Ross MacDonald – by Geoff Hore

Ross Macdonald was born in New Plymouth in 1934 to parents of Scottish descent. In fact, his forbears were amongst the first settlers in the Otago region. At the age of 4 his father, who worked for the New Zealand Railways, was transferred to Otiria Junction near Moerewa in Northland.

The NZR frequently moved their staff around the country during the 1940s, 50s and 60s; the writer can recall eight or ten Station Masters in his hometown in the 1950s and 60s. The MacDonald’s were no exception and over the next ten years moved to Ashurst in Manawatu, Waitara in Taranaki and Port Ahuriri in Hawkes Bay.

It was whilst living in Port Ahuriri that Ross’ father decided that Ross was going to learn to play the . Today Ross is rather surprised by this as there had been no pipers in the immediate past generations of the family.

Ross can remember in 1948 being taken to the Port Ahuriri Pipe Band and being introduced to the Pipe Major, Bill Budge. Bill became his first teacher. In 1950 Ross played with the band in the B Grade at the Dominion Championships in Auckland.

By 1952 Ross decided to make school teaching his vocation and went to Teachers’ College in Wellington for two years. In 1954 he was in Christchurch furthering his studies and at the completion was a Nature Studies specialist.

Ross admits that during his training he dedicated all his time to his studies but when in Christchurch did enter into a few of the local solo competitions. He did not get involved with bands.

His first teaching job in 1955 took him back to the city of his birth and he quickly joined the City of New Plymouth Pipe Band under Pipe Major Ron Wallace. The New Zealand Education Department was like the NZR and regularly moved staff around the country. Over the next twenty years Ross had five moves around the North Island.

In 1957 he was off to Auckland where he joined the Auckland Districts Pipe Band under Pipe Major Bob Buchan. Then in 1961 he was transferred to Wanganui and joined the Wellington West Coast & Taranaki Regiment Pipes and Drums under Pipe Major John Allan Magee. When John Allan retired, most of the playing members were absorbed into the City of Wanganui Pipe Band. The late Don Fitchet became their Pipe Major and Ross was Pipe Sergeant. In 1969 Ross became the Pipe Major and held this position until he moved to Wellsford in 1972.

Hunterville and the Rangitikei Scots was his next move in 1976 and the following year saw Ross in Inglewood and back with City of New Plymouth Pipe Band. This time Bill Cruikshank was the Pipe Major. Ross had eleven years in Inglewood and three of those were as Pipe Major of the band.

In 1986 his life changed when he was appointed as a School Inspector and transferred back to Wanganui and the local band. Don Fitchet was Pipe Major and very soon stepped aside and let Ross take over, a position he held until about ten years ago. He paraded with the band until about 3 years ago.

Ross has competed in solo competitions but his involvement with bands was a more consuming passion. He has been on the band judging panel and judged many provincial competitions and one New Zealand Championship. He has also judged many solo competitions.

Composing came early to Ross. He remembers his first attempts soon after he started on the chanter. He is not sure how many tunes he has composed but it could be as many as one hundred.

Ross is like many of the composers who have featured in this series, he finds tunes are more likely to come when he is in a relaxed mood. In fact, he admits that the majority of the tunes he has composed have come since he retired from work in 1996.

In 1993 the City of Wanganui Pipe Band published a Jubilee Souvenir celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Band’s formation and included are a collection of 14 tunes composed by band members; six are by Ross.

Since his retirement Ross has not been idle and in 2004, he published a book of his own tunes called 60 Tunes for the Highland Bagpipe. He obtained a music writing programme for his computer and set all the tunes himself.

The first part of this book comprises six 2/4 marches, eight 6/8s, three 4/4s and two 12/8 marches. These tunes, like all others throughout the book, have the date of composition and a composer’s comment. My favourite is Willie Macdonald which was composed when Ross was 17 years old.

Four slow airs make up the second part of the book; Serendipity is a very pleasant air in 9/8 time and has been ‘orchestrated’ and played by a musical group called The Highlanders. With the Highlanders is, as the name suggests, a waltz and was originally composed for the Northumbrian smallpipes but is certainly not out of place when played on our instrument.

Many have found the strathspey to be the most difficult tunes to compose for the Highland bagpipe. Ross has six such tunes in the third part of his book and one of the better ones is a top hand tune called Trout Lurk Below the Rapids. It tells of a very pleasant time spent on the Buller River on the West Coast. Much to the composer’s chagrin the trout still lurk there.

There are five reels in the fourth part of the book; Rippling Reflections is one that appeals and describes the light reflections on water as it tumbles down rapids and around boulders. Of course, these are never observed when the trout are biting!

The and competition appears to have a direct effect on the New Zealand composing style and judging by the number of these it appears that Ross is equally influenced. There are nine and six .

A delightful two-parter called Hunterville’s Jig is very simply constructed; in fact, its simplicity and appealing melody could easily make it a popular medley tune for lower grade bands. After this comment was written, Ross advised that the Rangatikie Scots have been using it in one of their medley for some years.

Ross’ first composition as a 16-year-old is a jig, and with all the exuberance of youth it is a six parter called Whisky Galore. The title came from the 1949 movie of the same name.

It is in the hornpipe compositions that the composer excels. Some of the note timings are a little different (or unexpected) than those normally expressed in this genre. In many phrases the emphasis moves onto the upbeat and this adds a new dimension that may make them attractive to pipe majors looking for something different in their medleys.

In this, the sixth part of the book, there are six tunes and Jean’s Can o’ Worms is one that I am sure will meet with approval. We are not told who Jean is, but she has her own private worm farm. However, a word of warning – it will require a reasonably high degree of technical expertise to get the best out of this tune. The writer with his aging fingers found it turned into a ‘can o’ worms’.

Three hornpipes originally composed for the (all with ‘whistle’ in the title) have come across beautifully for the bagpipe. Whistle Hornpipe and Whistle Too are relatively simple two parted tunes that could easily find their way into a lower grade band medley. The third of these tunes, Whistle Up a Rainbow is unusual in that all the endings are different in each part, but this does not detract from a tune with a catchy melody.

When the book was nearing publication, the composer and his wife Eunice, went on a holiday around the South Island. The relaxed atmosphere of this holiday was just perfect for a number of new tunes to effuse from his ‘piping pen’. The titles and anecdotal stories accompanying all these tunes tell of their meanderings through the South Island.

Nine of these later compositions make up the last part of the book; there are three 6/8 marches, one slow air, three hornpipes and two jigs. Once again, the hornpipes are good quality tunes well worthy of consideration as additions to the pipe band repertoire.

Frequently, Ross finds tunes come to him when he is most relaxed. Lying in bed trying to get to sleep it is not uncommon for them to emerge. He has been known to slip out of bed and record them before they are lost. The hornpipe Midnight Musings had its origins on one of these occasions.

The Amorous Seahorse is about the well-known fish found in New Zealand waters whilst a praying mantis seen wandering the walls of the men’s’ toilets in a motor camp in Cheviot was the inspiration for The Meandering Mantis. Both of these tunes continue the excellence of hornpipe compositions.

Ross in delighted that his tunes have been played by some pipers by choice. One of his pupils, Douglas McGregor has played them in competition and with frequent success. We all know that the judges in these competitions should judge the competitor’s playing but if the tune is of inferior quality it will detract from the overall performance and be taken into account by the judge. No doubt the tunes chosen by Douglas on those occasions were of sufficient quality to satisfy the adjudicator. One of these tunes, Cicada Jig Step is published alongside this article.

For many years the City of Wanganui Pipe Band have played about ten tunes composed by Ross.

Overall, this book has a number of other tunes that have some appeal, but space limits the amount of comment that can be made. It is highly recommended that pipers and pipe majors consider this book as a source of tunes. For the price of $20-00 this book can be bought from Ross; his phone number is 06 344 6080.