-24, then in 1829 he was described as Piper 91st Argyllshire Regiment. John Grant, born 1876 was piper to Captain W S H D Moray of Abercairney from 1899 to 1903.
The composer is not given in most books although the Scots Guards attribute it to Angus MacKay.
•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. On 7th April 1843 Angus MacKay was officially appointed as piper to Queen Victoria. Angus became mentally ill in 1854 and died in 1859.
Blair Drummond
Composer not known. It first appears in David Glen’s Collection Part 1 c1876. Blair Drummond is 5 miles NW of Stirling and is now known for its safari park. Blair Drummond House was the home of the Home Drummond family. Anne Home Drummond 1814-1897 who married the 6th Duke of Atholl was a lady in waiting and friend of Queen Victoria.
John Morrison of Assynt House by Peter R MacLeod
John Morrison was born in 1878 at Gress Lodge. His father, John Morrison senior was a gamekeeper at the Lodge until 1899 then became tenant of Goathill Farm and in 1908 Galson Farm. John junior’s mother was a daughter of Thomas MacKay who was born at Assynt in Sutherland in 1816 and moved to Lewis in 1844 to be piper to Sir James Matheson. Thomas died in Stornoway in 1891. His bagpipe which was made by Donald MacKay in London in 1843 then passed into the possession of his grandson John Morrison. The Stornoway Pipe Band, was founded on 5th July 1904 with six pipers and three drummers. Many had learned their piping with the army but one founder member, John Morrison, had learned on the island from his grandfather Thomas MacKay, piper to Sir James Matheson of the Lews. John Morrison tutored many young pipers in the area and arranged the piping classes on the island with John MacDonald, Inverness as tutor. The band originally wore Hunting Stewart tartan, bottle green tunics and badges presented by Major Duncan Matheson of Lews Castle. The first Pipe Major was Charles MacIver from the village of Laxdale. In the 1960s money was raised for new uniforms and in recognition of John Morrison’s long service and support to the band these were in Morrison tartan with the Morrison crest for the cap badge and plaid brooch. PM Donald MacLeod (1916-1982), his brother Angus and their father Donald were all members of the band at times. In 1923 John Morrison had moved in to Stornoway and lived at Assynt House. John was in business as Bain, Morrison and Co, Timber Merchants. John Morrison died unmarried in 1953.
•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.
Tunes played by Ben Duncan
- The Glengarry Gathering
- The Atholl Cummers
- Lochiel’s Away to France
Glengarry Gathering by Angus MacKay
This 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 1,500 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). 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.’
The Atholl Cummers
Composer not known. First appears in David Glen Part 5 c1899. Various dictionaries define Cummer as a godmother, a female friend, a witch or a midwife but in the context of the tune Cummers is usually said to mean Gossips.
Lochiel’s Away to France
Composer not known. Appears in Angus MacKay’s The Piper’s Assistant 1843 and William Gunn’s Caledonian repository 1848. Donald Cameron of Lochiel c1695 –1748, known as the Gentle Lochiel, was born into a Jacobite family. His father was exiled after the 1715 Rising. When his grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel died in 1719, Donald assumed the duties as Chief of Clan Cameron. His support for Charles Edward Stuart was pivotal in the early stages of the 1745 Rising. Defeated and wounded at Culloden, Lochiel was forced into hiding in company with Prince Charles and other senior Jacobites. Upon escaping to France in late 1746, he was appointed Colonel of the Régiment d’Albanie, the Scottish Guards of the French Royal Army, and made a member of the Order of Saint Michael by Louis XV. He was to command his regiment during the War of the Austrian Succession, but died at Bergues, French Flanders on 23 October 1748.
Tunes played by Alasdair Henderson
- Colonel MacLean of Ardgour
- The Piper’s Bonnet
- Mrs Macpherson of Inveran
Colonel MacLean of Ardgour by John MacLellan, Dunoon.
Alexander John Hew MacLean 16th of Ardgour was born on 1st December 1880, son of Alexander MacLean 15th of Ardgour. He was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. He joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1899. He served in India 1912 to 1914 and during World War One. He was mentioned in despatches and was taken prisoner. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1922 and died on 27th May 1930.
•John MacLellan was born in 1875 in Dunoon. In 1892 he joined the 71st, the HLI and took part in the South African war during which he was awarded the DCM. He left the army in 1903 and joined his brother Neil in the Govan Police and the pipe band under PM Alistair Hutcheon. John returned to Dunoon in about 1904 or 1905. In 1912 he joined the 8th Argylls (TA) and two years later was mobilised. The PM was George Ross then PM William Lawrie took over in 1915 but died in November 1916 and James Wilson was appointed PM. After the war John returned to Dunoon and worked as a painter. In 1919 he became Pipe Major of the 8th Argylls and continued as PM until 1930 when he retired. He was involved with producing the Cowal Collections and was the composer of many popular tunes. John MacLellan died in Dunoon in 1949.
The Pipers Bonnet
Composer not known. Appears in Angus MacKay’s The Piper’s Assistant 1843. The story of the tune is not known.
Mrs MacPherson of Inveran by G S McLennan.
Mrs MacPherson was Alice Gertrude Ross, born in London in 1884. Her father Angus Ross was born in 1845 at Kilmuir, Skye, where his family were neighbours of the MacPhersons. Angus was the son of Donald Ross and Diana MacKenzie and was related to John Ban MacKenzie and William Ross Queen Victoria’s piper. Angus became as a piper in the Scots Guards and later was piper to the Highland Society of London. In 1880 he married Annie Chapman in London. By the 1890s he had retired and had become piper to Cluny MacPherson. He died in 1921 and is buried in Laggan churchyard near the MacPhersons. His daughter Alice married Angus MacPherson in 1905. They had one son Malcolm Ross MacPherson who was born at Newtonmore in 1907. Angus had set up in business at Newtonmore as a house agent. In 1914 they took over the tenancy of the Inveran Hotel which they ran as a fishing hotel and were there until the Hotel burnt down in 1949. After the fire Angus and Alice retired to Achany House a few miles up the river Shin. Alice died in 1964.
Tunes played by Nick Hudson
- Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire
- P/M Hector MacLean
- The Sheepwife
Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire by Duncan Ferguson.
The tune originally appeared in David Glen’s book 1 as Mr. Charles Stewart Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire (1876). A letter to the Oban Times from Archibald Campbell (Kilberry) states that Parker won a sensational victory over Sir William Stirling Maxwell of Keir who had held the seat unopposed since 1852 and who was restored in 1874 by a substantial majority. In February 1948 a letter from J E B to the newspaper North Star states that the tune was composed on the occasion of Mr Parker of Fairlie capturing the constituency of Perthshire in 1868 in a Parliamentary election from Mr Stirling of Keir.
•Charles Stuart Parker 1829-1910 was the eldest son of Charles Stewart Parker, 1800–1868, merchant, of Aigburth, Liverpool, and Fairlie, Ayrshire, and his wife, Anne Sandbach. When the British government emancipated the slaves in the 1830s, Charles Stewart Parker senior was compensated for his shared ownership of over 400 slaves on 16 estates in British Guiana.
C S Parker, 1829-1910, was educated at Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford. After obtaining a first class degree he became a fellow of his college in 1854. He was a public examiner at Oxford in 1859, 1860, 1863, and 1868. From 1864 to 1868 he was Private Secretary to Edward Cardwell when he was Secretary of State for the Colonies.
At the 1868 general election, Parker was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Perthshire. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Military Education from 1869 to 1870, and of the Scottish Endowed Schools Commission from 1872 to 1874, and was one of the Special Commissioners for Public Schools. Parker lost his Perthshire seat at the 1874 general election when his Conservative opponent Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet had accused both Parker and W. E. Gladstone of being ‘closet Catholics’. Parker was returned to the House of Commons as MP for Perth at a by-election in January 1878, and held the seat until 1892. He was chairman of referees on Private Bills in the 1885 parliament. In 1892 he stood again in Perth, despite opposition from the local Liberal Association. He had the support of Gladstone, but as a moderate Liberal of the old school he was not acceptable to more radical voters. The Conservative William Whitelaw won, after the independent candidate James Woollen was backed by the Perth Liberal and Radical Association formed around 1891, with a grievance from 1885 against Parker’s approval of reactionary policies. In 1900 he stood against the Liberal Unionist successor to Donald Currie, John Stroyan at West Perthshire, but lost.
Parker’s published works included the papers of Sir Robert Peel in three volumes, 1891–1899; The Life and Letters of Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet in 1907; and various essays or papers on education.
Parker resided at Fairlie House in Ayrshire, which had been built in 1818 by his grandfather.
Charles Stuart Parker died unmarried in London aged 81 and was buried at Fairlie.
•Duncan Ferguson was a native of Killin, Perthshire, and well known as a composer in the 1870s and 1880s. The best known tunes ascribed to him are Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire and The Duchess of Edinburgh. Other published tunes are The Killin Pipers’ March, Brig o’ Dochart, Leaving Killin, Killin Volunteers Farewell to the Camp. Ferguson was a piper in the Killin Volunteers. He was a prize winner at the Breadalbane Gathering in 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887 and 1888 in the local events for pipers on the Breadalbane estates. The Killin Volunteers pipe band played at many events in the area. In 1889 the Aberfeldy and Killin Companies of the Volunteers paraded together for a drill and inspection and were led by a combined pipe band of 19 players under Pipe Major Duncan MacDougall and Pipe Major Duncan Campbell. Duncan Campbell was born at Kinnoull in Perthshire in1840. He enlisted in the 79th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in 1858 and was Pipe Major 1877 to 1880 when he retired and became Piper to the Marquis of Breadalbane and Custodian of Finlarig Castle at Killin. He served with the 2nd Perthshire Rifle Volunteers from 1881 to 1887 and then the Killin Company 5th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch from 1887 until 1901. He was also Pipe Sergeant of the Breadalbane Pipe Band under PM Duncan MacDougall. He died at Aberfeldy in 1824. Killin Company under PM Campbell played at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in London in 1897. He was the composer of many tunes including Killin Volunteers’ Quickstep, and Captain Campbell of Drumavoisk. In October 1882 The Stirling Observer reported that members of the Aberfeldy and Killin Volunteers, composing what was formerly known as the Breadalbane Rifle Volunteers had resolved to present the Hon Ivan Campbell, 79th Cameron Highlanders, brother of the Earl of Breadalbane with a sword of honour in recognition of his daring and gallantry during the attack on Tel el Kebir. In December 1884 Piper Duncan Ferguson played at the Christmas treat for schoolchildren organised by Lady Breadalbane. In October 1885 at the annual Gathering of the Breadalbane Volunteer company results include, Highland Fling: 1. Piper D Ferguson; 2. PM Campbell, 3. Piper A McLean, 4. R D Archison. Reels: 1. PM Campbell, 2. Wm MacPherson, 3. Piper D Ferguson. Reel of Tulloch: 1. J McPherson, 2. Piper D Ferguson, 3. PM Campbell, 4. H McMartin. Playing Marches: 1. Piper C Park, 2. Piper A Ward, 3. Piper D Ferguson. Reels: 1. Piper C Park, 2. Piper D Ferguson. At a concert in Killin in the same month proceedings opened with piping from PM Campbell and Piper Ferguson.
PM Hector MacLean by Peter R MacLeod
Hector Maclean was born in 1894 in Oban and died in Glasgow in 1974 aged 80. He came from a Mull family well known in piping history. His great great grandfather Neil MacLean won the first prize at the Falkirk Tryst competition in 1783, and was piper to Campbell of Airds and then piper to the Highland Society of London, which had his portrait drawn and engraved. Hector owned a copy of this picture. His great grandfather Allan MacLean, the son of Neil was piper to MacLean of Ardgour and won first prize at the Edinburgh competition in 1810. Another relative, also Hector MacLean was piper to the Clan MacLean Society in the 1890s. Hector was a pupil of Pipe Major William MacLean and Pipe Major John MacDonald, M.B.E. Inverness. On leaving school Hector started his career as piper to the Captain of Dunstaffnage at Dunstaffnage House, Connel, Argyll.
During the First World War he served from 1914 to 1918 with the Scottish Horse and the Black Watch. From 1924 to 1934 he was on the staff of the chief engineer constructing the road between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Thereafter he was Club Steward to Glenbervie Golf Club, before moving to the same position at Hilton Park Golf Club.
Hector was Pipe Major of the 3rd Dumbarton Home Guard during the Second World War, when he was also the manager of the Highlanders’ Institute in Glasgow, a ‘home from home’ for pipers coming and going on leave, and also the venues for many piping recitals and competitions. He took a prominent part in the activities of Scottish Pipe Band Association and in 1950 was Pipe Major of the Babcock and Wilcox Pipe Band. He was an instructor of piping at Bellahouston Academy, Glasgow, and, for over 40 years, piper to the Clan MacLean Association.
Hector competed professionally and was placed 5th in the Piobaireachd at the 1948 SPA competition. He later became a judge and adjudicated at various piping competitions during the 1950s, including the 1959 SPA Professionals. He was a member of the Scottish Pipers’ Association and was first mentioned as playing at a Club meeting in 1935. From then on he was a regular at all the Association’s competitions and events. He was pictured with others at an SPA event in 1936. He was Vice President and Pipe Major in 1939 and served as the Secretary from 1951 to 1956 before returning to Argyll in 1956 to take up a position at Connel. He was a committee member in 1957 and again in 1963 and was a Vice President in 1964.
In 1949 he was the winning composer of the Knightswood and District Highland Association March Competition with the tune The Knightswood Highlanders. John MacLellan’s tune Allan Rowan of Port Appin was placed second and The Knightswood Ceilidh by Donald MacLeod took third place. Another of Hector’s compositions The MacLeans’ Salute got second prize in a piobaireachd composing contest in which Angus MacPherson’s tune Salute to the MacCrimmon Cairn at Boreraig came first.
The Sheepwife
Composer not known. It appears in many modern collections under that name but is an older tune. Donald McPhedran’s Collection of Bagpipe Music 1906 was compiled and arranged and published by his son John McPhedran after his death. Thirty tunes in the book are said to be composed by Donald McPhedran. These include a tune named The Old Man’s Address, which is The Sheepwife under a different name.
•Donald McPhedran was born in 1820 at Inveraray. He moved to Glasgow as a young man and became Pipe Major of a Glasgow Regiment of Volunteers. By profession he was a joiner, then a bagpipe maker in Glasgow from 1884 until his death in 1888 in Glasgow.
Tunes played by Finlay Johnston
- Inveran
- The Islay Ball
- The Smith of Chilliechassie
Inveran by G S McLennan.
Angus MacPherson was born at Laggan in 1877, son of the famous Calum Piobair MacPherson. On leaving school he became a clerk in the railway service but soon gave this up. During the summer months he competed at the Highland Games in piping and dancing. During the London Season in the spring he ran a school of dancing for ladies and gentlemen in Sloane Street, London and the winter months he spent at home, until in 1897 he went into private service as piper to Charles Murray at Lochcarron.
In 1898 Angus was asked to become piper to the Carnegies at Skibo Castle, following his brother John, and he stayed with them for seven years. The Carnegies entertained a lot, so Angus played or danced for many distinguished guests. During the winters Angus accompanied the family to New York.
In 1905 Angus married Alice Gertrude Ross and set up in business at Newtonmore as a house agent and organised the lets and supplies for shooting lodges in the area.
In 1914 the Carnegies offered him the tenancy of the Inveran Hotel so for the next thirty-five years Angus was a hotelkeeper, until the Inveran Hotel burnt down in 1949. After the fire Angus and Alice retired to Achany House a few miles up the river Shin. In 1969 Angus received the MBE in the honours list. Angus was still playing the bagpipe at the age of ninety-eight. He died in 1976, when only two months away from his ninety-ninth birthday.
Angus Macpherson first met George S McLennan in 1897 at the Highland Gathering at Stamford Bridge, London and this was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. When George first became ill there were hopes of recovery at one point, although it was to be only a temporary remission. After this bout of illness George went to stay at the Inveran Hotel with his friends Angus and Alice Macpherson in order to recuperate. G S and Angus’s son Malcolm became fond of each other and Malcolm would often blow the pipes for G S to play. As a thank-you for their hospitality, for which they refused payment, George composed the march Inveran for Angus and for Alice he composed the reel Mrs Macpherson of Inveran.
Islay Ball
This is attributed to Donald MacPhee and first appears in his Tutor and Collection.
The Glasgow Islay Association was established in 1862. It had an annual gathering, social events and a benevolent fund. Donald MacPhee is reported as playing at the annual gatherings. There are no newspaper reports of any balls being held in Glasgow or in Islay during Donald MacPhee’s time.
•Donald MacPhee was born in 1842 at Bothwell in Lanarkshire although both his parents were born at Bowmore, Islay. In competition reports he often appeared as Donald MacPhee, Islay, although he lived in Glasgow from about 1861. In 1871 he became a bagpipe maker. He published a tutor for the bagpipe, a collection of light music and two collections of piobaireachd. From 1867 to 1877 Donald MacPhee was a regular competitor, winning prizes for both piping and dancing at the Argyllshire Gathering, Northern Meeting and many other competitions. Although his business was very successful his health broke down and he died in December 1880 at Lenzie Asylum near Glasgow aged 38.
The Smith of Chilliechassie
The composer not known, nor is the identity of the Smith.
It first appears in the W Ross 1885 collection. Killiechassie is a country estate and house near Weem, about a mile north east of Aberfeldy. The name Killiechassie is from Gaelic Cill Chasaidh, the church of the steep face, which refers to a church which stood on the hill there. The estate lies on the banks of the River Tay. In the 17th century the estate was owned by the Murray family. Later proprietors of Killiechassie included the Robertsons. In 1727, the estate was owned by the Reverend Robert Stewart. According to legend, Bonnie Prince Charlie was reputed to have sheltered in a sycamore tree here on his retreat to Inverness in 1746 during the Jacobite rising of 1745–46. A small loch in the vicinity is, according to superstition, occupied by a Celtic water spirit. The estate was owned by the Douglas family in the latter part of the 19th century, and a new house was erected in 1865. The house was purchased by J.K. Rowling in 2001.
Tunes played by Steven Leask
- Allan Dodd’s Farewell to Scotland
- Arniston Castle
- Sandy Cameron
Allan Dodd’s Farewell to Scotland by John M MacKenzie
Allan R Dodd 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.
•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 1965l. At the Northern Meeting he won the March in 1952. He died in Stirling in 1996.
Arniston Castle
Composer not known. First appears in Alexander Glen’s Caledonian Repository 1860. The Arniston lands were a royal hunting park in the Middle Ages and were later owned by the Knights Templar, who gave the nearby village of Temple its name. George Dundas, 16th Laird of Dundas Castle, South Queensferry, bought the land in 1571 and it has remained in the ownership of the family. The present Arniston House is a Georgian mansion designed by William Adam in 1726 for Robert Dundas, of Arniston. It was built over the foundations of the original tower house. It is now used as a wedding venue.
Sandy Cameron
Alexander Cameron, known as Sandy, was born 1824, was the brother of Donald Cameron. He was Piper to Sir James MacKenzie at Rosehaugh, then Piper to Earl of Seafield at Cullen by 1846 when he won the Prize Pipe at the Northern Meeting. At the 1849 Northern Meeting he was described as Piper to Mr Scarlett, Inverlochy. By 1851 he was serving in Ireland with the 71st Highlanders; then became Piper to Malcolm of Poltalloch. After living in Edinburgh for a time in the 1850s he settled in Greenock as a hotel keeper and was PM of the Greenock Volunteers from its formation in 1859-60. He won the Northern Meeting medal for Former Winners in 1862 and died in Greenock in 1872. He should not be confused with his nephew Alexander Cameron 1848-1923, the second son of Donald Cameron who was known as Alick or sometimes Sandy. The reel Alick Cameron, Champion Piper was named for him.
Tunes played by Stuart Liddell
- The Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest
- Glentruim
- The Highlanders’ Institute
Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest by Angus MacKay.
According to the internet, Blackmount is a mountain range located in Argyll and Bute, and Blackmount Forest is a deer park (now part of the Glen Nevis and Glen Coe scenic area). Black Mount Forest Lodge was a famous hunting lodge nearby. The Black Mount Deer Forest includes moorland, mountain, as well as several rivers, burns, lochs, and tarns.
Perhaps the Duke of Roxburghe spent time at the hunting lodge but why the tune was named for him is a mystery.
James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe was born in 1816, the only surviving child of the 5th Duke who died in 1823. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He was a Knight of the Thistle, Lieutenant General of the Royal Company of Archers, a governor of the National Bank of Scotland and Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire from 1873 until his death. In 1836 he married Susanna Stephania Dalbiac and they had four children. He died in Genoa in 1879 and was succeeded by his eldest son James.
Glentruim by Donald MacLeod
Donald MacLeod was a pupil of John MacDonald of Inverness for 25 years. John MacDonald was born at Glentruim near Newtonmore in Badenoch on the 26th July 1865 when his father Alexander MacDonald was piper to Macpherson of Glentruim.
Highlanders’ Institute by Peter R MacLeod
The Highlanders’ Institute was established in 1920 in Elmbank St, Glasgow as a meeting place for the Highland population of the City. It was the venue for many events in Glasgow, including the various Highland Associations and piping societies. From 1930 onwards it was the regular venue for the competitions and weekly meetings of the Scottish Pipers’ Association. Peter MacLeod was a committee member of the Association throughout this period and he and his sons were regular attendees at SPA meetings and events. During the second World War PM Hector MacLean was the manager of the Highlanders’ Institute. He was followed by PM James Johnston DCM MM who had been Pipe Major in the Cameron Highlanders. In February 1948 he had presented a Challenge Trophy for the professional competition organised by the Uist and Barra Association of which he was a member. He died suddenly in May 1948. The last piping competition in the old Highlanders’ Institute before it closed was in April 1961. The new Institute in Berkeley St opened on 19th October 1961. Reports of the opening mention piping by PM Hector MacLean the honorary piper to the Institute. The building contained several halls and meeting rooms plus a bar and restaurant so was ideal as a venue for piping competitions. By 1969 Archie MacTaggart, a piper and Gaelic singer was the manager. The 1979 SPA Professional competition on 31st March was the last piping function ever to be held in the Highlanders’ Institute as the building had been sold. It has since been demolished.
Tunes played by Angus MacColl
- Argyllshire Gathering
- Caledonian Society of London
- Sound of Sleat
Argyllshire Gathering by John MacColl.
The Argyllshire Gathering was founded in 1871 following the wedding of Queen Victoria’s daughter Louise to the Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Duke of Argyll. The tune was composed some time later by Argyll piper John MacColl (1860-1943). The County families still gather every year and on the day of the Highland Games the Chieftain and the members and stewards of the Gathering march from Argyll Square, to the games field led by the competing pipers. The last tune played on entering the field is the Argyllshire Gathering.
•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 until he 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 1st 1902.
Caledonian Society of London by W MacKay
The tune is first published in Donald MacPhee’s Collection where the composer is given as W MacKay.
According to some reports the Caledonian Society of London was instituted in 1839 and had its first formal session in 1839-1840 although some activities had started as early as 1837. Another source says the first dinner took place in 1838. One article states, ‘the impetus seems to have been a desire by professional Scots, particularly those from the Lowlands, to create an alternative gathering to the earlier Highland Society, in which they might feel more comfortable and maintain the twin aims of, as we now say, fellowship and charity.’
A history of the Society, written by Hugh Cowan, who was the society’s historian 2005-2017 states that there is no contemporary record of the Society’s formation and the earliest surviving record is a minute book and list of members from 1841. The 1845 Rule Book has the inscription Instituted February 1839.
The objects of the Society were the advancement of Scottish philanthropic interests and the promotion of good fellowship among Scotsmen in London.
A dinner to celebrate Robert Burns was an annual event and Balls, dinners, meetings and social events were held.
The Highland Society and he Caledonian Society were both involved in the formation of the London Scottish Regiment in 1859.
The Society had engaged pipers since its earliest days, with those mentioned being Angus MacKay, her Majesty’s piper; William Ross, the Queen’s Piper; Donald Mackay, piper to the Prince of Wales; John MacKenzie, tutor at the Caledonian Asylum; Pipers from the Caledonian Asylum; Pipe Major John MacLean and Pipe Major Taylor. Some reports just say that a piper was engaged. A report from January 1904 is the first to refer specifically to the Society’s own piper although he is not named. From 1911 onwards the Society’s pipers are mentioned by name, the first being PM G R Smith.
According to Cowan’s history the 1870 dinner was the first known playing of the society’s tune The Caledonian Society of London. It was usually attributed to one George McClelland, 1884-1929 but may have been composed originally by William Mackay. The history goes on to say that nothing has been found to explain why it was named for the Society.
The composer could be William MacKay who was Pipe Major of the Inverness Militia in 1811, won the Prize Pipe at Edinburgh in 1820, was afterwards Piper to the Celtic Society of Edinburgh and published a Tutor and Collection in 1841; or William MacKay who was Pipe Major of the 74th from 1843 to 1856, composer of William MacKay’s Farewell to the 74th and several other tunes, then Pipe Major of the Lanarkshire Militia until retirement his c1867, who died in 1885 aged 63; or the most likely could be William MacKay who took third prize for Piobaireachd at the Northern Meeting in 1866 when he was described as Bagpipe Instructor Royal Caledonian Asylum London.
Sound of Sleat by Donald Mackinnon
Published in Donald MacLeod’s Book 2. Nothing is known of D MacKinnon. The Sound of Sleat is a narrow sea channel which divides the Sleat peninsula on the south east side of the Isle of Skye from Morar, Knoydart and Glenelg on the mainland. In the summer by a ferry operates between Glenelg and Kylerhea. A CalMac ferry operates between Mallaig and Armadale throughout the year.
Tunes played by Brodie Watson-Massey
- The Royal Scottish Piper’s Society
- John MacDougall Gillies
- Drumlithie
Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society by Roderick Campbell.
The Scottish Pipers’ Society was founded in Edinburgh on 21st November 1881 with the especial objects, firstly, the encouragement of bagpipe playing amongst gentlemen, and secondly, the general advancement of the study of the Great Highland bagpipe and its appropriate music. Many of the founder members were either army officers, had association the Highlands or were of Highland families. The members were strictly amateurs and the society held competitions among its members. The society also supported other competitions, by presenting prizes for all levels of competition, both amateur and professional. Their prestigious Silver Star is well known. Many members of the society have judged at the top events over many years. The Prince of Wales, (later Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor visited the Society in 1935 and played a few tunes with the assembled members. Eighteen months later, in 1937, the secretary received information that ‘His Majesty the King had been graciously pleased to accede to the request of the members of the Society for the privilege of using the title ‘Royal’ prefixed to the name of the Society which will henceforth be known as The Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society.’ To mark the centenary a History entitled The First One Hundred Years was published.
•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. Roderick left Derby sometime after 1912 and before 1917 when he settled in Edinburgh where he was employed by the North British Rubber Company at Fountainbridge. In addition he was a reedmaker and teacher. He died in Edinburgh in 1937.
John MacDougall Gillies by William Gray.
John MacDougall Gillies was born in Aberdeen in 1855 although his father was from Kilmodan in Argyll. He enlisted in the 3rd VB Gordons Aberdeen 1872 under PM Fettes. He was a House Painter in Aberdeen then Piper to Lord Breadalbane 1886-1888 then a painter in Aberdeen until 1890 then a painter in Glasgow until 1903 when he became manager of Peter Henderson’s the bagpipe makers, where he remained until his death in 1925. In Glasgow he was PM 1st VB HLI 1891 which became 5th PM 5th HLI Volunteers on Haldane reforms 1908. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1884, the March in 1889 and the Open in 1901. At the Northern Meeting he won the Prize Pipe in 1882, the Former Winners’ Gold Medal in 1885 and the first Clasp in 1896. With the HLI band he won the first World Pipe Band Championships in 1906, with further wins in 1908, 1910, 1911 and1912. He was the first President of the Scottish Pipers’ Association.
•William Gray was born in Glasgow in 1883. His father was from Dornoch and his mother from Mull. He had tuition from Colin Thomson, Alexander Hutcheon, John MacDougall Gillies and Alexander Cameron. In 1903 he joined the Govan Burgh Police and became a member of the band under PM Hutcheon. In 1912 Govan became part of Glasgow so the band became the Glasgow Police. From 1916 William Gray served as Pipe Major, 2nd Bt Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. In 1919 he returned to the Glasgow Police, and was appointed Pipe Major of the band. At the Argyllshire Gathering he won the Gold Medal in 1909 and the Open in 1913, 1919 and 1921. In 1919 he won the Medal at the Northern Meeting. In 1920 he was one of the founder members of the Scottish Pipers’ Association and he served as treasurer for many years. In 1920 he led the Police band to win the World Pipe Band Championship. In collaboration with DM John Seton of the Police band, another ex-Argyll, Willie produced a Tutor and Collection of Music in 1922 and a Collection of Music, also dated 1922. Willie was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1928 and in 1933 he retired from the police. After retiring Willie to live in Islay for a time then returned to the mainland to live at Cardross. He died in Dumbarton in 1962.
Drumlithie by Donald MacLeod
Drumlithie is a village in south Aberdeenshire 7 miles south of Stonehaven in the parish of Glenbervie. It was a weaving village and dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. The village appears in Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel Sunset Song.