Lowland and small pipes joined forces with Highland pipes and bombarde in composerand Whistlebinkie Eddie McGuire'e piece 'The Piper's Return', premiered at GlasgowMayfest and also performed during the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Edinburgh thissummer. McGuire describes it as "a Highland piper's expression of regret for hispart in Britain's colonial wars". Also incorporating double bass, concert harp andclarsach, 'The Piper's Return' is well worth hearing for its bold and sometimeshypnotic modern approach to pipe music. The picture, taken at its premiere in theWinter Gardena of Glasgow's People's Palace, shows (from left) Ninian Perry, doub-le bass; Mary Ann Kennedy, concert harp; Bab Wallace, small pipes, Lowland pipes;Eddie McGuire, flute (and conductor); Martin Hughes, bombarde; George MacIlwham,Highland pipes; Judith Peacock, clarsach.

Evidence ofLowlandpipes inIrelandSince this article was written, NaPiobairi Uillean-the uillean or Irishpipers' organisation-have contactedHamish Moore and Jim Gilchrist, suggest-ing an annual piping event to be held"in rotation", moving from centre tocentre in Ireland, Scotland and thenorth of England.EVIDENCE of Lowland pipes havingbeen played in Ireland earlierthis century came to light duringan interview with Rab Wallacebroadcast by RTE - Radio TelefisEireann, the Irish broadcastingcorporation - last autumn.

While playing in Ireland, Rabtook time off to record a coupleof interviews with HarryBradshaw, producer and presenterof RTE ' s 'Long Note' folk musicprogramme; one of the interviews,broadcast in November 1984, dealtwith his Highland pipe playing,while the other, which -went outin September 1985, concentratedon Lowland piping (includingmention of the Society'sactivities). During the latterbroadcast, Harry Bradshaw playedextracts of an interview with oneGeorge MacCullough of Newbliss,Co. Monaghan, who played Lowlandpipes--he referred to them ashalf-longs.

MacCullough originally hailedfrom Ballybay, the home town ofthe late William Clark, piper andpipe-maker, and his Lowland pipesoriginally belonged to Clark.There was no recording of eitherMcCullough or Clark playing,although the instrument concernedwas described as sounding rather

like a practice chanter..."it wasnice for the house."

"Nice little drones on themtoo; tenor, bass and alto. "

MacCullough didn't know whereClark had got the instrument fromalthough he thought it was "someplace in Scotland". He playedthem from about 1926 until hisdeath in 1934.

Bradshaw went on to say thatSean Donnelly, a Dublin piperresearching the history of pipingin Ireland, has found referencesto Lowland pipes being played "ina small Tipperary mining town inthe early years of this century."

Bradshaw asked that anylisteners who had heard, or heardof, Lowland pipes played anywhereelse in Ireland should get intouch with the programme.Speaking recently to JimGilchrist, however, he said thatthey had received no furtherreports of this nature. He wasable, however, to shed furtherlight on the piping activities ofWilliam Clark who, in some ways,seems to have been a piper aheadof his time...certainly so far ashis eclectic approach wasconcerned. He played uillean,Highland and Northumbrianpipes...as well as theaforementioned 'half longs'.

He also played on what was, forits day, a remarkable, pioneeringrecording made in 1926/27 by theEnglish Columbian label. 'Pipersof Three Nations ' featured theplaying of Pipe Major JamesRobertson on Highland pipes,Anthony Charlton on Northumbrianpipes and Clark on the Lowlandinstrument. Despite whatMacCullough said on the 'LongNote: interview, Clark may wellhave got his half-longs inNorthumberland, as he visitedthere every year and wasacquainted with pipers of thestature of Hilly Pigg.

While the revival of interestin Scottish bellows-blown pipesseems assured, a question markremains as to the role theLowland and Border Pipers'Society should play within thatrevival. Indeed it seemsquestionable whether or not theSociety has a future as such,judging by the erratic, to saythe least, attendances over thepast year, culminating in thegrand attendance of two at theAGM at the College of Piping,Glasgow, on April 12. Clearlyunable to effect any re-electionof office bearers, etc. GordonMooney and Jeannie Campbell gotthrough the business as bestthey could.

AnannualgeneralduetJEANNIE CAMPBELL REPORTS... TheAGM this year was notable for thelack of support from members. Theonly people who turned up werechairman Gordon Mooney and

AS YOU have doubtless heardon the grapevine, Gordon Mooney'slong-awaited 'Tutor for the Cauld WindPipes' has been published by the LBPS.An invaluable guide for anyone-Highlandpiper or complete novice-tak i ng upthe Lowland or Scottish small pipes,the tutor not only contains a wealthof information on buying pipes, main-tenance, learning to play, readingmusic etc,but includes a generoussalection of good tunes as well.

The tutor costs £4.50 including postage

sec/treasurer Jeannie Campbell.There were some apologies and anumber of letters, particularlyfrom overseas members. Thesewere discussed and in accordancewith the general opinion ofmembers it was decided to attemptto enlarge 'Common Stock';various members would be asked tocontribute articles andinformation.

It was also decided toinvestigate the possibility ofeither producing tapes of thecompetitions or producing tapesspecially recorded under studioconditions. There was somediscussion of the poor servicegiven to overseas members by somepipe makers, particularly thedisasters disguised as Lowlandpipes which Grainger and Campbellhave sent all over the world.

It was decided that thereshould be a meeting in the OxfordBar, Edinburgh in the evening ofthe last Thursday in every month,in addition to our regularmeetings which will continue tobe held in the afternoons on thesecond Saturday of every secondmonth, alternating betweenGlasgow and Edinburgh. Each ofthese meetings will includeeither a talk, demonstration orrecital in addition to informalplaying and discussion time.Among those invited to take partwill be Colin Ross, Hamish Moore,Rab Wallace, Gordon Mooney, PeterCooke, Paul Roberts and IainMac Innes.

to members; £5 inc. post. to non-members,and is available from Gordon at2 Lionwell Wynd, Linlithgow, West Lothian.

The LBPS boasts an active LondonSection which meets at the NationalArmy Museum Lecture Theatre, RoyalHospital Road , London SW3, on thesecond Friday of every other month:i.e. Jan., March, etc...For details contact John Agnew,13 Downs Road, Malden, Essex,CM9 7HG. (0621) 55147.

2 3

LETTERSTasmania'spiping devils

Cauld wind pipes are alive andwell and living in Tasmania! Thefollowing is a composite made bythe editor of two letters sent tothe Society by enthusiastic piperand pipe-maker MALCOLM MCLAREN ofBerriedale, Tasmania, who saysthat he can account for no lessthan ten sets of bellows-blownpipes in this particular neuk ofthe Antipodes. "Goodness knowshow many more sets exist inAustralia, " he writes...

9 Lowestoft Ave., Berriedale,Tasmania, Australia. 7011.

Please find enclosed some photosof pipes I was able to gathertogether for the two workshops Iheld at both folk festivals thisyear.

Hamish Moore ' s record CauldWind Pipes has had a greatinfluence on those peopleinterested in piping that I knowof, and has changed my outlookand that of my friend George

Callaghan , and we have been busyas you can see. All sets we havemade are playable and sound O.K.and have given a lot of pleasureto us all.

Your Tutor is great; as soon asI got it and found out about highB I was able to get this notesecond try - after months ofexperimenting. The photocopiesyou also sent were most useful,and would you believe that justtowards the end of January at thelocal market on Saturday morningI was listening to some of thelocal musicians "busking" when Imet an American who was keen onScottish ancestory. He gave me abook The Traditional and NationalMusic of Scotland by FrancisCollinson in return for sometapes of piping I made for himfrom my own playing and that ofrecords I have. He has your

address so watch outl!

My last (second) workshop atLongford in January was televisedby ABC-TV for a schools musicprogramme later this year, and asfar as I know was well receivedby all who attended - it went onfor over two hours! But I had agreat time explaining about eachset, the history of bellows pipesetc., and of course playing thesets whenever possible.

The Battlefield Band was theretoo. I had a good chat withDougie Pincock who sends hisregards - he had a play on myLowland pipes and heard theScottish smallpipes I made. Hereally is a great piper and withBrian McNiell (fiddle player)held a workshop where they playedsome fine music.

Can I offer the followingcomments for consideration.(1) It's very lonely here inTasmania and any information isvery gratefully accepted.Newsheets and journals etc. areeagerly awaited by me.(2) New tunes as printed in thelast journal are great, as thesource books for Lowland andcontemporary tunes are not allthat "thick on the ground".(3) Could there be more technicalinformation on

a) Types of pipes.

b) Measurements and differencesin material the pipes are madeof.c) Hints and tips to keep pipesin top condition.d) Details of, for example,chanter with the double row ofholes as played on HamishMoore's record.e) Reeds and maintenance.

(4) Difficult as it might sound,could some kind soul make taperecordings of meetings andparticularly competitions.

Yours etc.Malcolm McLaren.

Editor ' s note: Malcolm ' s indus-trious pipe-making activitieshave included creating a set ofsmall pipes with a double-boredchanter, inspired by HamishMoore's record. We look forwardto publishing some details andpictures of these and some ofthe old pipes he has collectedin future issues of 'CommonStock.

38 Scott Rd., Kelmscott 6111,Western Australia.

Sir, - Referring to your reminderfor my 1985/86 subscription, it

has been very disappointing forme not to have been able to getany help or information regardingmy Lowland bagpipes from Graingerand Campbell. They arrived fromthe manufacturer in an unplayablestate, and all enquiries toeveryone I can think of regardingtuning the drones to the chanterhave failed.

So it is with regret that I amhaving to let my membership lapseand my pipes to be retired to the"bottom drawer " .

Yours etc.Mark Delap.

P.O. Box 18355,Salalah, Oman.

Sir, - I have just received thelatest edition of ' Common Stock '

magazine, and would like tocomment on Pat McNulty ' s articlewhich I believe contains amistake.

Before I go into specificdetail I should state thatalthough I could never be amusician of the same standard asMr McNulty, whose music I reallyenjoy, I do possess two workingsets of pastoral pipes and aphotocopy, obtained from theBritish Library in London, ofGeoghegan's Tutor for thisinstrument. All my remarkstherefore are based on thecapabilities of the instruments Ipossess and my personal experi-ence in their use.

One of my sets is in many wayssimilar to the set of uilleanpipes drawn on Page 9 of 'CommonStock', apart from having anextra foot-joint on the chanter,and also a modern connectionbetween the bag and the cover ofthe chanter reed, which is Ibelieve called a goose-neck.

This particular instrument,which has two drones, a dronecut-off valve (disguised as a 3rddrone) and a single four noteregulator, was made for me byJohn Addison, and is a copy of aset, (presently in the BlackgateMuseum, Newcastle) which hadoriginally been owned by thenotorious Border piper andtinker, Jimmy Allen.

My second set, was made byColin Ross, and is also modelledon an instrument in the BlackgateMuseum. This instrument does nothave a regulator, thus allowingits main stock to be quite slimand this stock can be laidagainst the shoulder - as perLowland and half-long pipes -when marching. Both sets are

54

very well made and share asimilar range, although possiblydue to the difference in theirrespective chanter reeds theyhave totally different tonalqualities.

Both chanters easily go intothe second octave without anyneed for them to be ' banged ' onthe knee. Partial opening of theback hole and a very slightincrease in pressure on the bagtakes you straight into thissecond octave. It is a verysmooth transition and you don ' tget the rough D in the middlewhich can often occur on theuillean chanter in my (limited)experience.

With the Ross set my mainproblem is getting the pressurelow enough to yet low E and LosD.

And this is the main point Iwish to make, that these chantersdo play a second octave quiteeasily, going up to A in thatsecond octave very easily. Also,I have not stuck to the fingeringin Geoghegan ' s Tutor but an usingHighland fingering and it worksvery well indeed. One of thepoints which I am trying to makeis that the pastoral chanter isnot an uillean chanter, but alonger Scottish chanter and isdesigned for Scottish fingering.It could well be a simultaneousdevelopment with the uilleanpipe.

Museum plansout of tuneFRS FOLLOWING letter was circulatedto interested parties last Septemberby Hugh Cheape of the National Museumof Antiquities of Scotland, sincemerged with the Royal Scottish Museumto form what is now known as the Nat-ional Museums of Scotland, this org-anisation's remit also covering certainother specialised museums. With thismerger, plans for a major bagpipeexhibition in the former Leith CustomsHouse, which could well have formed abasis for a National Bagpipe Museum(see 'Common Stock', Vol.1, No.1.),havetaken a back seat, as Hugh's letterexplains. It is to be hoped, however,that what is now the largestcollection in Britain, if not the world,of bagpipes and pi ping accessories,archives and associated ethnographicmaterial, will not continue to moulderin obscurity.

The present revival,on a global scale,of interest in bagpipes and other folkand early music instruments means thatnever was the time so appropriate forthe establishment of such a museum.Such an institution, as Hugh hasalready suggested in this journal,would not be a dry, dust-bound repos-itory of antiques, but very much aliving museum, with access to archivesand facilities for performance and in-struction.

The substance of Hugh's letter stillstands; any further developments willbe reported in 'Common Stock'. In themeantime, members may feel moved toexpress their continuing support forthe concept of a piping museum by writingto the Director, National Museums ofScotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh.EH1 1JF.AS you know, the National Museumof Antiquities of Scotland haspublicised on radio, televisionand on paper its plan for anexhibition on bagpipes and pipingto be prepared for summer 1986 tocoincide with the Commonwealth

Games and the Edinburgh Festival.The exhibition is planned tooccupy the National Museum's fourdisplay galleries in YorkBuilings, each one of approxim-ately 150 sq. metres.

The proposal was firstformulated in 1982 as a responseto public demand which has grownover the years since a smalltemporary exhibition ontraditional music was prepared inthe National Museum during the1976 Edinburgh Festival. Theoriginal proposal suggested alsothat, given the consistent publicinterest in the subject, theexhibition could realisticallyprovide the impulse for a "museumof piping" as a permanent elementin the displays of the NationalMuseum. The lack of a properdisplay of European bagpipes inthe country of which they havebecome the national instrumenthas been keenly felt and longbeen a matter of comment.

The 1976 exhibition generatedsome useful additions to thecollection in the National Museumand the possibilities of a largeexhibition on bagpipes made areality by the acquisition of theRoss Collection of 277 items inspring 1983. Since then one ortwo important items have beenadded to the National Museum'scollection to make it the largestcollection of such material inthe United Kingdom, supercedingthe primacy of collections ofsimilar material in the PittRivers Museum and the BagpipeMuseum in Newcastle.

Since the proposal for theexhibition on bagpipes and pipingwas accepted, a Bill has beenintroduced in Parliament andrecently passed to change theorganisation and status of theNational Museum and also of theRoyal Scottish Museum and toamalgamate the two institutions.This has effectively introducednew priorities and policies to

the management of the nationalcollections, and the plans andcommitments of the NationalMuseum extending beyond 1 October1985 have had to be reconsidered.The piping exhibition has beenpostponed and will now not takeplace until 1987 at the earliest.

It is expected thatpostponement does not meancancellation, especially sincethe changes in national museumorganisation proposed in the Billand since recommended to theSecretary of State for Scotlandare intended as a means ofsafeguarding and enhancing theScottish national collections.In fact, one important result ofthe amalgamation of the twonational museums will be that thecombined resources of theNational Museuem and the , RoyalScotish Museum in bagpipes andrelated material will beunequalled elsewhere in theworld, thus significantlyincreasing the case for a pipingexhibition. I hope that arevised date and venue will soonbe agreed and I shall lookforward to bringing you news ofthis. Hugh Cheape

HAMISH MOORE, whose popular 'CauldWind Pipes' LP is reviewed elsewherein this issue, has had a busy yearso far. After giving a course in bel-lows-blown Scottish piping as part ofEdinburgh Folk Festival in April, heorganised a 'Day of Lowland Piping'in Falkland, with help from the Artsin Fife. He then went on tour with the'Fionn' roadshow, accompanied by poetHarvey Holton and numerous othermusicians, playing the settingsMoore has written for Holton's poemcycle in Scots concerning theCeltic hero. At the time of goingto press, Moore-currently on leaveof absence from his job as a vet, withthe Departure of Agriculture andFisheries-was touring the USA withharpist Katie Harrigan, includingrunning a week-long School of LowlandPiping at the Augusta Heritage Weekin West Virginia.

6 7

AN INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT AT EASTER SAW ThE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FOLK FESTIVALINTRODUCING A FIVE-DAY COURSE IN SCOTTISH BELLOWS-BLOWN PIPES, TUTORED BY HAMISHMOORE (PICTURED BELOW). HERE, BOTH TEACHER AND PUPIL GIVE THEIR IMPRESSIONS...

Cauld wind schuil

THIS year's Edinburgh Folk

Festival saw its first LowlandPiping Course and by all accountswas a tremendous success. It wasrun as an experiment to "test theground" as to the nationalinterest in Lowland piping andwhether we could turn such acourse into an annual event.

There were five extremely keenpupils, all at different stagesof piping and all with entirelydiferent and individual needs.They came from a' the airts -Essex, Birmingham, Lincolnshire,Argyllshire and Perthshire -their progress during the weekwas exce

ptional.

The course ran from Monday,

March 31, to Friday, April 14;10 - 12.3Opm and 2 - 4.3Opm eachday, with breaks for the veryimportant cups of tea. TheFestival Club venue was ideal,having at our disposal the roomannexing the Debating Hall forindividual tuition plus the mainhall and side corridors forpractice. Although the teachingof Lowland music was the maintheme there was a lot ofinstruction on setting up andmaintaining the pipes. Midwaythrough the course we all madeour way down to the NationalMuseum of Antiquities at QueenStreet, where Hugh Cheape talkedabout the pipes in the smallpiping exhibit in the museum. Itis disheartening to think thatScotland, the country to whom thebagpipe world looks up, does nothave its own National BagpipeMuseum, or even a proper exhibitof pipes within one of its

museums.

To round off the extremelysuccessful week there was a verywell attended concert devoted tothe bagpipe, featuring Anthonyand Carol Robb on Northumbrianpipes; Neil Martin, uilleanpipes; Hamish Moore, Scottishsmall pipes; and Fred Morrison,Highland pipes.

The course will definitely berepeated next year and alreadyplaces are booked. A meetingwith Robin Morton, the festivalorganiser, is soon to take placeto discuss the feasibility ofrunning a small Bagpipe Festivalwithin the confines of the folkfestival - along the same linesas the very successful HarpFestival.

Robin Morton and Marian Ramsayfor their interest and support,without which this course couldnot have taken place.

HAMISH MOORE

THE students out-numbered thetutor by only five to one. HamishMoore was the tutor, and it wasvery much his requirement thatthe number of students belimited. He wanted to give eachone an effective amount ofindividual attention.

The pipers attending the coursehad a great diversity ofexperience - and inexperience!Some had a good grounding in theHighland pipes, but had neverbuckled on a set of bellows;others had played various typesof bellows blown pipes, but inthe process had picked up someinteresting habits - much ofwhich had to be unlearned beforeHamish would nod his approval.There was a great deal foreveryone to master, each startingfrom a different base line, sothe individual attention that wasgiven provided a most necessaryingredient.

Each day was spent listening,learning, looking at new music(Gordon Mooney

' s Tutor was used)and PLAYING. There was room inthe hall for each piper to tuckhimself away and get on with it -until called in by Hamish tocheck progress and plan the wayahead. That was every day exceptthe Wednesday, when the class wastaken on a "school outing" downthe road to see the pipes in theNational Museum of Antiquities.A great afternoon, which was bothan instruction and a rest - aftertwo and a half days of continuousplaying the arm muscles reallymade themselves felt!

On the last day everoneanalysed what they had learned,all surely went away with abetter knowledge of the pipes,the techniques and the music.

More important, each had obtaineda good grounding on which tobuild further his own expertise.

Of one thing I am sure; ifthere is a similar courseorganised for 1987, it will beoversubscribed. JOHN AGNEW

Recordreviews

Cauld WindPipes, Hamish Moore(Dunkeld Records DUN003)

IN THE last few years interest inthe bellows-blown pipes ofScotland has been growing. Theformation of the Lowland andBorder Pipers' Society created aforum and a stimulus and they,together with the National Museumof Antiquities of Scotland andmany others - particularlypipemakers such as Colin Ross -have overcome many technical andother problems. As a directresult a whole new dimension toScottish music is emerging.

The cauld wind pipes (Scottishsmallpipes, Lowland or Borderpipes and pastoral pipes) largelydied out by the end of the 19thcentury. Now they are beingrediscovered and on this finealbum we have the first realcollection of music featuring allthese instruments. The Lowlandor Border pipes barely survive inScotland, and in a variant formas

"half long

"pipes in North-

umberland, but this is the firsttime the potential of differentforms of Scottish smallpipes andthe extinct pastoral pipes hasbeen fully demonstrated.

Not only that but they are verypleasant to listen to as well.

Well produced, recorded, andsleeved (with the exception ofsome spelling errors on the

Finally, I would like to thank

98

insert) and supported by PatsySeddon, Jim Sutherland and Dougie

and Jennifer MacLean, Hamish

Moore presents a beautiful albumthat to my mind appeals to

everybody, piper and non-piper

alike. Its not just the pipesthat are important however, and

the music is a good mix of

traditional tunes, contemporary

compositions by Hamish, Ian

Hardie, and Jim Sutherland, aswell as important material from

recent publications for Lowland

and Border pipes by Gordon

Mooney.Hamish is a tine piper with an

ear for a good melodic tune, andhis own compositions 'Callanish'

and' High Over Bunachton

' standout abune them a

'. A couple of

original ideas also included arethe setting of The Mill 0' to

the recorded rhythm of a water-driven mill in Orkney, and

accompaniement by Dougie

MacLean' s didgeridoo further

breaking down musical barriers.

The arrangements are tastefulwithout going over the top. Onone track Hamish accompanies ashort piece by Lallans poet

Harvey Holton, fusing very

successfully the music and spokenword of the Lowlands. It works

really well and I look forward totheir future collaborations.

This is not only a very goodrecord but an important one, if

not a milestone, as it begins todraw threads together from a

variety of sources. Historic-

ally, Lowland piping was allied

to fiddle and song. Let's hope

that its re-emergence will closethe yap between that traditionand Highland piping .

In the words of Harvey Holton:-

Fond freends frae Heichlaundtae Laichland tak tunes

thegither,Slowly the smaa an middle music

wi the big music blends.

Buy the record, or better stillbuy a set of pipes and learn the

tunes. KENNY CAMPBELL

Whistlebinkies 4 (Claddagh cc43)

ANOTHER bizarre cover painting byJohn Bellamy immediately marks

this as a Whistlebinkies record.

And this, their fourth, is

without a doubt their best

yet - with crisp recording and agenerally lighter and more nimblefeel than any of its excellentenough predecessors.

Overall a satisfying mixture ofmusic from Highland and Lowlandcultures, and with tunes

traditional and modern, the LPloupe off at a skelping pace with

the Low Country Jig, the first of

an energetic and keenly playedset of Lowland jigs, followed by

the air Sir John Fenwick (also

widely known as Mary Scot, the

Flower of Yarrow) Its fair to

say that, while pioneering the

Whistlebinkies' piper Rab Wallace

use of Lowland pipes in a folkrevival group, Rab Wallace has

largely employed them in playingHighland pipe music, finding themmore biddable, in an ensemble

context, than Highland pipes; itis good, therefore, to see theband now exploring some of therepertoire which must have beenplayed on the Lowland instrument.An observation, rather than acriticism, is that the presenceof clarsach in these arrangementsstill inclines the general effecttowards the Highland Line.

Small pipes - a set in Eb madefor Rab Wallace by Jimmy Anderson- make their first appearance ona Whistlebinkies album, used ina lusty version of Burns' ForA' That, and making a delicatelyeffective contribution to theethereal accompaniement whichsurrounds Judith Peacock

's

beautiful singing of the Gaeliclament Aileen Duinn ( Brown-HairedAlan).

Getting away from vulgarcauld-wind pipes tub-thumping onthe part of this reviewer, thereis a smartly played selection oftraditional Highland pipestrathspeys which leads into somefine new fiddle and pipe tuneswritten by members of the groupand others, including EddieMcGuire's reel The Straits ofCorfu, which rages over somedistinctly modern sounding andhighly effective harmonies onbass concertina and fiddle.Another recently-written set isthe hypnotically rhythmic pairingof McGuire's Highland River withR.S. MacDdonald

's The Rubic Cube.

From another era entirely, andin heroic style, is themagnificent clan march MacDonaldof the Isles, which may have beenplayed as far back as 1411 at theBattle of Harlow; while fromanother culture, albeit still aCeltic one, is a group of Bretontunes, including a stately pacedmarch and a set of an dro dances,fiddle and piccolo adding perky"biniou

"overtones to the latter.

Like many Breton tunes, this ismusic which appears to havediscovered the secret of

perpetual motion. All of themusic on this record should keepyour turntable spinning, ifperhaps not perpetually, for someconsiderable time to come.

JIM GILCHRIST

Competitionresults

ATTENDANCES at the Society's annualcompetition (March 28, School of Scot-tish Studies, Edinburgh) were low com-pared to the previous two years, withonly two entries for both the Novice andBorder pipe classes, and a single entryfor the pipes duet. Judges were PaulRoberts, Eddie McGuire, Hamish Mooreand Rab Wallace. Hamish felt that theatmosphere was good and liked theselections of music played, but wouldhave liked to see a bigger entry. Hethought the highest standard was in thepipes and song section.Rab Wallace also liked the atmosphere:"It's not like a normal piping comp-etition...more laid back. Although youdon't want to get into the Highlandpiping type of competition, it is a goodway of coming along and putting yourplaying on the line, as opposed to justplaying in the pub."Paul Roberts thought the two entries inthe novice class were both very good,although overall, he didn't think theevent was as good as previous years."A lot of people who entered beforedidn't this time, including quite a fewplayers who were there. Perhaps lastyear's standard was so high people feltintimidated."

WINNERS. Novice--1, John Agnew; 2, JamieMacdonald Reid. Open Small Pipes Solo--1, Jamie Macdonald Reid; 2, Mike Ward;3, John Agnew. Open Border Pipes Solo--1, Paul Roberts; 2, David Stevenson.Pipe and song--1, David Robertson;2, Jamie Macdonald Reid; 3, John Agnew.Duet for pipes (only one entry)-1,Gordon Mooney and Paul Roberts. Duetfor Pipes and Other Instrument-1,Julian and John Goodacre (Scottishsmall pipes+ Leicestershire pipes);2, John Agnew and Irene Allen (con-certina).

101

GORDON MOONEY grew up in Edinburgh, and started learning Highlandpipes at the age of nine with Hance Gates, one time Pipe Major ofthe Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band. In his early teens he played

in Boys ' Brigade and school (Royal High) bands and " entered a lot ofcompetitions and won a couple of cups " . Like many others, he lostinterest during the Beatles era, flirted with the ubiquitous guitarfor a while "without much success", then renewed his interest in thepipes while studing town planning at Dundee College of Art.

"After a while you reach a point when you've experienced all theAmerican pop culture, some of it pretty empty, and you become moreaware of your own Scottish identity. I went to live in Linlithgowabout 1975 and found it different from the other cities I had beenin - more of a county town which had preserved more of its

traditional culture. The pubs were still big on accordion music andI gradually got round to playing Highland pipes-with one or twoaccordionists in pubs."

In 1976 he made an excursion down to the renowned NewcastletonFolk festival and ... "walked into a room full of Northumbrianpipers and was amazed. I'd heard of them, and had heard Billy Piggin the days when John Peel used to play his records on the radio. Ibecame totally sold on them and virtually decided on the spot to

order a set! But at the same time I thought that I should dosomething serious about piping."

After seeing vacancies advertised, he joined the now defunctMuirhead Pipe Band, which had a very high reputation. "That was agreat step for me. They put me in the toilets for a while to learnhow to play the way they played. It was very intensive and a verygood grounding."

It was in the band that he first met Rab Wallace and JimmyAnderson, both of whom were also playing Scottish bellows pipes -with, respectively,' the Whistlebinkies and the Clutha folk groups.Once again Gordon became interested in that form of pipe ...' I hadmy Northumbrian pipes at that time but was concentrating on myHighland piping. I became interested in the Lowland pipes becausethey fell between the two and I could move more easily to them fromHighland pipes."

Finding a set, however, proved difficult; he was faced with achoice between tracking down an old set or making himself one. Hewent to woodwork classes, having got plans for a set of half-longs,from a book on Northumbrian piping. "I had a few shots at makingsets, with varying degrees of sucess," and he still plays a Lowlandset he made himself, to which he has added a key to get round" shivering the back Lill " in gaining a high B.

Also increasingly playing the Northumbrian pipes, he began tonotice a large number of older Northumbrian tunes which came withinthe nine-note chanter. "I began to sense that there was a Lowlandtradition of folk music that I felt was separate from both Highlandand Northumbrian piping. It was just a gut feeling really. I knewabout Highland piping with its very regimented approach and romantictradition and also Northumbrian piping which was more rooted in afolk tradition.

" I felt that there was something missing which should link the twotraditions. "

He read Francis Collinson's 'The Bagpipe' and 'Traditional andNational Music of Scotland' - in the latter Collinson regretted thatso much had been lost in the way of Lowland and Border pipe musicand suggested that a revival in this field was overdue - and started"doing a bit of digging" in libraries. One thing led to another andquite soon I had begun to build up a major body of music which was"pre-Highland piping", ... going back into the 17th and 16thcenturies, and recognisably bagpipe music or attributed to pipes inbooks etc.

"Sometimes tunes would just be referred to in literature and Iwould go on and find them. Initially it became quite obsessive. Ialso learned a lot about the real history of the Lowlands as anoffshoot; the music of any folk culture is basically rooted in itsmaterial past."

He met Mike Rowan, later to become the Lowland and Border Pipers'Society's first chairman, and they discovered their shared interestin Lowland piping. In the early '8Os, at the early meetings ofenthusiasts before the Society as such came into being, Gordon was

PIPERSIn the first of a seriesof interviews with "cauldwind" pipers, JIM GILCHRISTmeets GORDON MOONEY, whoselong-awaited tutor hasappeared at last...

Themanwhodigs

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I

frequently asked to publish his material and, "quite hurriedly", heput together two books of tunes which continue to be sought after bythose looking for Lowland/Border pipe tunes.

All during this time, he points out, he was still playing Highlandpipes with various pipe bands including Linlithgow and KinneillColliery, although he stopped playing with bands a few years ago,the birth of a daughter and the closure of the colliery being amongthe reasons. He continued, however, to channel his energies intothe other piping culture he had unearthed for himself, and in 1983he recorded two cassettes-- The Border Reiver', a solo recordingfeaturing Lowland and Scottish small pipes; and the memorably titled'Bee and the Drones', a lively idiosyncratic collection of (by andlarge) Lowland and Border music played by himself, his wife Barbara( who teaches music and plays flute and bassoon) and other musicianson assorted bagpipes, recorders, concertinas and other instruments.

By profession Gordon is a planning officer with Edinburgh DistrictCouncil, but he also holds another government appointment, albeitnon-salaried; he is official town piper of Linlithgow, having beenappointed to the post two years ago after John Anderson, whose

Not a Liberal reinterp-retation of history, buta promotional ploy by theScottish Borders TouristBoard in which this partyof "Border Reivers" visitedWestminster and met DavidSteel, MP for Tweeddale,Ettrick and Lauderdale, whowas expecting them, andapparently causing con-sternation to a mountedpolicewoman, who was not.Gordon-atypically attired--is on the extreme right.Rill marks to the touristboard for taking alongan authentic "toun piper":

family had filled the post for 30 years or more, retired.Linlithgow, an ancient burgh, has had town pipers, he says, as farback as the 16th century at least. The last daily rounds by a piperwere made in the 1830s, so far as he knows, and Gordon's only dutiesfall during the annual Riding of the Marches in June ... an onerousenough task, given some of the more bachanalian aspects of thecelebration which, he says ,, is "like a re-enactment of a former age.It ' s even bigger than New Year. "

The pattern of the day is much like that of other ridingsthroughout the Lothians and Border country; a flute band wakens thetown at 5 a.m., followed by a pipe band an hour later. So far,Gordon has used both Lowland and Highland pipes on these occasions.The Lowland instrument may seem the more appropriate given thelocation and cultural background of the burgh but, he says, "I have

doubts about using Lowland pipes for it because they're not thatloud, considering the very crowded situations I'm playing them in atthe Riding." He devised a suitable uniform for himself -- completewith bonnet and breeches, using contemporary illustrations of piperssuch as Georgie Syme, as well as preserved uniforms of Linlithgow'sformer town crier, as models. For his services he is rewardedannually with "a fiver, a meal ... and as much drink as I want".

Given the growing interest in cauld-wind pipes, and the interestgenerated by his two books of tunes, along with the fact that peoplewere tackling bellows-blown pipes, often in isolation and withoutadvice, the tutor was probably a natural development. "I think itwas Mike Rowan who first suggested it a couple of years ago."

"We went through various drafts. I suppose progress was slowed byblind alleys -- looking for funds etc. Also when you're publishingsomething which is supposed to be authoritative, it's quite a step

it has to be credible, and you have to convince yourself thatit's credible. Therefore it was filtered through quite a lot ofpeople with a lot of corrections, etc. Developments took a big leapwhen I was introduced to somebody -- Dave Cameron -- who had a wordprocessor and he just put all of the tutor into it. It meant thatonce the raw data was in, it was just a case of a few hours ofcorrecting, spacing and pasting up. And Mike Zajac of Heriot WattUniversity's printing department was a great help in putting ittogether and printing it."

He regards the publication of the tutor as a significant andencouraging move for the society: "When people can be their ownpublishers, its an area in which new technology helps. Now thatwe've got the contacts and experience ... who knows what we might doin the future." One area of speculation is that the next time theSociety wishes to undertake a publishing venture it can approach theScottish Arts Council publications committee as "a publisher " , withwork already accomplished, which may help in getting assistancewhich was not forthcoming with the tutor.

On a personal level he has various projects either in hand, or inmind for the future. One which he describes as being "in thepipeline" is a book on the socio-musicological history of piping inthe Lowlands, that he would write with Hugh Cheape ... But Ihaven't completely decided yet what to do with all the material Ihave. One option is offered by the huge collection of folklore ofweddings in Scotland, I've accumulated while researching tunes. Ihave a mind to do something about that in the near future."

He also hopes to record again soon, this time in a moresophisticated recording environment than before (his two cassetteswere "front room" affairs), probably with other musicians. He hasbeen playing recently with, of all things, a trombonist -- "it's asuperb sound, if totally outwith the tradition!" In fact he and thetrombonist, John Kenny, have recently recorded a piece of musiccommissioned from Kenny, who is a professional musician andcomposer, by London Contemporary Dance Theatre. Unconventionalduets pairing pipes and other instruments are nothing new to Gordon,who can often be heard playing small pipes with his wife on bassoon-- an attractive sound, evocative of the pastoral. And he stillplays Highland pipes -- "I find it a very exciting instrument."

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What does he see as a recognisable Lowland or Border piping style? ;"A lot of these tunes have much in common with Northumbrian pipetunes with runs of notes, that kind of thing. That's the way theywere written down (in the books and manuscripts he has consulted),Therefore, in a way, Northumbrian piping has preserved that,Highland piping has gone more for cuttings etc. In the earlyScottish pipe collections, however, you find the same kind of runsthat you find in Northumbrian music. They've just been 'fashioned'out of Scottish piping ... possibly because of the needs of bandsand marching. Also, as somebody suggested, it may have been sort of'linguistic' change, although it was probably juststraightforwardfashion.

"In trying to recreate a Lowland style there's not much known,You have the music of the tunes, and you have presentdayNorthumbrian and present day Highland piping. You're reallytalkingabout a synthesis of the two, for example, using Northumbrian stylevibrato and runs and Highland pipe grace notes. If you listentoLowland singing -- to some of the travelling people and theirapproach to music, I think you can pick up something of the style.

"Also environment must influence music too. Therefore, ifyoulook about you, different feelings can be evoked whether you'reinNorthumberland or in the Highlands."

The Lowland Pipers ' Society, he observes, has brought together zlot of people with a diversity of approaches to music. "You havepeople who already play Highland pipes with their strict,conformist, disciplined approach, and you have people who'vedeveloped their own style -- like Paul Roberts, for instance. Thereare no rules."

Twa Braw ba irns

G.Mooney

LOWLAND AND BORDER PIPERS' SOCIETYMEETINGS- 1986-87

Sat. Oct. 11, School of Scottish Studies,George Sc., Edinburgh, 2 p.m.Speaker to bearranged

Sat. Dec. 13, College of Piping, OtagoStreet, Glasgow, 2 p.m.Speaker: Rab Wallace

Sat. Feb. 14 , School of Scottish Studies,Edinburgh, 2 p.m.Speaker to be arranged

Sat. March 28, School of Scottish StudiesEdinburgh, ANNUAL COMPETITION, 2 p.m.AGM may be arranged for same venue thatmorning. Members will be notified.

16 17

IAIN MacINNES (pictured right) discussesthe chequered history of patronagein Highland, Lowland and Union piping

Whopaidthepipers?ROYALTY. A rare commodity, but - if history is anything to go by -

one not to be done without in piping circles. For royalty, of

course, you should really read patronage. As patrons go, kings and

queens are best; princes and dukes are pretty fine; and a good

old-fashioned, blue-blooded aristocrat can make a very nice

substitute.

It's probably fair to say that the 1780s to the 1850s were thepurple years of piping patronage - years which witnessed the

divergent fortunes of the Highland pipe, the union pipe, and theLowland bellows pipe. While the Highland and union instruments wentfrom strength to strength, the Scottish Lowland tradition graduallyfaded, to show tentative rebirth only in the last decade or so. In

the following pages comparisons are made between the three

instruments, particularly with respect to the degree of patronagefrom rich and influential sources enjoyed by each. Patronage, of

course, wasn't everything - but it certainly helped.

HIGHLAND PIPES: When we talk of aristocratic patronage, we probablythink of the Highland pipes, adopted by the Scottish nobility and

armed forces in the 1780s and subsequently spread to the corners of

the British Empire.

For an instrument of relatively humble origins, this was quite an

achievement. It did, of course, have the advantage of someantiquity, and a certain degree of standing in the clan courts of

old. Its chief practitioners (MacCrimmons, MacArthurs at al.) weremen of minor landowning status (latterly tacksmen), rather than mere

tenants. They attracted students to their homes, and at meetingsperformed both dance music and a music of a more esoteric and

elevated nature, ceol mor, which drew inspiration from the cadencesand rhythms of Gaelic song and speech, ants tram the complexities oforan mor.

The pedigree, therefore, was good, and although the instrumentmust have suffered somewhat n the wake of the 1746 Disarming Act,it was to enjoy quite unprecedented popularity from the 1780s to themid-1820s. The British nation was then gripped by war-fever, and itwas discovered that the Highland pipe could quite genuinely raisethe spirits and fire the courage of Scottish soldiers, oftenfighting under very unpleasant circumstances. At home a publicrelations exercise was mounted to attract pipers t o the Army,chiefly through the medium of a lucrative annual competition held inEdinburgh, sponsored by the Highland Society of London. Reports ofa suitable inflammatory nature were carried by the press: ..."whatcould be more gallant or heroic than a man unarmed advancingintrepidly in the face of an enemy, encouraging his comrades todeeds of hardihood and glory, by those martial strains so congenialand animating to the feelings of every Highlander?"(1)

Meanwhile, in the drawing rooms of Edinburgh, the instrument's

potency was further lauded in the literary outpour-lugs of theRomantics - lucid, and frequently fantastic. Their mood was in allways conducive to the spread and development of the Highland pipe.Wealthy landowners discovered that they could emulate the "

oldorder" simply by employing a piper to work on the estate. HighlandSociety members, feeling that they should do somethlng to supportthe Noble Instrument, lent their names as subscribers to the growingnumber of pipe music collections(2). And when George IV was greetedby the pipes at Leith Pier in 1822, royal approval was sealed.

The momentum generated was sufficient to carry the instrument in ahealthy state to the present day. The music repertory has beenexpanding constantly; most pipers are reasonably literate in pipemusic and some actually make a living from the instrument. If therehas been a price to pay - well, perhaps we see it in the dilution ofthe potent brew of ceol mar somewhere on the long road south, or inthe ocean miles between Raasay and the New World.

UNION PIPES: In certain ways a more impressive achievement was thatof the union pipe, which in the mid-l8th century was essentially anew instrument, and could lay no claim either to antiquity ormartial prowess. Its evolution took a very different course fromthat of the Highland pipe, but did nevertheless benefit enormouslyfrom the activities of gentlemen practitioners and patrons, whileenjoying popular support not only in Ireland, but also inEnglandand Lowland Scotland.

With pleasant tone, and versatility, the union pipe was soon beingpracticed, often skilfully, in the parlours of the gentry. There,traditional airs and dance tunes were juxtaposed with the popularand classical melodies of the day (witness Geoghegan's Tutor,produced in London in 1746, which contained tunes almost exclusivelyof the latter type), and it could be plausibly argued that theinstrument

's relatively swift and ingenious development was prompted

by the demands of such varied repertoire. It soon found favour withstage audiences; note, for instance, its well-publicised role inthe opera Oscar and Malvina, played at Covent Garden in 1798, withone Dennis Courtney on pipes(3), and occasionally thereafter.

1918

It is significant that one of the earliest documented players inIreland was a gentleman by the name of MacDonnell, who performedwith considerable aplomb at society gatherings and stageperformances in Cork in the 1770s(4). The dramatist John O'Keefedescribed MacDonnell as a man who "lived in a great style - twohouses, servants, hunters &c. His pipes were small and of ivory,tipped with silver and gold"(5). The description of his pipessounds compatible with another ivory set which belonged to LordEdward Fitzgerald and was made by Egan in 1768. An examination ofthat set by Sean Donnelly prompted him to remark that it was of "astyle of pipe making that was common to the North of England and toScotland, as well as Ireland"(6).

Colclough..."the Gentleman Piper"This should serve to remind us that the union pipe not only

accommodated a variety of musical styles, but also drew on theexpertise and long-standing techniques of a number of pre-existingpipe making traditions. It did not spring into being, fully- formedand perfect.

In 1774 Jackson published his Celebrated Irish Tunes in Dublin,rash ofand in the years between 1804 and 1810 there was a small

publications for the union pipes, viz:P. O'Farrell Collection of National Irish Music for the Union

Pipes, London (1804).P. O'Farrell Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes,

S. HoldenLondon (n.d.).A Collection of Old Established Irish Tunes,

FitzmauriceDublin ( c.18O5).New Collection of Irish Tunes, Edinburgh, (c.1805?)

Fitzmaurice Irish Tunes, Edinburgh (c.1809)J. Murphy A Collection of Irish Airs and Jiggs, Paisley

(Information from R. Cannon, Bibliography of Bagpipe Music.)

These works (particularly O'Farrell's Collection of National IrishMusic) undoubtedly helped to popularise the instrument, and tostrengthen its associations with Irish music. Publication was verymuch dependent on private means or access to financial support and,not surprisingly, many of the compilers were either men of wealthybackground (eg. Colclough - the "Gentleman Piper" who produced acollection of unknown titles), or men with access to suitablepatronage.

You might be struck (in the above list) by the association ofunion pipe publishing with London and Scotland. In fact London inthe late 18th and early 19th centuries could boast an impressiveenclave of expatriate union pipers, for whom one quite regularsource of employment was the Highland Society of London. Between1788 and 1822 union pipers such as John Murphy, Dennis Courtney,Fitzmaurice, O ' Farrell and James MacDonnell himself (by now familiarnames), performed on an almost equal footing with the Highlandpipers at the Society's monthly meetings(8).

To what extent the Highland Society actually financed thecollections mentioned above is not quite clear, but I have littledoubt that its influence, financial and otherwise, was well felt atthe time (we might note, for instance, that it was John Gow, musicpublisher and band leader for the Highland Society, who publishedO'Farrell's Collection in 1804).

To talk at such length of the gentlemanly associations of theinstrument, however, is not to deny the breadth of its popularity inwider circles. Scotland, I think, represents the situation inmicrocosm. At one end of the social spectrum were men such asFitzmaurice, who published his two collections while living inEdinburgh between c.1808 and 1814, and described himself as "from anancient and respectable Irish family"(9); and the Montrose dancingmaster, Robert Millar, who left us with an excellent ms. collectionof tunes writen for the union pipe (1830), which instrument heprobably featured in his dancing classes. Millar was described asan adept on the Northumbrian, Union and Highland Pipes(lO). Hiscollection was recently acquired by the Royal Museum of Scotland.

At the other end of the spectrum were lesser-known individuals,such as one James Mackenzie from Port Dundas "whose abilities as aperformer on the union pipes were unrivalled", according to hisobituary in the Scots Magazine, November 1807(11 ); and theBanffshire wool-gatherer, James Cockburn, whom Alexander Campbell

20 21

heard play on the Irish Pipes in 1816, albeit "indifferently"(12).

Men of all backgrounds playing all sorts of music. The union pipewas, and remains, a most versatile instrument, supported in thebroadest of circles.

LOWLAND PIPES: Where the late 18th and early 19th centuries saw theHighland and union pipes in the pink of health, the Lowland bellowspipe faded slowly, and largely unnoticed, from the scene. Acomparison between the 1778 and 1853 editions of the Encyclopedia

Britannica, published in Edinburgh, makes the point ratherpoignantly. The 1778 edition describes both the " Scots Lowland

pipe" and the " small pipe " (in reality a Northumbrian pipe), and

tells the curious tale of George Mackie, who, while studying in Skye

"adapted the graces of the highland music to the Lowland pipe".Ominously, the account proceeds: "Upon his return [Mackie] was heardwith astonishment and admiration; but unluckily, not being able tocommit his improvements to writing, and indeed, the nature of theinstrument scarce admitting of it, the knowledge of this kind ofmusic hath continued to decay ever since, and will probably soonwear out altogether.

"

In 1853 the Encyclopedia stated: "Sixty years ago, several kindsof bagpipe were used in Scotland and the North of England; but nowwe seldom hear any others than the small Irish bagpipe, blown withbellows, and the great Highland bagpipe...."

Hence the Lowland pipe was gone. Before attempting to pinpontsome causes of this untimely passing, allow me to conduct alightning tour over certain aspects of the history of the instrument( for how can we consign the corpse to the grave without firstsinging its praises?)

Town Pipers: For simplicity, it is worthwhile distinguishing betweenthe town pipers, who were municipal employees; itinerant pipers, whofollowed the seasons and harvests, and busked for their dinner; andthose who simply birled away for their own pleasure.

The colourful lives of the town pipers have been well-chronicledby the Rev. W.A.P. Johnman(13), and by Gordon Mooney in his seriesin Common Stock_. Their duties were quite straightforward; to pipethe morning and evening rounds, to entertain at official functionsand occasionally to act as watchmen and criers. Payment wouldinvolve a salary, livery, possibly a small plot of land, and oftenthe right to a good meal from the burgesses. For many, the pipingwas merely a sideline; we know that Thomas Anderson from Kelso was askinner by trade(12), Habbie Simson of Kilbarchan, a butcher(14),and Neil Blane, the fictitious town piper in Walter Scott ' s OldMortality, an inn keeper. Note, incidently that town pipers did notnecessarily play bellows pipes: the poetic description of HabbieSimson - "He made his cheeks as red as crimson, and babbed when heblew his bags(14 ) - suggests that he for one was imbued with themouth- blown variety; while the Hawick town piper, Thomas Beattie,came unstuck in 1700 when he was fired for his "night playeing withthe great pype through the haill toune in the company of somedrunken persons..."(13).

Although we can trace town pipers to the late 15th century, andthe instrument and music appear to have survived the Reformation

Contemporary engraving by R. Mabon showing James Liv-ingston, town piper of Haddington until 1783, doing therounds of the town with drummer Andrew Simpson, the twoof them followed enthusiastically by a local simpleton,Harry Barrie. (See G. Mooney's article in Vol.2, No.1)

intact - continuing, in the words of one authority, to "provoke thepeople to joy and the kirk to rage"(15), it appears to have come toits hey-day between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries. Evenwhere, as in Aberdeen in 1630, the magistrates considered the pipe"ane uncivill forme to be usit in sic a famous burghe " , the status

of the retired piper was such as to warrant an annual pension(16).

Contemporary poetry is one of the best guides to the affectiondisplayed for the piper at this time. It was Robert Sempill ofBeltrees who in the mid-17th century popularised the stanza form(later known as "standard Habbie") which proved the model for someof the finest efforts of the Lowland bards. The opening stanza ofhis Life and Death of the Piper of Kilbarchan reads:

Kilbarchan now may say alas!For she has lost her game and grace,Both Trixie, and the Maiden Trace:*

But what remead?For no man can supply his place,

Hab Simson ' s dead.

*Popular Lowland tunes(13)

As the poem unfolds, the piper's energetic and interestinglifestyle is revealed; and the formula proved popular for laterelegies to departed pipers. Witness the Elegy on John Hastie

22 23

(Jedburgh town piper in the early 18th century):

But we his mem'ry deal shall mind,While billows rair, or blows the wind;To tak ' him hence Death was no king-

0 dismal feed:We'll never sic anither find,

Since Johnie's dead.(13)

Itinerants: The second category of Lowland piper, itinerants such asGypsies and Travellers, and seasonal labourers following theharvests, rarely enjoyed such pipular esteem and certainly could notboast the luxury of municipal employment. Indeed, during outbreaksof illness they were positively shunned by the towns, asdemonstrated in the following undated statute cited by Johnman:

"it is statute and ordainit that na pyperis, fidleris,menstrales, or ony other vagabondis, remain in the townfra this tyme furtht during the tyme of the pest...underthe paine of scurgeyng and banishment."(13)

Pickings must at times have been pretty lean for these men,although undoubtedly their piping was only one of many skillsadapted to the travelling life. Walter Scott(17) and JohnLeyden(18) saw them as bearers of a unique body of lore and music,much of which was to die with them, One quasi-humorous account ofthe famous Northumbrian traveller, John Allan, might help toillustrate the lifestyle (and pitfalls) experienced by such men.The scene is a Kelso pub in the late 18th century. John Allan hasplayed his pipes:

"The Company were delighted with his music, and themusician was equally pleased with the hearty manners ofhis hearers. He therefore not only played, but alsodanced, sang, told droll stories, and acted the mimic, soas to become a great attraction to the house. On thesecond evening, and while in the hey-day of hismerriment, he agreed to sleep at the lodgings of ahandsome seducing female; but in the morning he found, tohis great mortification, that both his money and his fairfriend had disappeared."(19)

In a similar vein, James Hogg tells a (supposedly true) story of aGypsy piper who had the misfortune to be fatally stabbed, in aquarrell over a lady, while passing through Ettrick. This promptedthe observation: God forbid that every amorous minstrel should be sosharply taken to task these days"1(20)

Endof a tradition: Sadly, by the late 18th century, as demonstratedin the Encyclopedia Britannica, the fortunes of the Lowland pipewere on the wane. Socio-economic, as much as specifically culturalchanges, lay behind this. The industrialisation of the Lowlandtowns, the declining status of the burghs, agricultural reforms -must all have contributed to the reshaping of the Lowland urbanenvironment. How could the daily round of the pipe and drum bereconciled with the needs of the expanding manufacturing centre? Theauthorities - recognising the town piper as a historicalanachronism, a relic of the age of burgh plot and village market -had to look no further than the burgh records, packed with lurid

details of piper's transgressions, to justify the end of suchoutmoded employment. The pipers, indeed, had done themselves nofavours in their occasional lapses of discipline: witness theinstructions to the Glasgow town pipers (of uncertain date) whichfound it necessary to warn them "to leiff a f thair extaordinerdrinking sua that that may pass honestlie throw the towne in thairservice, nor to leiff thair playing in ganging off the calsaye etherto masones or drinking."(13)

And with declining official status, there came publiccondemnation. Where once the people of Perth are said to have foundthe piper's morning round "inexpressibly soothing anddelightful"(21), the Dalkeith folk in the early 1800s clearly foundthe efforts of their piper, Robert Lorimer, quite unbearable. Withthe irony of the disaffected they castigated his music in verse: themeasure - what else - was " standard Habbie " :

O Lorimer! thou wicked wag,I wish thee, and thy dinsome bagWere twal feet 'neath a black peat-bag

Wet as the Severn,Or pipin' to the Laird o' LagIn Belzie's Cavern.

Ee'r daylight peeps within my chaumerIs heard thy vile unearthly clamour,Waukes the gude wife-the young anes yammer

Wi' ceaseless din;I seize my breeks, an' outward stammer

Compell'd to rin.(13)

Chances of survival? The popular success of instruments such asthe union pipe, fiddle, and Highland pipe in the early 19thcentury, may have hastened the departure of the Lowland pipe, forlavish patronage of the one left little in the coffers for theother.

The Lowland pipe was essentially unable to compete. Musically ithad been superseded by fiddles, melodeons, keyed pipes, and otherinstruments capable of large and varied repertoires to suit alloccasions. John Leyden positively stated in 1801: "Thefiddill...has, in the Scottish Lowlands, nearly supplanted thebagpipe"(18). Attempts were made to extend the scale - but thesewere ill-advised. The Encyclopedia Britannica observed in 1778that "bagpipers, not content with the natural nine notes whichtheir instrument can play easily, force it to play tunes requiringhigher notes, which disorders the whole instrument in such amanner as to produce the most horrid discords; and this practicebrings, though undeservedly, the instrument itself into contempt."( Note how closely this concurs with Joseph MacDonald's belief that"this insipid imitation of other music is what gives such acontemptible notion of a pipe, because it must come so short ofit...") (c.1760- 22).

Hence, where the union pipe gained credibility and popularitythrough its versatile performance on the stage, the Lowland pipe hadno such exposure. Where the Highland pipe achieved renown on thebattlefield, the Lowland pipe could boast no such military prowess.

24 25

4 Nicholas Carolan "McDonnell's Uilleann Pipes" Ceol VI, 2, April1984, p.6O.

5 The Recollections of John O'Keefe London (1826), Vol.I, p.246-7.6 Sean Donnelly"Lord Edward Fitzgerald ' s Pipes " Ceol VI, I,

April 1983, p.7.7 R.D. Cannon A Bibliography of -Bagpipe Music Edinburgh (1980)

p.94.8 Highland Society of -London Records. Nat. Lib. of Scotland Ace.

268.9 Caledonian_ Mercury July 16 1808.

10 Edinburg Evening Courant Feb.4 1836.11 Scots_Magazine, Nov. 1807, p.877.12 Alexander Campbell Notes of my Third Journey _to the Borders

Edinb. Uni. Library/Laing div.II/ No. 378.13 Rev. W.A.P. Johnman " Border Pipes and Pipers " Transactions of

the Hawick Archaeological Society / Oct+Nov. 1913 / p.47-56.14 James Patterson The Poems_ of_ the _Sempills of _Beltrees Edinb.

1849 p.41/p.93.15 H.G. Farmer A_ History of__Music_ in Scotland London 1947 p.132.16 Quoted from Burgh Records in J. MaidmentAnalecta_Scotica

Edinb. 1834/II/ p.326.17 Walter Scott Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Edinb. (1902

Edn.) p.165-6.18 John Leyden introduction to The-Complaynt of Scotland Edinb.

1801/ pp.15O-158.19 James Thompson A New , Imp roved and Authentic Life of James

Allan, Newcastle 1828, p.66.20 James Hogg quoted in Thomson (ibid.) p.69.21 James Logan The Scottish Gael II/ p.286, London 1831.22 Joseph MacDonald A Compleat -Theory of - the -ScotsHighland

Bagpipe c.1760 . Original Ms. in E.U.L. (La III.8O4).23 Celtic Monthly Vol.13, p.235.24 Caledonian Mercury Aug.11 1838.

Due to pagination difficulties,the promised information directoryhas been left out, as has another ofGordon Mooney's 'Toun Piper' series.The directory may well be sent outseparately, as part of an informationnewsheet giving concert venues, meetingsetc...the kind of material which thistwice-yearly journal can't keep upto date.

Contributions to Jim Gilchrist,10 Pittville Street,Portobello,Edinburgh,EH15 2BY

ONCE AGAIN, the Editor adobes toexpress his grateful thanks toPeter Cooke and Peggy Morrison atthe School of Scottish Studies,Edinburgh University, fortypesetting, and to the contributors.More contributions, please...

Where the Highland piper strutted manfully at the laird's table,decked in rich clothing and ornament, the Lowland piper could boastneither the clothing, nor the laird. (We should remember that theLowland piper had traditionally been associated with the burghrather than the estate, although there were cases of the lairdsupporting a town piper, as with the Earl of Eaglinton in Eagleshamin 1772.) (23)

The Highland Societies of London and Scotland (prominent patronsof both Highland and upion pipes) certainly showed little interestin Lowland piping. In 1808 they did make a small donation to "ablind boy of interesting physiognomy" who was discovered roaming thestreets of Edinburgh, trying to make a living from playing thebellows pipe(8); but the Lowland piper who in 1819 had the temerityto enter the Highland piping competition in Edinburgh was quiteforcibly advised that his presence was not required.

Sadly, two important influences on the spread of Highland andunion piping - competitions, and publications specifically cateringfor the instrument - were absent from the Lowland piping tradition.The lack of publishing in this case was merely a further symptom ofthe dearth of patronage. Note that where the fiddle and Highlandpipe collections of this era were festooned with tunes dedicated tothe nobility and their offspring (for such was the price ofpatronage), the surviving Lowland pipe repertoire, preserved incollections such as Robert Bremner ' s Scotch, Galwegian and BorderAirs (1974), contained little music of this type. In fact, theold Lowland tunes were primarily concerned with matters ofeveryday life (i.e. The Stool of Repentance, Woo ' d and MarriedandA'), which possibly goes to show that the true patrons ofthis instrument were quite simply the everyday folk.

The conclusion or, if you like, the moral of this story, is thatpatronage has played an important part in the varied fortunes ofthe three instruments discussed. The lesson is there to belearned: perhaps the present generation of Lowland pipers shouldbe out currying favour with the current crop of munificent patrons(armed of course with suitable compositions of salutation andwelcome.) But such has not been the way of the Lowland pipe.Rather better, I would say, to follow the example of a wanderingpiper who in 1838 reached the verdant banks of the Clyde.

This " celebrated individual " , wrote the Caledonian Mercury, " Hasagain visited Glasgow, and was on Saturday last performing atLauriston, Corbels Sc. Whatever may truly be his object hecollects abundance of money, and is quite gentlemanly in hisexpenditure. On an old woman in apparently poor circumstances,presenting him with a 'bawbee' he told her that he thought shestood more in need of money than he did, and presented her withhalf a sovereign, to the great admiration of a large crowd."(24)

Surely when the piper pays, he can call his own tune?BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NOTES

1 Caledonian Mercury Aug. 3 1816.2 e.g. Donald MacDonald's Collection c. 1819 and Angus MacKay's

Collection 1835. etc.3 J.G. Dalyell Musical Memoirs of Scotland. Edinburgh (1841) p.39. 27

26

"Drops of Brandy with variations by P. Roberts