The Highland Bagpipe Instructor

Music Anthology

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Foreword to the Anthology

According to the Table of Contents for Volume 2 of John Grant’s The Highland Bagpipe

Instructor, the tutor was to have a music anthology following Appendix III. On page 60 of the

transcribed edition are listed the musical works he intended to include. However, the bound

manuscript, fMS Mus. 120.2 at Harvard University’s Houghton Library, contains no such anthology.

In January 2010, having been awarded a semester sabbatical in order to pursue research

of Grant abroad, I was permitted to study and photograph the materials of Grant in the possession

of his descendants in Edinburgh and Zurich. Among them were five Methven-Simpson Manuscript

Music Books, each labeled, in Grant’s hand “The Highland Bagpipe Instructor.” The music therein

was immaculately written, in ink, with no corrections. The ordering of tunes follows Grant’s plan

as explained in his chapter entitled “Ceòl Aòtrom–Marches Strathspeys & Reels” in volume 2

(pages 42-43 of the transcribed edition). I provide the text again here for ease of access:

The first six Marches have been carefully selected not only for their simplicity, but for their beauty,

as well as their popularity, so that the beginner may find them in the same volume as the Instructor. After

the simple tunes have been committed to memory, and the pupil can perform them to perfection there are

another thirty [actually twenty-two] Marches which have been specially selected for further attention in the

prosecution of the art of playing Quicksteps or Marches.

The four-part Marches are all noted as I play them myself. Since they were composed many of

them have become almost unrecognizable on account of their having been set and reset in various

publications by different pipers and publishers, but I have endeavoured as far as possible to leave them

with the major part of their originality, without the use of excessive gracing or superfluous ornamentation

which tends only to hamper good clear fingering, for by so doing the melody, which is the main part of all

the music of the world, is preserved.

Strathspeys and Reels

Six two-part Strathspeys and Reels are also specially selected for beginners. They are all very

popular tunes, and admirably suited for dancing to. Every one of them is comparatively easy to perform

as well as to memorise.

These are followed by other six four-part Strathspeys and Reels, which have been selected for their

bright and lively rhythm as well as their popularity. The tunes have also been noted with the necessary

amount of grazing, which makes them pleasing to the ear as well as giving a number of the melody notes

unhampered with unnecessary grace notes.

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Miscellaneous Tunes

The five concluding tunes, the Jig, the Hornpipe, the Polka, and the Waltz, together with the Sword

Dance, are given in order to include one of each of their kind with the others which preceded them. These

tunes will become useful should the young piper ever require them. They can be played for dancing to, as

occasion may call for them, more especially the Jig, Hornpipe, and Sword Dance, but when all other music

is unavailable the Waltz can be played on the Highland bagpipe for this most graceful dance to good

purpose, and with fine effect.

Conclusion

-----Ceòl Mòr-----

In the olden days, when the MacCrimmon pipers were at the height of their fame, they put Ceòl

Mòr in the forefront. Then they thought of Ceòl Aòtrom, if ever they did at all; for it is said on good

authority that the lighter music was beneath the MacCrimmons’ dignity as masters of and performers on

the Great Highland Bagpipe.

I put the lighter music at the front in this work because most young piping pupils prefer to begin

nowadays with Marches Strathspeys, and Reels. But in doing so I still give piobaireachd its honoured, most

important and elevated “place in the sun”; for I have purposely left the “good wine” to the last.

As corrected above, Grant originally planned to include thirty four-parted marches, but in

the finished product he omitted “Burning of the Piper’s Hut,” “Captain Campbell of Glendaurel,”

“Daft Donald,” “Edinburgh Volunteers,” “Lord Alexander Kennedy,” “The Seventy-Fourth’s

Farewell to Edinburgh,” and “Sir Charles Forbes of Edinglassie.” He also included one more

strathspey: “Atholl Cummers,” and one more reel: “John MacKechnie’s Reel.”

The beginning of the list on page 60 above contains sixteen of Grant’s own works which

do not appear in the anthology. Since they are not mentioned at all in his explanation on pages 42-

43, quoted above, his inclusion of them in the list was undoubtedly an afterthought. Since he

already had copies of these, he had no reason to commit them to paper again until he prepared

the final version of the anthology, but that never happened.

For those unacquainted with bagpipe music printed in the 19 and early 20 centuries, itth th

will be disconcerting to see that dotted rhythms are practically non-existent, especially in quick

marches. It was expected then that pipers would know from aural tradition how the tunes went,

the printed page serving more as a memory aid than a teaching tool. This anthology is a valuable

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resource, nonetheless, especially for the study of the embellishments, which, like his instructor

Ronald MacKenzie, Grant believed needed to be used judiciously for the tune to be tasteful and

musical.

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Music Anthology

Table of Contents

Beginning Quick Marches

Highland Laddie, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Muckin’ o’ Geordie’s Byre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Lass o’ Gowrie, The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Caithness Volunteers, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Flowers of the Forest, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Johnnie Cope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Beginning Strathspey/Reels

Devil In the Kitchen, The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Reel o’ Tulloch, The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Captain Horne’s Strathspey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Piper o’ Drummond’s Rant, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Miss Drummond of Perth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Deil Among the Tailors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Bridge of Perth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Sandy Duff’s Reel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Arniston Castle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Christmas Carousing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Lord Blantyre’s Strathspey.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The High Road To Linton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Quick Marches

Abercairny Highlanders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Atholl Highlander’s March To Loch Katrine, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Balmoral Highlanders, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Barren Rocks of Aden, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Battle of Harlaw, The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Black Mount Forest, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Bonny Ann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Captain Campbell’s March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Charles Edward Hope Vere’s March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Donald Cameron’s March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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Duchess of Edinburgh’s March, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Glengarry’s Gathering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Highland Rory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Highland Wedding, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Leaving Glen Urquhart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Marchioness of Tullibardine’s March, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

My Native Highland Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Renfrewshire Militia, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Siege of Delhi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Seventy-First Highlanders, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Seventy-Ninth’s Farewell To Gibraltar, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Stirlingshire Militia, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Twenty-Fifth K.O.S.B., The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Strathspeys

Atholl Cummers, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Lady Loudon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Maggie Cameron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Mrs. MacBeth’s Strathspey.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Piper’s Bonnet, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Shepherd’s Crook, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Reels

Caber Feidh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Duntroon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Grey Bob, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

John MacKechnie’s Reel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Sheep Wife, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

To America We Go.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Other Tunes

Very Old Jig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Hornpipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Polka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A Waltz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Sword Dance, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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Piobaireachd

Earl of Seaforth’s Salute, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Strowan Robertson’s Salute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Desperate Battle-Perthe, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Too Long In This Condition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Massacre of Glencoe, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Old Sword’s Lament, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

MacKintosh’s Lament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64