IN THIS ISSUE; Straight Bore prob/em solving; Jimmy Wilson; Ins and outs of Shuttle Pipes; Interpreting Dixon; Piping Centre; Irish Praise for an English Piper; Toun Piper of Musse/burgh; Galloway Piping School; Letters; Music; Reviews: Price 3.50 lumber, ordinary fruit woods such as Pear, This P.E.G. 1000 or 1450 (molecular Plum and Cherry make excellent instru- weights) displaces the moisture in the cell ments and can be obtained freely or walls of the wood and its wax residue cheaply from people who maintain parks, prevents the cells from collapsing to cause orchards and properties etc. splits and cracks.

The wood should be in logs about 16" The solution can be used over and over long by diameters of 6" up to whatever again and will last a long time, though LETTERS can be handled, reasonably clear of some water will be lost by evaporation. It branches and twigs and stored under is a chemical, however, and should be From A.E. James water as soon as possible after cutting used wisely and stored safely. Vancouver B.C. from the tree to prevent drying out and [[ splitting. the A Highland chanter that I made over Interesting article in COMMON STOCK years ago from green Pear wood that a June 1998 by Malcolm McLaren, with After longitudinally sawing/splitting and neighbour had cut from a back-yard tree, which I have no argument except for one turning into billets of about 2" diameter, and on which I first used P.E.G.1000, small detail i.e. the aperture hole in the the wood can be very effectively shows no sign of deterioration or brass strip. "seasoned" by being immersed for about distortion, despite its shell being only 1/16" three months in a 50/50 solution of water thick at the lower end. Some twenty other I have tried a single hole in my and polyethylene glycol 1000 or 1450. A bits and pieces made from treated green square-tube reeds and though it is much couple of weeks in open air will then dry wood are similarly free from cracks and easier to make than is a slot, it was judged the wood well enough to be worked. twists. to be not as efficient.

On a different tack; I have made good use onof Malcolms December 1991 article Here wire D-bits for the boring of Malcolm chanters and drones, but have yet to McLaren is achieve a dead straight 5.32" dia. bore. Of using a hand ten pieces of Pear, Plum and Maple held high woods, two suffered considerable speed drill wandering while all the others were out of to cut the true by at least 1/8". hole for a smallpipe - Perhaps my woods are not so easily worked as is the African Blackwood that chanter in Malcolm used, but I would welcome ideas Tasmanian from anyone as to how I may overcome Olive - as this "wander lust". One idea is presently described in Incubating...... [see page 4 in this issue - COMMON i STOCK Ed]. December For readers who are amateur pipe-makers 1991 - and for the fun of it and do not wish to lay out referred to large sums of money for pieces of exotic above.

3 STRAIGHT BORE - NOTE: If the central part of the bit, between the two flats is thicker than 1/16", the bit will PROBLEM SOLVING. rapidly over-heat. Slightly less and with a shallow "Vee", the bit will cut several times before becoming hot.

Further material from Al James, where he finds a solution to his problem: Care must be taken when inserting the longer bits, that the bit is centred truly. There are two corners, and if one catches on the end-face of the wood the bit will gyrate Previously I have written that I was contemplating the use of a double "Vee"-notched frantically. " shape for piano-wire boring bits, in lieu of the single-flat "D bits that were giving bent and off-centre bores in Pear wood. The billets were some 15" long, turned down to Several bits of increasing length, from the starter at 3" to the last at 17", were used to about 1.5" diameter and bored at 5/32" diameter. give maximum rigidity per group of cuts and to afford a cool and sharp cutting edge.

Since then I have bored six billets of Plum wood and one of Pear wood using different No annealing of the cutting edge of the bit was necessary, even though the metal was combinations of revolving speed / "D" bit and "Vee"-notch bit / a counter-rotating bit in a blued" in the grinding process and the conclusion is that metal will cut wood quite hand-drill and a non-rotating bit in a tail-stock chuck. differently. But dont overdo it.

Conclusions: The non-rotating feed of the tail-stock chuck is IN , the rotating feed of Finally, this dissertation is in no way a denigration of other methods of wood boring, the hand-drill is OUT; low speed rotation of the billet (850rpm) is OUT, a higher speed particularly that of Malcolm McLaren which gave me a start. it is offered as a possible (2160rpm) is IN; the double-flat "Vee"-notch bit is IN, the "D" bit is OUT. improvement to all makers of pipe chanters and discussion is invited.

Of the seven test pieces, those with the IN feature were either on-centre or within 1/16", but most importantly, all were dead straight in the bore. Advertisement The tools used: A flat-bed wood lathe with #2 Morse, 38" between centres, pulley speeds of 850/1375/2160/3500rpm, and a graduated tail stock spindle with 2" travel. A 1/2" Jacobs chuck and arbour. A grinder. An auger-bit file. A bench-vice. Several lengths of 5/32" diameter piano wire. A jam-chuck for the head stock. A steady-bearing Small to hold the tail end of the billet.

Both SAE 30 engine-oil and spray-on silicon were used for lubrication, with a preference for the former: cheaper, no smoke, no smell! Pipes The jam-chuck can be made from a square piece of 2" x 4" lumber, screw-fixed to a 3" suitface-plate, turned down to 3.25" diameter, bored for a depth of 1" at about 1.375" to the diameter of the billet and through-bored at 1/2" to give outlet clearance to the 5/32" boring bit. by D. Naill A thin bead of glue round and 1/4" from the end of the billet will secure the driven end and afford easy removal of the billet on completion of the boring operation. Fast Delivery - Best Quality Robert Wallace, P.O. Box 341 Stepps, Glasgow G33 6DZ Scotland Phone/FAx: (0141) 779 1750 Agent for all Naill products

4 5 JIMMY WILSON N I knew Jimmy in 1938. I went out and about with Jimmy - he was in the army p then, based in Hamilton. He went abroad with the SAS. I lost touch with him, and over twenty five years later I saw a bit in one of the newspapers about him being in one of the NELL WILSON AND DAVID plays, and we met up again. About 1966. STEVENSON IN CONVERSATION ABOUT THE LATE JIMMY i D About how old would you be in 1938 - roughly WILSON AND HER LIFE WITH HIM. N Nineteen. He was 5 years older than me. He would have been about 25 at the It is now 15 years since the colourful time. So it was quite a story that we met again after all that time. and talented one-time President of the LBPS passed away (see cover picture). D Was he a piper when you first knew him? Obituaries appeared in COMMON STOCK Vol 2 number 1 of March 1985 N Oh yes and the Piping Times of September a long time friend 1984. David Stevenson, D The two of you were invited to this dinner in 1966 by the Scottish-Norwegian of the family, recently taped an interview Society. That was because of what he did in Norway was it? with Jimmys widow, Nell Wilson, and part of that interview. below is published N I think he made himself a member of the Society, and got an invitation. My thanks to Sam Allen for transcribing the tape, to David Stevenson for making D They are named invitations - I dont think you had to buy them it possible, and of course to Nell for allowing us further glimpses into the N I dont know about that - this was entertainment we were doing with a wee group fascinating character and life of her late to make money for one of the churches. It tells you all about it there. We were very husband - Ed popular in fact and went there several times. In heron living room Nell and David look through files and photographs; commenting D Theres a picture of him playing his pipes at a wedding at the Livingstone Church pictures and other memorabilia. in Blantyre in 1972. I think those pipes were the ones he sold to me - do you remember I came over with the family and he sold them to me N. Thats a picture of Jimmy when he joined the Cameronians . Enlisted in the army 21st July 1935. Transferred to the special Air Service 1939-40; Faeroe Islands 1941-43; N Most of these cuttings are just about the entertainment that we did. We just did it England 1942-44; parachuted into France 3 times and also Holland and Germany. If I for the pleasure of doing it -we didnt ask for fees or anything remember rightly he must also have been parachuted into Norway - it doesnt say here; unless Faeroe Islands includes Norway, I think Faeroe Islands must have been on the D Well theres a picture of Jimmy playing the Lowland pipes quite clearly. "Piper way to Norway. Bard and Wife Make Versatile Duo All-Round Entertainers. James and Ellen Wilson. James plays , penny whistles and recites poetry and his wife Ellen plays the D Is that him playing the accordion? organ - 22 Crawford Street Burnbank, Hamilton". Youve got lots of cuttings about local entertainments N Thats him playing the accordion. N Yes, these are just little acknowledgements of what we did. D This is the film GEORDIE - he was a piper in the film GEORDIE D Heres a picture of him in Crawford Street, Hamilton, where I used to visit you. N You see him on the film piping Geordie away on the train. After he is in, he This was taken just before he flew out to Rome to treat the Italians to two weeks of marches alongside the train playing the pipes. Highland Reels and Strathspeys. The Highlands and Islands Development Board had a stand. They contacted the College of Piping who put them onto Jimmy who was an ex- D You were married in 1970? pert on the Highland, Lowland and Northumbrian pipes 6 7 than the picture of the event D How many years before he died did he have that stroke?

D When he was working as a barber in Hamilton he also made bagpipes didnt he, N Four years just little ones D I remember there was a meeting of the Lowland Pipers in Edinburgh where he N He just did it really as a hobby. He was very very interested in it you know. I was sitting in a chair in the School of Scottish Studies and someone pointed out to me really think that if Jimmy had had someone who could have taught him these things, that he wasnt looking very well, and in fact hed gone unconscious and I laid him out on woodwork and that, he would have been very clever but unfortunately his styles just the floor and he recovered, and he was alright after that for a bit. didnt come up to standard and he didnt get the tuition that he could have done with. But he was always very eager to learn things N He was in hospital for about a week, but he was back to normal when he came out of there. They said it was a stroke - I was really worried but it was only about a week D He was a wonderful player and performer. I think he was making wee sets for and he was out and about again children and older people D But hed been entertaining for the Stroke Club before he had a stroke? N If he had been able to learn more - proper woodworking -I think that would have been his lifes work, but unfortunately he didnt get it. He did very well N Oh yes, he could do some things after he took his stroke but he found that his fingers didnt move so much. It was a bit like arthritis but I think it was a nervous reac- D He helped to found the LBPS...in fact was quite the inspiration for getting the tion. I used to say that he was a bit off tune with the pipes, but to him he was on tune, Lowland pipes going again but that was the stroke that caused that

N Were they in existence before?

D There is a man called Mike Rowan and i think he probably brought Jimmy in, but We went to America in 1979 when Jimmy retired - I was visiting my sister and she took Jimmy was one of the founder members us to a trade fair. Each country was represented and everybody doing their own wee thing and Jimmy discovered that the Irish section were doing Irish dancing and oh we N i thought there had been an original Lowland pipers society and it had maybe sort must go and see this Irish dancing. So away we went and sat in the audience and Jimmy of defunct and started up again. got talking to somebody and he discovered that one lot of these dancers usually danced to a tape recorder, but the tape recorder had broken down, so they thought that was D I dont know if he was there right when people had the first idea but i think he them out of this competition. So Jimmy said "Well, I play the , Ill play for the must have provided part of the inspiration for it because he was one of the very few Irish dancers" so they took him away to the back and had a wee practice. Next thing, people in Scotland who were playing lowland pipes, possibly the only one at the time. Jimmys up on the stage with his tin whistle playing for the Irish dancers for their danc- There were one or two who played Northumbrian pipes, but nobody had Scottish ing, so the local newspaper took some nice photographs. They were all very grateful to smallpipes at that time I dont think. I think that seeing and hearing him him..... playingpeople inspired to set up the society, but somebody else will know that - Mike Rowan will know that better.

N Jimmy never talked about the war anyway. He didnt talk much in that respect Footnote. The Jimmy Wilson commemorative cup is presented each year at the LBPS other than the pictures that came on and he knew about the background - he didnt talk competitions for pipe and song. Other references:- Common Stock Vol 1 No 1 much about the war years. I remember that the Stroke Club that he went to asked them December 1993 "The Wee Pipe Bag Tie-er-inner" from Seamus Beag alias Jimmy all to bring a photograph of them when they were younger and of course there were Wilson; Piping Times Vol 17 No 18 July 1965 Famous Pipers, Pipe-Major Jimmy some very handsome men, but one of them as he said was just in a wee bundle in a Wilson" and in the same issue a titled Pipe-Major Jimmy Wilson" by Nerve Renault. wheelchair, unable to speak - you know what a strokes like - and he said it was so sad to think that what had been such a fine, handsome man - that was the end of his life to be in a wheelchair like that. It bothered him a lot that, he was very sensitive. Fridays he went of course, but I mean that wee stroke and it made him a wee bit downhearted. in 11 THE INS AND OUTS OF SHUTTLE PIPES.

Dave Shaw, who turned from Tree felling to pipe-making some 20 years ago specialises in Shuttle pipes - he also makes Northumbrian .smallppes , Border (Half-long) pipes and whistles. Here he gives some history and The tenons are then filled with cork, leaving a bore diameter clear, and you have a describes his approach to making the all- simple two drone shuttle (fig.4). important shuttle drones.

Shuttle pipes are an often misunderstood and sometimes maligned part of the spectrum of bagpiping. The distinctive feature which gives them their name is the shuttle-drone, a stubby projecting cylinder, usually containing three or four drones of differing lengths. Cut in the surface of this unit are longitudinal slots, each carrying one or more sliders for tuning. Adding a further six bores makes a drone an octave below the unit of three, to create the standard simple unit of a BASS and TENOR + fifth above tenor. To the uninitiated eye it seems a confusion of bits, so lets take a dive beneath the surface and have a look at the structure. One of the beauties of this instrument is that the Bass is a true Bass drone, two octaves below the chanters key-note and the tenor, at one octave below, is the same length in relation to the chanter as the longest on a normal set of small-pipes. This entire unit is then reeded up with appropriate double reeds, and off it goes. More of these later, anyway.

Historically, the earliest instrument that I am aware of, is pictured in Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, of 1618-19. This has a chanter of about one foot in length, possibly conical, and the drone, which seems to have three sliders, is about nine inches by three. If you take a block of wood and bore, say, five holes through it (fig.1) then you could have the basis of two drones a fifth apart, with a three to two ratio. Compared to the instruments I make, which are mostly derived from the much finer French Musette, this is massive, and would leave room for some fairly large drone bores. They might even have been conical, like the later Racket types, so that, if the chanter was loud, it would have been a very poky little beast! Like almost all its relatives, this is depicted as being blown with a bellows. At the cap end of the drone, two pairs of adjacent bores are joined with a tenon, cut into Sackpfeiff mit dem blasbalg the wood. Down at the stock end the remaining bore is similarly joined to one of the pairs making a threesome (fig.2). The French Musette drone unit, at its most complex, would typically have had four drones, with nine slots in the surface carrying thirteen sliders. Roughly translated, this On the surface, above the last bore of each set, a dovetail section slot is cut to take the was called the "chromatic drone." It was capable of being tuned to a wide number of airtight slider and from the bottom of this the tuning slot is cut through to the last part keys, but from my own experience of complex types, this can be a mind boggling everyone is up to doing this, or even playing the thing in so many keys, and that of the bore (fi.3). task. Not 13 being so, as the tutor of 1738 puts it, "These days we only need four drones with five with no trouble. slides." On a chanter with a little finger note of C say, these would be; Bass, C and F above, Tenor C, Tenor f. and c at unison with the little finger hole. This set-up, minus The Bass is a completely different matter. A normal reed sounds thin and runs very the unison drone, has been the underlying idea of pretty well all the work Ive done in sharp, but initially I got by on one by using small blobs of sealing wax on the middle of this line. each blade, by the mouth. It worked, but had a hollow sound and cracked the reed rather easily. The first attempt I made on a shuttle was in 1978, when I needed a robust set of pipes to practice on, whilst out and about in my tree-felling van. I used the pattern in "Cocks and The old pictures of the Musette always show one great big reed amongst the others in Bryan" described as a Northumbrian shuttle-pipe, although its always looked French to the drone, and over the years the making of this must have taxed me more than any me. Its at this point that you realise just how much easier it is to make a normal slider other problem Ive met in pipemaking. Now, after some twenty years, I have a version drone than a shuttle. Back in the olden days, even more so, and Diderot et Dalemberts of it that I like. LArt de la Lutherie Encyclopaedia is full of pictures of the specialised saws, files and broaches needed to ij form the slides and to fit them to the sliders. Editions Baudouin, 1979 This is a big I was perhaps fortunate in the equipment available to me, as the old Coronet Major reed, similar in lathe with the routing table was perfect for machining the slides in the turned blank. In many respects to fact, all the production decisions I made at this point are still in use. a contra-bassoon reed. Usually I The blank (generally rosewood), with the mount it on a 3/16 by 1" staple, and the head is tapered to a mouth of some 18mm., over ends faced off and a central bore, is glued a length of 42-48mm. above the top of the staple. Its wet made, with a number of onto a similarly prepared short length of wet/dry cycles in a making time of about a week, minimum, in the summer, and longer in beech, with a thickness of paper between the winter. Even now, fewer than half of the cane slips cut for this make it to the the two. This is rounded up, the hole finished stage, but when they do you get a reed which is surprisingly economical of wind, positions marked on both ends, then the and provides a fat Bass sound, rich in harmonies Its one of those bits that Im quite beech end drilled 1/8" dia. on the hole proud of really. positions and the rosewood end centre drilled. So, my first instrument was off the ground. Approximately in F, it went well enough and put in good service as a practice set. As I moved into full time making, I re-scaled the Using a four point drive centre, with a 1/8" shuttle into D, and paired it up with a Scottish smallpipe chanter in D. centre pin in the headstock, and a ring centre on the lathe saddle, the whole thing At the time this was used by a number of people for playing French type music, spawn- can be conveniently bored out between centr es, the beechwood providing a colour and ing up to five keys on the chanter and increasing the complexity of the drone. At this texture indicator of breakthrough of the boring tool. stage this involved fitting a second slide to the Bass drone, on the fourth bore to make G above the D, and a short second slide in the Tenor slot to give D or E. The high drone You need to be careful to line up the correct pairs of centres, but once the boring is was in any event capable of giving two notes, so could be reeded to give G/A or AB. complete, a quick bite with a chisel on the paper line takes off the waste block, leaving The three drones could be combined fairly flexibly in support of the chanters main keys. the bored blank. This format, made in pitches between D and F has worked well over the years, but as the Using brass for the sliders, rather than the traditional ivory, was for convenience, as was interest in Scottish smallpipes in the lower pitches has grown, then Ive had to grow the the use of turned brass tuning knobs, soldered onto them. The idea has stood the test of shuttle along with it. time well, but can make for a heavy drone, when there are a lot of sliders. In the future I may just try bending them up out of sheet to save weight. Anyway, having made my The obvious thing to do to make the pitch deeper is to make the same thing, but longer. first one, I then had to get it working. Up to now, however, the longest slide that I could machine has been about sixteen cms. The shuttle also becomes very cumbersome in long lengths. The wood is most easily Tenor level drones and above, reed up relatively easily, provided the work is clean, and available in about two inches square, so making it fatter to squeeze in extra bores wasnt the bores not too small. A selection of G. F or D length reeds will normally fire them up to be a great choice. 14 15 So thats mostly it, a potted history of the instrument, So far, all the shuttles 1 had produced were made on a 6/3/2 bore ratio, making eleven ii C/F Shuttle plus my involvement in it over the last twenty years. all. If you add two bores to the Bass drone, it can be pushed down to A for the same The design has never stood still, and in some ways I feel length (6/8 ratio), and similarly for the Tenor, adding one extra bore, which coupled to that Ive been too conservative with some of the the existing two bore high A drone gave me by basic A shuttlepipe set up of Bass A, parameters, in particular using only half or quarter Tenor A, and unison A, as 8/4/2/, fourteen bores in all, down a piece of wood that, in- length slides in the tuners. Now Im giving myself a little cluding a whipping has to fit down a 1 1/2" hole. more freedom in that respect, much more in line with what the old Musette makers did, and sticking them in

This, is very easy to shorten, for B flat, C etc., and should have been the end point of at the length they need to be. The bores have evolved as development as far as I was concerned, but demands to run it with Northumbrian well, from the tightness of the first one, they now run smallpipes D chanters, and also as a common drone for an A or D Scottish smallpipe out to some fairly large holes. The really interesting chanter have meant I have had to push it further again. thing is that as Ive learned more about the narrow-bore Irish pipes, its become increasingly apparent that my To do this, the Bass was fitted with two slides, on the sixth and last bores to make an A shuttle-drone bores are almost identical in their lengths or D possible. However, it was very difficult to reed effectively, as the A slide would and progression of diameters as the old Irish drones, always be almost closed and the D slide almost fully open, to tune them in on one reed just showing the innate conservatism of natural (?) setting. The only way I have got round this is to fit a small "trombone" tuning slide at structures. Im sure there is a little more in the shuttle the in-stock end of bores six and seven, so that the slack in the system can be taken up. for me...... you only have to ask! So far, there have been no problems with this in the few years that Ive been making it.

The main tenor was also fitted with an extra slide, to make A and D possible and an extraslides bore added to the unison drone to make it the high tenor. This has a pair of for D and E on its third bore, and a slide on its second bore for high A. This makes it a fifteen bore drone, with six slots and seven sliders.

One of these has seen service with Pipe-major lain McDonald of the Neilston Pipe Ban as a drone for his Scots smallpipes in A and D; A Border bagpipe chanter and Irish pipes chanter to save weight when travelling.

You would hope, wouldnt you, that that would be the last word on the subject, but its too good to be true, and Ive recently been asked for a shuttle that can give F and G D. Shaw accompaniments to an F Northumbrian smallpipe chanter (thank you Kathryn).

Shortening the complex A/D shuttle to give an effective OF drone hasnt been Advertisement particularly easy, as Im that bit more picky these days, but a few sessions with a BAGPIPES FOR SALE calculator and a pencil have produced a useful prototype. Hamish Moore Bb Lowland (small) pipes (3 drones sounding triad). There are now three slides on the Bass, to give C/D/F, three on the Tenor, C/D/F, and Impregnated Beechwood and brass fittings. In good playing order. Includes bellows, strap, bag, cover and reeds (as Is), and case. Offers over 600.00. the high tenor has three slides for F/G/C/G, thus catering for the F chanters main drone Ask for Kirsten or leave message at 0131 558-3610 needs. The shuttle has the same fifteen bores, slightly re-disposed, with seven slots carrying nine sliders to control the three drones. Mark Cushing (Small American Craftsman) Highland pipes - Brazillian Rosewood and brass fittings. Includes case and reeds (as is). 450 o.n.o. Also Its quite a beast, and the format should be workable on shuttles between A/D and D/G selling 3 additional Bb Highland pipe chanters - assorted makes, prices Theres even room now for two more bores, but Im not that sure that I want to negotiable. Ask for K/rsten or leave message at 0131 558-3610 work out what they might be used for.

16 17 A LIVING TRADITION INTERPRETATION

David Hannay AND MUSICAL EXPRESSION

The autumn leaves were beginning to fall as I drove along the Solway Coast to IN THE TUNES FROM Gatehouse of Fleet from Newton Stewart, where I had just finished evening surgery. Jock Agnew has a small house in Gatehouse where his daughter lives - he being THE DIXON MANUSCRIPT. currently in Essex running a sailing school as well as editing COMMON STOCK. We have known each other since boyhood and this evening he was staying in his house and DickHensold (B.M. Oberlin Conservatory) Matt Seattle was visiting while on holiday in Kirkcudbright. is a free lance musician specialising in three genres; early music, Folk music, Jock started on the Highland pipes while in the Merchant Navy, but has since moved on and Cambodian traditional music. He to the small pipes and . It is the latter which now increasingly occupies his plays , recorder, attention, especially the music of William Dixon which has recently been rediscovered medieval Great pipes, Swedish bagpipes, by Matt Seattle. /ow whistle and traditional Cambodian reed instruments. He presented a paper Matt had originally been a guitar player, but moved north from the south of England on the Dixon MS at the 1997LBPS annual and took up first the and then the Border pipes. In 1995 he published William Collogue in Peebles. Dixons tunes compiled in 1733, and so resurrected a lost tradition of Border piping. The music is quite different from Highland pipe music and requires an open mind and a fresh ear to appreciate. It is technically demanding and many of the tunes are like The music found in the newly-discovered piobaireachd in that there are elaborations on a theme, although the variations make Dixon MS of 1733 gives us an exciting use of runs rather than grace notes. There is also an underlying construction pattern opportunity to dig into a brand-new ancient based on chords, rather than phrases as described by Alec Haddow for piobaireachd. repertoire. However the unfamiliarity of some of the passages poses some baffling When I arrived the pipes were already going in the small front room with Matt playing interpretive problems concerning beat, phrasing, and ornamentation. Dorrington Lads and Jock, Cuthbertson s Fancy. The evening passed quickly with Dixon tunes played on the Border pipes by two enthusiasts for this traditional music, and only Most of the 18th century references to the social context of this music describe it as interrupted by a meal of vegetable lasagna and cherry brandy. The tunes played either dance music. This is curious given the fact that most of the pieces are variation sets, solo or in unison were:- Have a care of her Johnny; New way to Morpeth; Apprentice and whereas the pieces start out melodically and rhythmically enough, they soon lads of Alnwick; Nickle Fosters ; Mock the Soldiers Lady; The new way to become thick with runs, called divisions, which can easily obscure the beat. A Bowden; Berwick Bully; Saw ye never a Bonny Lass and An Thou wert my am Thing as division is a type of ornamentation common in the 16th and 17th centuries created a duet. These tunes illustrated the full range of Border music, and as the playing rolled by "dividing" the melody notes into a series of shorter notes. (They differ from the on into the evening, it reminded me of a description of Sandy Cameron playing graces that most pipers are familiar with in that graces theoretically take up no time piobaireachd, another traditional bagpipe music, like waves rolling on to the shore. and divisions are accounted for metrically in the same way as the melody notes are). When I first saw the Dixon tunes I wondered if the busiest of the variations were It was late when Jocks daughter returned and Matt had to go. Outside the moon shone even used when the pieces were played for dancing, but since examining The on the house in Birtwhistle Street, named after a north country mill owner who had Division Wolin of 1684 for my talks at the LBPS Collogue last year, I became con- been part of the development of Gatehouse of Fleet based on water power at the end of vinced that they probably were. I found that The Division Wolin contained different the eighteenth century. This was about half a century after William Dixon compiled his kinds of pieces with two distinct division styles, an art-music style and a folk-music tunes and the waterwheels have long since stopped turning; but the music plays on as a style. The folk-division style in The Division Wolin compares very closely with that living tradition. found in the Dixon MS.

In interpreting a repertoire like the Dixon tunes, there are two main resources. There 19 18 are traditional aural interpretations, mainly coming from the playing of traditional 3. Another technique for making the beat clear is playing the last note a little Northumbrian smallpipers who play comparable tunes. I will say very little about longer and grouping the notes like this: this, since I am not a traditional player and have had less access to traditional players than most of the members of the LBPS.

Most of the present article deals with historical interpretations from sources found in early music.

There is always going to be something of a controversy about whether art music This works perhaps better on Northumbrian smallpipes where the stopped chanter evidence has any applicability in the folk music world, so such an approach must be allows for an actual silence. Another stopped chanter rhythmic technique is what taken carefully, and probably always in reference to traditional aural approaches. early musicians call an agogic accent - a strong beat is accented by playing it very However, my study of 17th century violin divisions has led me to believe that in the slightly late. Musically this is comparable to heavy ornaments in Highland piping. In late 17th and early 18th centuries there was a substantial overlap in the playing fact, the combination of the preceding two techniques, that is, playing the last note styles of folk music and art music traditions, so a combination of interpretive of the beat long and the first note of the beat late gives you room for a simple grace approaches is justified. note or even a doubling in the busiest passages, such as figure 3 from Have a care of her Johnny" or figure 4 from "Wallington". First of all we should remember that this is dance music, and be careful never to lose the beat, especially in passages with continuous quavers. Most of the interpretive strategies I will describe here are techniques for making the beat and measure clear and musical. These techniques are best practised with a metronome, trying to keep the beat steady while taking time within the beat in a fluid and musical manner. Also these techniques are most important on the 6/4 and 9/4 tunes. The beat in the duple time tunes doesnt need as much help.

1. in runs of continuous quavers, lengthen the first note of the sextuplet and make up the time on the other 5. This also makes room for a gracing on the first note. 4. It is particularly difficult to get a good musical effect out of this last example. I would have the doubling take just a little time out of the first note (for the agogic 2. Swing the note slightly. This is an interpretation that derives from both tradi- effect) and then would give a very brief pause (tenuto) on the first note, stealing the tional and early music approaches, helping to justify the combination of the two. As ti me from the other five. I would arrive at the last note a bit early so most of the next was done in the 18th century, you can then vary the amount of swing (or /negates) doubling could be taken from the last note of the beat. If I could, I would add an throughout the beat or phrase. Start with more swing and flatten it out as you go almost imperceptible swing to the whole thing. The object is to keep the tempo fast along and combine with #1 above. For example: enough so that the beat doesnt bog down, and slow enough not to lose the nuances of phrasing. When deciding on a tempo for this music, keep in mind that many of these settings are based on songs. In examples with surviving lyrics, one can find a comfortable singing tempo and use that as a point of departure. The lyrics that I have looked at for the tunes in the Dixon MS tend to stay on the crotchets and minims, so I assume that the quavers are ornamental and the pieces dont go too slowly. Obviously this notation is just an approximation to help give you the idea. You have to exaggerate this at first in order to learn it, but it sounds terrible if you play it that 5. There are no dotted figures indicated in the triple time pieces in the Dixon MS way. The whole execution should be subtle and graceful and the beat should drive but they may well have been played that way. In fact, "Gingling Geordie", #31 in right through the centre. Keep in mind that according to 18th century the swing, or Dixon, is notated with dots and cuts in the Atkinson MS of 1694. I prefer the tradi- /negates, is less at faster tempos and greater at slower tempos. tional approach of playing the 3 crotchets slightly pointed, that is, like a j.

21 figure but not so much. Most pipers will be familiar with this as a standard jig 7. This figure: rhythm. I then extend this proportioning of the beat to figures like this:

which becomes something like this where the quavers are at the beginning of the beat rather than at the middle, does not occur too often in Dixon, but can be recognised as a common 18th-century ornament called a slide. if these quavers are interpreted as a slide, they would be played very quickly on the beat, and the main accent of the beat would fall on the third note. Learning these tunes requires some new practice approaches. I find that the best exercise I can do is dot the figure one way and practice it repetitively, and then dot it the other way and practice it for the same amount of time. The best single exercise that Ive devised for working on Dixon tunes is the one shown in figure 11:

Figure 7

1 1

and the original melodic outline can be brought out by playing the first and fifth notes on the figure longer and taking the time from the second and sixth notes:

Advertisement Sale of all bagpipe making tools, equipment and stock. Gun drills, reamers and other specialist tools. Industrial leather sewing machine. Limited quantities of yew, ebony and boxwood. Details from Dougie MacFarlane, 5 New Street, The above technique can be combined with #5, making sure that the third note of Cockenzie, East Lothian, Scotland EH32 OHN each beat starts a little late, and the shape of the original melody will be heard in the Tel; 01875 814 200 midst of the busiest variations. 22 23 musicological researches and PIPING FACILITIES pipemakers from Britain and abroad. Hugh Cheape, curator of AND Scottish collections and assistant INFORMATION keeper for the National Museums of Scotland, said "The collection shows that piping was very much a Mike Paterson, who collates and writes for Notes" (journal of the Piping Centre in part of a nations living musical Glasgow) outlines the development of the Piping Centre and the facilities it has to offer tradition, very much a part of music pipers and pipe makers of all persuasions. and song. It was much more in the cultural roots of our society (than is Plans for The Piping Centre in Glasgow were first unveiled by the Piping Trust in 1989, commonly thought). and a five-year campaign was launched to raise the 4.5 million needed to refurbish the derelict Grade II listed former Free Church of Scotland buildings on McPhater Street in "The pipes in the collection are Cowcaddens. there to be measured and reproduced, and thats happened A startling transformation produced a modern auditorium, sound-proofed practice many times. Examples of our rooms, offices, museum space, meeting rooms, kitchens and a brasserie, eight hotel collection are now reproduced in rooms and a facility that was dedicated to the priorities of piping. North America, Australia and England as well as in Scotland."

Individuals and organisations have made valuable contributions to the Piping Centres growing collections of historical and reference materials. The Royal Scottish Pipers Society, for example, gave an extensive collection of early photographs of great pipers to the Piping Centre. These are being thoroughly catalogued, copied, framed and Hugh Cheape displayed around the Centre.

The intention is to develop a national sound archive, the initial work towards which has been supported by a 5,000 donation from William Grant and Sons. Further support is being sought to create a resource of significant value, available to all interested pipers. Piping Centre staff are developing resources for learners and helping to raise the profile of piping in Scotland and abroad through various outreach initiatives. The Centre has now been open for nearly three years - not long in the relatively con- The development of a national Piping for Schools project has been made possible by a servative world of piping. It provides regular tuition and master classes for a wide range 180,000 three-year New Directions grant from the Scottish Arts Council. New Directions of novice and experienced pipers, holds recitals and contests, and has released a series of applies lottery funds to the development of talents, skills and creative abilities. Leading recordings. Lessons are available on Highland pipes, Uillean pipes, Scottish smallpipes, New Zealand piper and judge Greg Wilson has been appointed co-ordinator for the accordion, drumming and fiddle. It is also building up a library and museum. project that, over the next three years, will see some 600 Scottish school students given As well as being an interesting attraction in its own right, the National Museums of the opportunity to spend time at the Centre, topping up the skills they are learning from Scotland display of pipes in the Piping Centre museum serves as a specialist resource for their piping tutors. Offerings include such things as reed-making, a visit to a bagpipe 24 manufacturer, visits to Grade 1 bands and the Army School of Piping at Edinburgh Castle. IRISH PRAISE FOR AN ENGLISH PIPER

A key element will be a chance for students to take the Institute of Piping Certificate Sean Donelly delves into the early nineteenth century verse of Samuel Thomson and examination appropriate to their level at the end of the course. "Its a very exciting postulates that Jamies Drone refers to the notorious Jimmy Allen. opportunity," said Greg Wilson. "The project has all the potential to be a real boost to young pipers at a formative time in their development." The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw a renaissance of poetry in the Scots dialect in Ulster. Several of the collections then produced have been republished The Piping Centre has also established a relationship with the neighbouring Royal in a series called "The Folk Poets of Ulster". Volume III in this series is The country Scottish Academy of Music and Drama which now allows degree candidates to major on rhymes of Samuel Thomson. the bard of Carngranny 1766-1816 (Bangor 1992), intro- the pipes and other traditional instruments. duced by Ernest McA Scott and Philip Robinson.

Tutors are Allan MacDonald and the Piping Centres senior instructor Pipe Major Carngranny is close to Templepatrick, co Antrim, and Thomson, a schoolmaster, Angus MacDonald. The Piping Centres director of piping, Roddy MacLeod, is published three collections of verse, in 1793, 1799 and 1806. In the last. Simple poems of RSAMDs external specialist examiner for piping. RSAMD opens its library to students a few subjects, he included a poem praising a piper, "Jamies Drone", the subject of at the Piping Centre, and the Piping Centre opens its museum to RSAMD students. The which was not, as we might expect, Irish or Scottish, but English. The following is the Scottish Music programme also regularly uses the Centres auditorium for text from Country rhymes, pp 16-17. performances.

The Centre is also stepping up its communications. Its quarterly publication "Notes", is JAMIES DRONE gradually developing from a newsletter into a modest magazine, and an events 2 programme is bringing people into the Centre. It has a foot in the door of the tourism ATTENTION lend, ye rural train, Nae mair ye bards exulting cra and conference markets and operates a distinctively Scottish brasserie, mini-hotel and Whilst I endeavour to rehearse Bout Orpheus, and Eolian harps, shop. The Piping Centre now has 27 full time and 7-8 part time employees, all of whom The praises o a piper swain, This chiel can easy ding them a are committed to the furtherance of piping. "Were here to encourage interest in piping In jingling hamespun, knotty verse. At either charming flats or sharps. among people of all walks of life and all abilities" said the Centres founding director of 3 4 administration, John Drysdale. "We have no axes to grind. We recognise that the His melting sounds, his heavenly airs Then why to Italy ye gents? broader the base, the higher the mountain. Out of any group, some will want to take Woud meliorate a heart of stone Tis barefacd like, and een a shame things further. We will help people whatever their preferences because that is how the Twould make a priest forget his prayers; Mang beardless loons to waste our rents, tradition will survive and thrive," he said. "We have a serious problem with piping in that The inchanting lilt o Jamies drone. When better musics had at hame. the pipes are not widely seen as an instrument of performance. But piping does have a 5 6 unique appeal and we see opportunities to encourage an audience for performances. Gude faith sic tours might weel be spard, MLaughlin(l) now may spare his brags The silly springs - tis easy known, An that hes cowd may frankly own: Piping should attract more than a very narrow minority - were talking about a national Are anti-melody compard MDonell(2) too, may slit his bags, musical instrument with international appeal. Im not suggesting that efforts of the past To the dainty dint o Jamies drone. And bring sou-la to Jamies drone. have been to naught, but there must be ways of reminding people that this is a very im- 7 8 portant part of their heritage. Auld I n(3) sleepy, slavering coof, MC b(4) too wi tawny buff, May ever after now sing dumb, May gae to bed and take his nap; "The interest is always rewarding - its definitely a growth area. Overall, I feel weve Nor ever mair for weel creeshd loof Or i the peet-neuk lie and snuff, created a major international and national facility we can be proud of in Scotland. The And drink to fairs and markets come. But never mair erect his tap. formula is a sensible mix and an enormous debt of gratitude is owed to those who had 9 10 the vision, motivation, commitment and confidence to see this as a step that had to be Had umquhile Spence(5) a listener been, In short, ye Fidlers, Pipers a, taken, and backed the project. It is going to be many years before the full value of that is Tho weel he knew baith stap and tone, Or Highland bred or Irish fellows, wholly realised." Hed ownd himsel fair dung I ween, Maun never dare to cheep or bla By the lilt o modern Jamies drone. But break your bows and burn your bellows.

26 27 Given that the piper was an Englishman, and that the difference between "Jamie" and u 12 To deck this charming minstrels brow, And let it gracefully be plait, "Jimmy/Jemmy" is so slight, the obvious candidate for being Thomsons hero was the This British Pan(6) o modern days, As well he might the samen claim; (in)famous Northumbrian piper Jimmy Allan. Thomson could have heard Allan on his home territory while visiting Scotland, but Jimmy was himself in Ireland at some point. Gaepou rustics haste and quickly And syne well hae the Callan yet A never-fading wreath o bays. Enlisted wi the sons o Fame. Dublin, however, is the only place mentioned in The History of Jimmy Allan. He claimed to have earned up to 10 a week there, having been set up as a professional musician by a gentleman he met on the ship from Whitehaven. But Allans failure to mention any other place in Ireland does not automatically imply that he did not travel For a the minstrels far an near, elsewhere in the country. In fact, having sailed from Whitehaven in Cumberland, he may If set in case were joined in one, have landed in the north of Ireland and travelled south to Dublin. (We may wonder if, Coud neer pretend I vow and swear, on a previous visit to Whitehaven, Allan even met the subject of the following notice in To the airy screed o Jamies drone. the Dublin Evening Post, 2 January 1795; "MARRIAGE, - 29th ult. at Whitehaven, Mr ONeill, irish Linen dealer (and well known for his performance on the union bagpipes) to Mrs Martha Hartley, widow of that place. And on Monday morning, about two (1) A well known Scotch Fidler oclock, the said Mr ONeill died! his bride having been once a wife and twice a widow in (2) An eminent Highland Piper the space of a week!). (3) A drowsy Fidler, well known in neighbourhood of T_e P_k (4) Another snuff-consuming Musician of K_d While "Jamies Drone" was composed (or at least completed) after 1800, there is noth- (5) An Irish Piper of the last century ing to say that Thomson had not encountered Allan a number of years previously. But if (6) The Hero of the Poem was an Englishman. they had met before 1800, Thomson would surely have included "Jaimies Drone" in his 1799 collection. In any event the meeting must have been before 1803, when, as is well The reference to "an Irish Piper of the last century" dates the poem to later than 1800. known, Allan stole one horse too many and was imprisoned in Durham Gaol. James Spence, born in Mallow, co Cork, probably in the late 1750s, died in Dublin in Subsequently he was transferred to the House of Correction, where a milder regime 1793. He is associated in his obituaries with Walker Jackson, the piper-composer of prevailed, but died there in November 1810. His death was noticed in the Waterford Lisduan, Balligarry, co Limerick and, more intriguingly, with John Geoghegan, who is Mirror, 1 December 1810: "Died Tuesday sennight, at Durham House of Correction, claimed to have regularly visited Jackson. Spences fame as an outstanding piper, though Jas. Allan, the Dukes piper, etc". an uncongenial person (to say the least!), lasted into the nineteenth century in his native Munster. It is interesting to find he was known as far north as Templepatrick. A bewildering number of wives and mistresses appear in the pages of The History of The Highland piper and the Scottish fiddler mentioned are also likely to have been Jimmy Allan. But those names did not include the following, who, to judge from her actual people. Thomson, though, spelled their surnames in Irish rather than Scottish reputed age, could have been Allans first wife. Her obituary appeared in the fashion: "MDon[n]ell" for "MDonald" - Donald MacDonald? - and "MLaughlin" for Gentlemans Magazine, April 1830, p.380: "MLachlan". Thomson could have heard both these musicians when he travelled to Dumfries in 1794 to meet Robbie Burns, to whom he had dedicated his first book the DEATHS,....NORTHUMBERLAND. - At Rothbury, aged 100 years, Tibby previous year (p.xii). Indeed, if the well-known Donald MacDonald was the piper in Allan, widow of the notorious Northumberland piper Jemmy Allan, who question, Thomson could have heard him in Ireland. Keith Sanger mentioned to me that terminated a life of singular adventure, vicissitude and crime, in Durham Gaol MacDonald served in Ireland during the 1790s with the Reay Fencibles. Thomsons about twenty years ago. using initials for the two local musicians he disparaged also suggests that they were real people and alive in 1806. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. "Jamies Drone" is published by kind permission of Pretani Press. For help with this article I also wish to thank Anne Moore, the "Jamie", then, is likely to have been an actual person; had Thomson to invent a fictional Bagpipe Museum, Morpeth Chantry, and Robbie Hannan, Ulster Folk and piper he would almost certainly have made him either Irish or Scottish. Like many Transport Museum, Cultra, co. Down. Ulster Scots of his time, he was proud of the two strands running through his heritage, saying of himself, "... Yet tho Im IRISH all WITHOUT, Im every item SCOTCH WITHIN (p.xiv). 28 29 SUMMER PIPING SCHOOL The second folk night was much more successful. The small pub was extremely friendly and even served sandwiches late on in the evening. Here Davey was much more at home IN GALLOWAY. and managed to get a groove going. The surprise of the evening was a young lad (aged 75) who, after being plied with ale, not only admitted to being in one of the top grade Vicki Swann plays small pipes - and other instruments - in the up-and-coming Essex pipe bands in Ireland, but was also the first piper ever to play The Train Journey based band Muckle Flugga: She also teaches music. North". The gentleman in question hadnt played his Highland pipes for nearly 18 years and after a faltering start on his gleaming new set of smallpipes went on to play a Following the success of last years piping course on the Isle of Skye [see COMMON never-ending stream of tunes with the largest grin that has ever graced a pipers face. He STOCK Vol 12.2 Dec 1997 - Ed] it was deemed necessary to ensure the course ran again, had to be physically separated from his instrument and firmly but kindly told "theyll still come what may. So when it looked likely that Skye was not going to be the hallowed be there in the morning for you to play with!!" place, David Hannay and his wife Janet very kindly stepped in and agreed to let their home be invaded by a herd of various breeds of bagpipe. A lot of creativity took place on the course with two pieces of music being composed. The first was dictated over breakfast by Jim (with his grin) and was entitled "Mrs Janet Kirkdale (pronounced curdle, as in the milk) is situated on the beautiful coast of Hannay of Kirkdale House" [see elsewhere in this issue - Ed]. This was originally con- Galloway (which is not in Ireland, as my mum helpfully tried to inform me). The present ceived as a very strict Highland march, but as the week progressed and Davey worked house was built in the 1780s, but the areas first inhabitants date back to prehistoric his wonders on us it gradually evolved into a much more lyrical and sweet melody. The times. The discovery of ancient prehistoric cave drawings depicting pipers apparently second piece was completed in Galloway via a fax link to its composer in London. quaffing copious quantities of mead during our stay there made the course all the more Written for smallpipes and string orchestra its premier is still to be arranged. This work special. As last year Davey Taylor was invited to again tutor the motley crew, and this was called "The Mists of Galloway" to reflect the fact that it rained the whole week year we welcomed Jock Agnew with his specialist knowledge of the Border pipes. As is (mist being a prehistoric word meaning constant downpour)! traditional on all courses of a bagpipe nature Davey spent the first evening stripping down bags, refitting tubes and tying-in stocks to try and seal up the many leaks and make The course over-all was excellent, the teaching, the social aspect and the humour made old and battered instruments playable. for a very enjoyable week. With us smallpipers being so thin on the ground it was well worth the six hour, full tank of petrol drive to the Borders to meet and play with so many The attendance was very healthy with pipers coming from all over the country. Monday dedicated fellow bellowers. To be able to exchange music and views is always an morning saw people arriving by all means of transport including boats, bicycles and opportunity not to be missed, and Im certainly looking forward to next years course halibut.[!] with bated breath.

In the main the posse was split into two groups; the able players, who also wished to learn to tame their Border pipes, and the players who looked down their noses at the Border pipes wishing to perfect their delicate dance like marches and . The mornings were kick started into action by a very kind gentleman who came in specially to help us with new age meditation techniques. This consisted of twiddling your thumbs, staring at a piece of carpet, counting up to five and instantly dropping off to sleep - luckily on-one snored. The days were spent in building up a repertoire of pieces in various styles both on the Border and smallpipes, whilst the evenings consisted of trips to several pubs and folk music meetings.

One particular night included a trip to a fairly large and welcoming folk night. The songs, however, were so slow and mournful that it looked like we all were going to fall victim to the dreadful condition called melancholitis. Davey had already fallen victim, so to try and prevent any more casualties Jock decided to try and liven proceedings with a rendition on his Border pipes. This was unsuccessful, so I attempted a lively set, all to no avail. Our only option was to cut and run and lick our wounds with some home Outside Kirkdale House, the pipers look out across the Solway Firth brewed crack. 31 30 through at first and it is most effective REVIEWS when the accompaniment drops back and the drones emerge on "Pipe Major Joe "The Carrying Stream", Wilson" and "The Duke of Hamilton". Ossian (Greentrax, CDTRAX 127). Another pipe set consist of "Blustering CLAN SOME Scots folk bands bare their chests Home", "Flora Macdonald" (on which Iain and open their throats in a musical roar. Maclnnes is briefly and very effectively The bouzouki thrashes, the bodrhan left solo) and "David Glens Jig". Keyed chanters by Roleston thunders and the (Highland) pipes whip The last of the three pipe-led tracks the audience into new levels of excite- includes "Alick Cameron, ment. Champion Piper", "Joe McGanns Fiddle", But there is a more delicate strand "Jennys Jig" and "The Glasgow Police Bellows blown smallpipes to Scottish traditional music and Ossian Pipers" - this last tune is probably where are arguably the best representative of the Ossian come closest to letting their hair Bass - Tenor - Baritone - Drones "chamber" approach. For this reason they down with their discreet equivalent of Heavy duty band-stitched bellows may be on the other side of the coin to "Celtic thrash", bodrhan and all. Chrome mounts, tuning slides The Tannahill Weavers, say, but their Although there will almost un- Leather case plush lined music is just as uplifting and maybe even doubtedly have been some balancing of Standard or highland style keyed lingers in the mind that bit longer. volume levels in the recording studio, chanter pitched in A major Only smallpipes would fit into a delicate Ossian never leave us with the impression group texture in which the beautiful harp Brass body drone reeds. that their sound is purely the product of playing of William Jackson is perhaps the amplification and the mixing desk. Plastic chanter reeds defining sound. And the much respected All pipes have 2 sets reeds Smallpipes, harp, guitar and fiddle lain Maclnnes contributes his technically can live with each other acoustically. This Pipes made in selected ebony immaculate smallpipe playing to several Price 450 plus postage means that Ossians music is organic as tracks (he can be heard playing whistle on well as artful. And "The Carrying Stream" Air freight charges 50 USA many of the others). (the title track is a harp solo by William 60 Australia NZ This is not an out-and-out piping Jackson) demonstrates how well Scottish Standard chanter 5 keys record, because most of the numbers smallpipes can be incorporated into a Highland chanter 4 keys consist of Billy Rosss very fine singing, string dominated group of this sort. principally accompanied by harp, guitar SAE for details. Delivery 4 weeks. and fiddle (the latter played by Stuart William Marshall Phone - fax 013967 67083 Morison). 16 Mill Road, The opening track seems to typify Annalong BT34 4RH Ossians restrained approach. The Big Birl - Standard Style N.Ireland. Highland style "Fisherrow" is a song that I have heard Robert Matheson (Lismor performed as a full throated belter of a LCDM 5262) number, but this group plays and sings it almost wistfully and regretfully and it is There are three things in life I wish I had probably all the more effective for that. done: I wish I had won the National The smallpipes make their first Lottery; I wish I owned a set of smallpipes entrance in a set beginning with "The in Upper D and I wish I had composed Black Crags". Only the chanter cuts Song for Smallpipe, the opening tune on 37 this CD. to the jig is a break to die for. And just Unfortunately the legalities of listen to the last bar of each part of the copyright forbids me from claiming jig. The gracings are hammered out like ownership of the opening tune. And what hard crans on an Irish pipe. a tune it is. It will easily become (and I Track eight, the Calypso. Initially I dont need to be Nostramus to predict) a thought this was a bit OTT, but the steel standard for small pipers, solo Highland pans grow on you the more you listen. If pipers, Border pipers and pipe bands. you are addicted to limbo dancing dont It is the smallpipes and the con- play this track. trasting sound of the Highland pipes that Track 14 the Bells of Dunblane. A makes the CD a joy to listen to. Throw in beautifully crafted tune but I feel the a handful of talented, versatile, sensitive accompaniment was too light and bouncy and experienced musicians and the result and that emotionally it only required a is a pot-pouri of piping that ranges from solo piper. traditional to the more exotic. Believe me, Just a few other do differentlys. I Im talking calypso and seriously heavy would re-consider having the metal bagpiping. So serious is the piping on most of the tracks. I tend to agree with that musicologists, Black Sabbath and Led Evelyn Glennie (The Piping Centre Zeppelin (eat your heart out) fans might "Notes" No. 2 Autumn 1997) that the agree that the epicentre of heavy metal pitch of the modern snare is too high. music should be shifted from Birmingham Perhaps the inclusion of a basle street to Shotts in Lanarkshire. Nuff said. Check drum would have been a happy medium. it out. Just listen to those power chords in After all, Swiss rudiments form the basics sync with the pipes on Desert Storm of most pipe band drumming these days . track eleven. Respect to the man. Im left wondering what is next for There are so many other good tunes Robert Matheson? Extra keyed notes on and arrangements (28 tunes on 14 tracks) the GBH? Border pipes and voice or on this CD that require comment but lack more Mediterranean and Eastern bloc of time and space means I can only pass odd time signatures played at breathtak- judgement on a few. So here goes. ing speeds while the chanter is immersed Track three, the Big Birl is the title in water? I await the outcome with bated of the CD. The pipes are so tastefully breath, bellows and Border chanter. , lifted by the accompanying strings and Still, overall a tremendous CD that syncopated synchs that this number would demonstrates the verve, skill and not be amiss gracing the boards of any musicality of Robert Matheson - a man classical concert hall in this Country or who is not afraid to push his piping and any other. his considerable reputation to the limit. Track four, the Minuette is even more classically orientated. Perhaps a Jim Fraser. little less staccato by the string quartet would have made this flow more. AreManuel Truccos cartoon you also wondering if cover riposte to the Track six, the Breton Air and Long (opposite) is a sub-conscious picture on Common Stock June 1998???lll Island Jig: Gems. The break from the air 38 Meetings and Events

Burns Night dinner (LBPS style) Saturday 23rd January 1999; - Edinburgh. Contact any committee member. Annual Competition Saturday April 3rd 1999. St Annes Hall, Edinburgh. Detailed information by Newsletter nearer the date. Melrose teaching weekend. Mid May. Date to be advised by Newsletter or contact Rona MacDonald 0141 946 8624 Galloway Summer School for Scottish smallpipes and Border pipes. Last week July or first week August (final date TBA). Contact David Hannay tel/fax 01557 840 229 Annual LBPS Collogue in November. Place and date to be advised. Contact any Committee member. EDINBURGH Sessions 1st Tuesday each month. Sandy Bells, 8.30 pm. Contact Jim Buchanan Tel. 0131 440 2116 LONDON 3rd Thursday of every second month (except July). From about 8 pm to 10 pm. Contact Jock Agnew 01621 855447 NORTHEAST 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, Ship Inn, Wylan on Tyne. Contact Steve Barwick 0191 286 3545

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