Strictly speaking, Bill and Jim Barrie do not qualify as New Zealand Composers as they were not born here. However, they lived here for nigh on 30 years and during that time composed tunes that have become classics and their contribution cannot be ignored. Bill hailed from Scotland having been born in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in 1910. When he was young his family moved to Glasgow and at the age of 11 started learning the bagpipes. The late John Macdougall Gillies normally taught pipers who had a track record, but Bill has the distinction of being the first and only person whom he taught from scratch. In 1925 Gillies died and Bill continued his studies, especially piobaireachd, under one of Gillies’ greatest pupils, Robert Reid. Macdougall Gillies is considered by many to be the greatest exponent from the Cameron school of piobaireachd. New Zealand has another link with the Reid family; in 1965 Willie Reid (Robert’s younger brother) settled in Hastings where he lived until he died in the early 1970s. A number of pipers took advantage of Willie’s piping knowledge; perhaps the best known is Barry Brougham now of Auckland. Barry acquired most of Willie’s collection of pipe music and also a set of superb MacDougall bagpipes that once belonged to Robert. Bill competed from an early age and in 1927 announced himself to the piping world in dramatic fashion. Playing in the Piobaireachd event at the Bridge of Allan Games Robert Reid and Willie Ross tied for first place. Bill was third and great names like Malcolm MacPherson of Invershin, J.B Robertson (Scots Guards) and John Wilson of Edinburgh (later Toronto) were 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Not bad for a lad of 16. In 1930 he moved to England where he continued his piping and later, in 1939 went to San Francisco where the World’s Fair was being held. He had been playing with the Clachan Troup (a group of Scottish Dancers) for some years and they were chosen to be part of the British Exhibition at the Fair. Shortly after Bill settled in Vancouver, Canada where he met and married Elsie Allen in 1940. They had three children, Jim, Elaine and Jean. In 1941 he enlisted in the Canadian Army. After the War he remained in the Vancouver area until 1953 when he and his family moved New Zealand. They first lived in Oamaru and shortly after went to Wanganui. Bill and son Jim were frequently to be seen at highland games throughout New Zealand where they had a number of successes. In the late 1960s, his daughters went back to Canada for what was intended to be a holiday but eventually married and stayed. In 1974 Jim, wife Jan and their two boys moved to Canada to live and although Bill and Elsie loved New Zealand, they too went back in 1980. Bill started composing early in life, but his most prolific years were whilst living in New Zealand. In 1975 he published a collection of 27 of his own tunes (including a piobaireachd) and three of his arrangements of traditional tunes. This book is called Music for Bagpipes and although long since out of print has proven to be popular with a number of memorable tunes. The Auckland Police Pipe Band March, The City of Hastings Highland Pipe Band March, Blockhouse Bay March and the piobaireachd Message From Dunvegan Castle being four that stand out. Bill, who has just turned 92, and Elsie live on Vancouver Island in Canada where he still maintains a keen interest in piping. He has produced three CDs singing, in canntaireachd, a number of piobaireachd tunes in accompaniment with son Jim: more on this later. Jim Barrie was born in Canada in 1941 and had his first lesson at the age of 5. That he was a prodigy there appears to be no doubt. At the age of six he won a practice chanter competition and received pipe music books to the value of $5. When he moved to New Zealand with his family he competed frequently and had immediate success. At the age of 13 he won the B Grade and A Grade on the same day. Winning the A Grade precluded him from ever playing in the lower grades again. Jim is a multi-talented musician and plays several other instruments; there have been numerous occasions when he has added to the ceilidh atmosphere with his fine skills on the button accordion and guitar. Jim also involved himself in the pipe band scene; in the early 1960s, be joined the New Zealand Police and was quickly made pipe major of the Auckland Police Pipe Band. He was also a member of the New Zealand Champions Innes Tartan Pipe Band (now Auckland and District) and was with them when they went on their famous tour to Scotland and North America in 1972. Despite having lived in New Zealand for over 20 years, Jim had a hankering for his country of birth and so in 1974, along with his wife Jan and two young sons set off for a new life in Canada. Initially, they resided in Alberta and then in 1990 moved back to Jim’s birthplace, Vancouver. Jim has been actively involved in judging both solo and pipe band competitions and has also been in demand as a tutor in the many Summer Schools that are held on both sides of the Canadian/American border. One of his main areas of interest is satisfying the ever-increasing demand for those who wish to learn the Cameron style of playing piobaireachd. Jim is a devoted adherent of that style as he inherited it from his father and is probably one of the foremost authorities. As if all this has not been enough, Jim has also found time to involve himself in recording sessions with other musicians. The piping world has seen the results of two of these ventures; Simon Fraser University Pipe Band’s albums, SFU 25th Anniversary and Do Mo Chara Maith have Jim providing the synthesizer/accordion backing on some of the tracks. He was also involved with the recording and mixing of both of these albums. One of these tracks, Kanon, was recorded in his own studio. Bill and Jim have jointly been responsible for three of the most exciting and innovative CDs of bagpipe music ever produced. These feature Bill singing, in canntaireachd, a number of well-known piobaireachd in the Cameron style with Jim accompanying him on the button accordion and synthesizer. Regardless of which style of piobaireachd playing one adheres to, it is immediately obvious that the sheer musical mastery of these two talented men have produced something that transcends these barriers. Three CDs have been produced thus far and it can only be hoped that there are more in the pipeline. Jim, as a 13-year-old composed his first tune; it was a 2 parted strathspey called Friendly Bay. Friendly Bay is a delightful spot and is one of the natural features of Oamaru coastline. Most pipers when they begin composing will start with something simple, like a march, or perhaps a slow air. To start with a strathspey can only suggest that Jim had a musical maturity at the age of 13 years that was quite unique. The next 20 years proved to be extremely fertile in both the number of tunes composed and the quality of the tunes. Many of Jim’s compositions have passed the test in that they have been immediately accepted by his piping contemporaries. Tunes like Donald MacLeod, John MacKenzie’s Fancy, Willie Barrie’s Favourite, Donald Bain’s Bairns, (all hornpipes) Barry Brougham’s Beard, (Jig) The York Reel, William Barrie’s Farewell to New Zealand, (March) and the delightful slow air Jack Terry are all tunes that have found their way into the repertoires of band and solo pipers throughout the world. They will forever stand alongside the great tunes that have been composed by pipers over the last 200 years. A couple of years ago Bill and Jim decided to compile a collection of their tunes. Bill had published his own collection in 1975 and many of Jim’s have appeared in other notable publications over the last 35 years but it does seem to be a logical step to bring all together in one book. In 2001 A Lifetime of Compositions by William and James Barrie was published. This is an upmarket publication with 76 tunes – forty-four are either composed or arranged by Bill and 32 are by Jim. All the tunes from Bill’s earlier book are in the new one. There are numerous biographical notes and photographs. It has been presented in an excellent fashion with the pages being a beige colour; light artificial foxing around the edges gives a splendid appearance of antiquity. The type is brown in colour to contrast with the yellowish pages. It is a superb publication of pipe music. One of the more impressive features as far as the writer is concerned is there are also four piobaireachd by Bill; Andrew MacNeill of Colonsay, Lament for Pipe Major Robert Reid, The Sounds of Mull and Message From Dunvegan Castle. These are all fine tunes, but the writer has for many years had a liking for The Sounds of Mull; it is a tune with a great melodic line in the ground and this melody flows all way through the variations. Andrew MacNeill of Colonsay and Lament for Pipe Major Robert Reid have both been recorded on albums by Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.