It were vain to attempt to acknowledge indebtedness to books or to men. Every available book bearing on the subject even in the most indirect way has been consulted, in many cases read. A great deal of the material used is of course common to all Highland literature, and one book cannot be quoted more than another. With men it is equally impracticable to give names. So many have helped, so many have written giving additional bits of information or suggesting improvements, so many have, in reply to requests, kindly supplied matter dealing with phases of the subject on which they have intimate knowledge, that one could not do justice to all without naming all. Still, while this may not be done, I cannot possibly refrain from saying that without the assistance given by Mr. Henry Whyte (“Fionn”) in matters of Highland history and questions connected with the Gaelic language, the book could hardly have been published; while Mr. John Mac Kay, editor of the Celtic Monthly, in throwing open to me his valuable library of Celtic literature, did very much to lighten my labours. This, I think, is all I can safely say. If I said more, I would have to say so very much.
W. L. M.
Glasgow, April 27, 1901.
Contents.
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| CHAPTER I.—Tuning up, | [9] |
| “A Hundred Pipers”—Scotland becoming Cosmopolitan—The War spirit of the Pipes—Regiments, not Clans—Annual Gatherings—Adaptability of Pipes—Scots folk from Home—An aged Enthusiast—Highlands an Extraordinary Study—Succession of Chiefs—Saxon introduced—Gaelic printed—Highlands in 1603—The Mac Neills of Barra—Highland hospitality. | |
| CHAPTER II.—Harpers, Bards, and Pipers, | [18] |
| Ancient musical instruments—Priestly harpers—Hereditary harpers—Irish versus Scottish harpers—Royal harpers—Use of harp universal—Welsh sarcasm—Mary Queen of Scots’ harp—The last of the harpers—“The Harper of Mull”—From harp to pipes—The clarsach—Pipes supplanting bards—The last clan bard—Bardic customs—Bards’ jealousy of pipes—The bard in battle—Duncan Ban Mac Intyre—Two pipers scared—When the pipes became paramount—The fiery cross—The coronach. | |
| CHAPTER III.—The Tale of the Years, | [30] |
| The time of the Flood—Pipes in Scripture—In Persia—In Arabia—In Tarsus—Tradition of the Nativity—In Rome—In Greece—In Wales, Ireland, and Scotland—Melrose Abbey—In France—In England—At Bannockburn—Chaucer—In war—First authentic Scottish reference—Oldest authentic specimen—Became general—Rosslyn Chapel—Second drone added—At Flodden—“A maske of bagpypes”—Spenser—Shakespeare—James VI.—A poetical historian—Big drone added—The ’45—Native to Scotland—The evolution of the Highlands. | |
| CHAPTER IV.—The Make of the Pipes, | [59] |
| The “Encyclopædia” definition—The simple reed—Early forms—Simple bagpipes—The chorus—The volynka—Continental pipes—British pipes—The Northumbrian—The Irish—The Highland—Tuning—Modern pipes—Prize pipes. | |
| CHAPTER V.—With an Ear to the Drone, | [73] |
| Dr. Johnson—Inspiration of Scottish music—Professor Blackie—Highland music simple—Scottish airs once Highland—Age of Highland music—Capability of the bagpipe—How it has suffered—Peculiarities of the pibroch—Pipe music not fitted for inside—How it troubled the pressman—Chevalier Neukomm—Professor Blackie again—A Chicago jury’s opinion—An ode to the pipes. | |
| CHAPTER VI.—The “Language” of the Pipes, | [87] |
| Have the pipes a language?—A wild, fanciful notion—How it got a hold—How much of it is true?—The reed actually speaking—A powerful influence—The power of association—Neil Munro—Descriptive Highland airs—A Cholla mo run—Military stories—In South Africa—An enthusiastic war correspondent. | |
| CHAPTER VII.—The Literature of the Pipes, | [98] |
| Ancient music lost—Transmission by tradition—Druidical remains—Systems of teaching—No books—“Unintelligible jargon”—Canntaireachd—The Mac Crimmon System—The Gesto Book—A scientific system—A tune in Canntaireachd—Pipers unable to explain—Earliest printed pipe music—Mac Donald’s Books—More recent books—Something to be done. | |
| CHAPTER VIII.—The Pipes in Battle, | [113] |
| A Culloden incident—Ancient Celts in battle—The harper and bard superseded—First mention of pipes in battle—First regimental pipers—In the navy—Prince Charlie’s pipers—An “instrument of war”—A Mac Crimmon incident—Power of pipes in battle—A Magersfontein incident—Byron’s tribute—Position in actual battle. | |
| CHAPTER IX.—The Piper as a Hero, | [126] |
| One cowardly piper—At Philiphaugh—At Bothwell Bridge—At Cromdale—The Peninsular War—At Waterloo—At Dargai—Reay Country pipers—At Candahar—At Lucknow—In America—In Ashanti—In the Soudan—In South Africa. | |
| CHAPTER X.—The Regimental Piper, | [136] |
| Preserving the pipes—Regimental bands—Pay of army pipers—The seven pipers of Falkirk—Duties of regimental pipers—The meaning of “Retreat”—A story of Napoleon—In a social capacity—An army wedding—A military funeral—At the officers’ mess—Awkward incidents—“Boberechims.” | |
| CHAPTER XI.—The Piper as a Man of Peace, | [146] |
| Clan pipers—Chief’s retinue—At weddings—Pipers prohibited—In sorrow—At funerals—Queen Victoria’s funeral—To lighten labour—The harvest dance—The shepherd’s pipe—In church architecture—In church services—As a call to church—Ministers and the pipes—Falling into disrepute—“As proud as a piper”—Jealousy of the old masters—“As fou as a piper”—An Irish piper. | |
| CHAPTER XII.—The Burgh Pipers of Scotland, | [168] |
| Royal pipers—In France—At the English court—The Edinburgh Piper—Dumbarton—Biggar—Wigtown—Glenluce—Dumfries—Linlithgow—Aberdeen—Perth—Keith—Dalkeith—Dundee—Peebles—A weird story—Falkirk—“Gallowshiels” pipers’ combat—The Hasties of Jedburgh—Habbie Simson of Kilbarchan—Bridgeton—Neil Blane of Lanark—The Piper of Northumberland. | |
| CHAPTER XIII.—From the Seat of the Scorner, | [192] |
| Poking fun at the pipes—English caricature—Mixed metaphor—Churchism and pipes—Fifteenth century satire—A biographical sneer—Thackeray—Bitter English writers—Testimony of a Jew—Home sarcasm—The bards—Joanna Baillie—A Frenchman’s opinion—William Black—Ignorance breaking its shins—Imported sportsmen—The duty of Highlanders. | |
| CHAPTER XIV.—The Humour of the Pipes, | [205] |
| Punch’s joke—King Charles’s heads—An amusing competition—A Highlander’s Irishism—Wedding experiences—A piper’s fall—A resourceful piper—A Cameron piper and his officer—Lochaber no more—An elephant’s objection—Embarked in a tub—Glasgow street scene—Bad player’s strategy—What the wind did—A new kind of tripe—A Pasha and a piper—A Gordon nervous—A jealous piper—Dougal Mac Dougal’s downfall. | |
| CHAPTER XV.—Demoniac Pipes and Pipers, | [223] |
| Tam o’ Shanter—The Devil’s favourite instrument—“Sorcerers” burned—A bard’s satire—Glasgow Cathedral story—A Hebridean Tam o’ Shanter—Continental ideas—Reformation zeal—Ghostly pipers—A “changeling” piper—The Lost Pibroch—The Chisholm “enchanted” pipes—The Black Chanter of Clan Chattan. | |
| CHAPTER XVI.—Pipers and Fairies, | [233] |
| In fairies’ hillocks—Stories with a common origin—Sutherlandshire version—Away for a year—Harris piper and the fairies—Seven years away—Fairies helping pipers—Helping the Mac Crimmons—A boy piper—How the music went from Islay to Skye—Faust-like bargains—A Caithness story—A fairy piper. | |
| CHAPTER XVII.—Pipers in Enchanted Caves, | [247] |
| Allied to fairy stories—Venturesome pipers—The Skye cave—The Mull version—The Argyllshire—The Ghostly piper of Dunderave—“Wandering Willie’s Tale”—A Sutherlandshire cave—A Caithness cave—Underground passages. | |
| CHAPTER XVIII.—The Hereditary Pipers, | [257] |
| Hereditary in two senses—When they ceased—The Mac Crimmons—A traditional genealogy—A Mac Gregor tradition—The Mac Crimmon College—Dr. Johnson—College broken up—An Irish college—Its system—A Mac Crimmon’s escapades—Respect for the Mac Crimmons—The Rout of Moy—The last of the race—How they excelled—The Mac Arthurs—The Mac Intyres—The Mac Kays—The Rankins—The Campbells—The Mac Gregors. | |
| CHAPTER XIX.—Some Latter Day Pipers, | [276] |
| Angus Mac Kay—Queen Victoria’s first piper—His book—Donald Mac Kay—John Bane Mac Kenzie—The Queen’s offer—The piper’s reply—Donald Cameron—His achievements—His theory of pipe music—His system of noting—His last competition—A special reed—“The King of Pipers”—Other latter day pipers. | |
| CHAPTER XX.—How Piping is Preserved, | [287] |
| The waking—Professor Blackie—Highland Society of Scotland—Highland Society of London—The system of competitions—The first competition—The venue changed—The gold medal—Present day competitions—Some suggestions—R.L.S.—Pipe bands—Examples from high life—Quality of music—The pipes abroad—Sir Walter Scott. | |
| CHAPTER XXI.—The Oldest Pipe Tunes, | [299] |
| Unreliability of tradition—Lost in antiquity—Occasions of tunes—Interest of stories—The Mac Raes’ March—Story of “Suarachan”—Hal o’ the Wynd—The Mac Intosh’s Lament—Two different stories—A Cholla mo run—Duntroon’s Salute—The Campbells are coming. | |
| CHAPTER XXII.—Some World-Famous Pibrochs, | [314] |
| Mac Crimmon’s Lament—Best known of all pipe tunes—Its story—Blackie’s poetry—Scott’s—The war tune of Glengarry—A tragic story—The Pibroch o’ Donuil Dhu—Too long in this Condition—Pipers and inhospitality—Oh, that I had three hands—Lochaber no More—Allan Ramsay’s verses—An elated Mac Crimmon—Rory Mòr’s Lament—Clan Farlane Pibroch—Pipers, poetry, and superstition. | |
| CHAPTER XXIII.—Some Well-Known Gatherings, | [335] |
| A Tune with four stories—The Carles wi’ the Breeks—The Mac Gregor’s Gathering—Scott’s verses—Caber Feidh—The Camerons’ Gathering—Well-matched chiefs—The Loch of the Sword. | |
| CHAPTER XXIV.—More Stories and a Moral, | [346] |
| The Clan Stewart March—Mac Gregor of Ruaro—The Braes of the Mist—Episode at a Dunvegan competition—A Mac Crimmon surpassed—Mac Pherson’s Lament—Burns and the story—Rob Roy’s Lament—The Mac Lachlans’ March—Gille Calum—The Reel o’ Tulloch—The Periwig Reel—Jenny Dang the Weaver—Mac Donald’s Salute—Mac Leod’s Salute—Disappearing lore—What might be done. | |
| APPENDIX. | |
| The Scale of the Pipes, | [369] |
| Practical Hints, | [375] |
| Bibliography of Pipe Music, | [383] |
| Gold Medallists of Highland Society of London, | [388] |
| Directory of Bagpipe Makers, | [392] |
| The Largest Known List of Pibrochs, | [393] |
| The Garb of Old Gaul, | [400] |
| INDEX, | [411] |
Illustrations.
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| From St. Martin’s Cross, Iona, | On Cover. |
| “The Coronach,” | [Frontispiece]. |
| Harper: on a Stone at Monifeith, | [19] |
| Contorniate of Nero’s Time, | [33] |
| Carvings in Melrose Abbey, | [37] |
| The Oldest Existing Pipes, | [43] |
| Carvings in Rosslyn Chapel, | [45] |
| German Piper of the 16th Century, | [47] |
| Old German Wind Instruments, | [61] |
| The Northumbrian Bagpipe, | [65] |
| The Irish Bagpipe, | [67] |
| The Great Highland Bagpipe, | [69] |
| Capt. Neil Mac Leod of Gesto, | [103] |
| Dancing to Pipe Music, | [149] |
| A Highland Family Party, | [151] |
| Lowland, Highland, and Irish Pipers, | [169] |
| “The Spirit of the Pipes,” | [193] |
| A Picture from Punch, | [204] |
| “The Dance of Death,” | [225] |
| The Cave of Gold, | to face [247] |
| A Mac Crimmon Piper, | [259] |
| A Mac Arthur Piper, | to face [269] |
| Angus Mac Kay, | „ [276] |
| John Bane Mac Kenzie, | „ [278] |
| Donald Cameron, | „ [280] |
| Sutherland Volunteer Band, | „ [287] |
| Govan Police Band, | „ [294] |
The Highland Bagpipe.
CHAPTER I.
Tuning up.
“I have power, high power for freedom,