Tag: William Donaldson

The music of John MacCrimmon, part 2

The music of John MacCrimmon, part 2

The music of John MacCrimmon – the ‘Gesto Canntaireachd’ — Part 2 By Roderick D. Cannon We don’t know exactly when Niel MacLeod of Gesto started collecting his music or how long he spent on it. We do know, however, that the collection had taken shape by 1815, because in […]

Let’s cut out the vitriol and join together to effect improvement

Let’s cut out the vitriol and join together to effect improvement

In 2000, as the new millennium dawned, William Donaldson published his controversial The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950. It was a landmark publication and it remains a masterly – and controversial – work. It should be part of any piper’s library. In his book, Donaldson takes a swipe at […]

Stuart Letford: Take a leaf out of my book

Stuart Letford: Take a leaf out of my book

“Libraries gave us power” – A Design For Life, 1996, Manic Street Preachers. Today is the 23rd World Book Day. It’s a day designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It will be marked in over 100 countries and unlike some of these types of marketing […]

The Army’s role and a bright future for the piping art

The Army’s role and a bright future for the piping art

Iain MacInnes concludes his 2000 John MacFadyen Lecture One irony of the current pipe band situation is that, at the same time as civilian bands have carried the music round the globe, and have put down firm roots, the cultural institution that created pipe bands, the British Army, has slowly […]

Blood was spilt over over a semi-quaver in a 1930s feud

Blood was spilt over over a semi-quaver in a 1930s feud

The first excerpt from Iain MacInnes’s John MacFadyen Lecture of spring 2000 entitled ‘The Ancient Martial Music’ Piobaireachd, ceòl mòr, is, I think we’d all agree, a very remarkable and distinctive music; music of the Gaelic speaking Highlands which has travelled, and has taken root in remarkable places, from Vancouver […]