The pictured clipping from the Edinburgh Evening Courant from September 1780 appears at first to just be a satirical dig at the stock image of a highlander. Which indeed it is, and typically for the period is very slanted. But, at the same time it does raise a question: Normally when it comes to the context of pipers starting to use written music there is a gap from Joseph MacDonald (whose work in any case would not have been generally known) to Donald MacDonald and his productions for the Highland Society of Scotland.
However, this clipping might also indicate that somewhat earlier, pipers were starting to take an interest in written music. The disparaging aspects of the article could go some way to explain Donald MacDonald’s own view of the ‘untutored’ teaching of the older masters. It is a view that continued down to the 1860’s when John Ban MacKenzie retired and the Breadalbane Factor was trying to find a replacement. MacKenzie was approached to see if there was anyone he could recommend from his new home in Ross. He replied that although there were a number of local pipers ‘none of them were learned’, i.e., had been taught through the use of written music.
Did Iain Ban leave a ms behind? The ms left by his nephew and pupil, Ronald MacKenzie, is as far as I know are the source for Iain Ban’s tunes. Unless, “learned” meant strictly “literate” then couldn’t it also mean “properly trained” as opposed to “tinker” piping? And the tradition of putting down “common pipers” is older than tartan.
How do Menzie’s collection (1818) and MacLeod’s collection (1828) fit in the early history of piping notation?
I wonder if the personality being satirized in the joke above is Donald MacDonald.
Questions Cubreac more questions. When I first sent this item in to the esteemed editor he sold me the idea of doing it directly myself with a ‘short’ note. He forgot to remind me of the follow up.
John Ban MacKenzie is usually stated to have been illiterate and certainly did not leave behind any MS. Though as Duncan Campbell (who William Donaldson for no particularly good reason consistently calls ‘of Foss’), was reputed to have been a pupil of John Ban and did leave some manuscripts which might reflect MacKenzies playing. In the case of the letter to Breadalbane’s Chamberlain the suspicion is that it was dictated by John Ban but written by his wife.
The whole question of literacy at that time was probably one of ‘degree’ rather than any blanket uniformity. Duncan Ban MacIntyre the Gaelic poet was also stated to have been totally illiterate, at least until I turned up a number of his signatures when he signed for receipt of his pension post army service. I passed photocopies to Ronald Black who has reproduced them in his paper ‘A Forgotten Song by Duncan Ban MacIntyre’ in ‘Bile os Chrannaibh A Festschrift for William Gillies’, 2010).
One thing I have noticed while working through the pre 1800 Scottish military records was that some regiments actually offered the soldiers classes in reading and writing, usually taken by the NCO who was the Adjutants Clerk. Furthermore a number of such men went on post their military service to become school teachers. One that comes to mind was a John Weir who had been a sergeant in the same regiment as Colin Campbell of the canntaireachd manuscripts. Weir was appointed master of the Parish School at Kilfinnan in 1785.
Before leaving John Ban MacKenzie and his influences there is one slight oddity in that his uncle and an aunt lived at Ardmaddy in the early 1800’s at the same time as the Campbells were around and living right there too. Yet, curiously, there is no indication in what has come down to us from either side that such a situation existed, but they must have known each other.
There was nothing derogatory in the term ‘Common Piper’, it was in Lowland Scotland just a reflection that they were employed by the Burghs. Just as the Burgh accounts were termed the Common Good Funds. The word common simply in modern terms meaning the ‘Community’.
Menzies Preceptor has a certain period charm but tells us little other than he was an enthusiastic amateur musician and that Allan MacDougall of Perth had started making bagpipes by that time. The Preceptor was probably an attempt to cash in on the publicity given to Highland Regiments in general and pipers specifically following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Menzies who died on the 30 April 1828 had been a Captain in the Perthshire Militia and seems to have been survived by only a sister.
Menzies also left a manuscript entitle ‘Airson Clarsaich’ from circa 1822 which now belongs to the School of Scottish Studies. Once again it is late and does not add anything much to our knowledge of harping, although it did expose a hole in my own knowledge when I discovered only last year that I have actually had a copy since around 1973. After three years spent working in South Africa and reading Collinson’s Traditional Music repeatedly ending up with more questions rather than any answers the first thing I did when I came home was to look at the Angus Fraser MS and order a microfilm.
It is a large manuscript and until ‘borrowing’ time on an institutional reader last year had never before actually looked hard at the very end. (The relevant Harp Tree material is at the beginning and middle). Clearly the University microfilm master copy had both manuscripts on it and they just ran off their whole reel when filling my order.
MacLeod of Gesto’s Collection is about to be released in an edited version by the late Roderick Cannon. Although closer to the actual sung canntaireachd it does not count as written music in terms of dots on lines which was the inference I was making in the original post. There are though manuscripts of two of the tunes taken during a visit to Gesto by Alexander Campbell and noted down as written music with the canntaireachd lined out below each stave. Barnaby is now aware of this and where each manuscript tune is to be found and I think in due course they will also be added to this site. However, interesting as they are Alexander Campbell was not a piper so does not really count either.
Lastly is it Donald MacDonald of piping fame who is being satirized in the article? No, far too early to be him. Although out of nappies he would only have been 12-13 years of age at that time.
Many thanks for all the fascinating information, Keith. It is very much appreciated.