Angus Mac Kay—Queen Victoria’s first piper—His book—Donald Mac Kay—John Bane Mac Kenzie—The Queen’s offer—The piper’s reply—Donald Cameron—His achievements—His theory of pipe music—His system of noting—His last competition—A special reed—“The King of Pipers”—Other latter day pipers.

After the death of the last Mac Crimmon piper in 1822 no one was left to maintain the traditions of the hereditary pipers. But the class was not wholly extinct. The next notable name we come across is one that is not likely to be soon forgotten by those interested in Highland music. There is no name better known to the world of pipers than that of Angus Mac Kay, the compiler of the first really serviceable book of pipe music, but, curiously enough, very little is known of his life. He belonged to a well-known family of pipers, and was connected with the famous Mac Kays of Gairloch. The family home was at Kyleakin, the pretty Skye village opposite the Kyle terminus of the Highland Railway. His father, John Mac Kay, was piper to Mac Leod of Raasay, who sent him to Boreraig, Dunvegan, to be instructed by John Dubh Mac Crimmon. He was afterwards piper to Lord Willoughby de Eresby in Perthshire, and finally settled in Kyleakin, where he trained some of the best-known pipers, including John Bane Mac Kenzie.

Angus was born in Kyleakin about 1813, and was instructed by his father. He was piper to Davidson of Tulloch and also to Campbell of Islay. Afterwards he entered the service of Queen Victoria, in which he remained for many years. He was, by the way, Her Majesty’s first piper. He devoted a great deal of his time to collecting and noting the leading pipe tunes, and in 1838 he published his collection as a book. This was, and still is, a unique work, being the first systematic collection. Mac Donald’s, which came before it, was crude and could hardly be played from except by expert performers, but Mac Kay’s book, which consists of sixty pibrochs, although it contains various errors, is to this day considered by many competent judges the best of its kind ever written. It is the author’s lasting monument, and although comparatively little is known of his life, it cannot fail to keep his name in remembrance long after the names of those who were pipers only are forgotten. Mac Kay was a tall, gentlemanly-looking man, with a taste for literature. He died at Dumfries on 21st March, 1859, under sad circumstances. His mind had given way, and when out walking near the Nith, he somehow got into the river, and was drowned before those with whom he resided were aware that he was out of their charge. His nephew, Donald Mac Kay, who was trained at Maryburgh, Ross-shire, by Donald Cameron, became piper to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, now King Edward VII., and his wife was for a long time in the Royal service at Sandringham.

John Mac Kenzie, familiarly known as John Bane Mac Kenzie, or Am Piobaire Bàn, was born near Dingwall about the end of the seventeenth century, and died in 1864, full of years, and with as high honours as piper could expect to get. His first situation as piper was with Mr. Mac Kenzie of Allangrange, about 1820. The following year he entered the service of Mr. Davidson of Tulloch, where he remained for twelve or thirteen years. While at Tulloch John was often taken by his master to Applecross, where a friend of his, a Captain Mac Kenzie, resided. One of Captain Mac Kenzie’s daughters fell in love with the handsome piper, and one night they ran away and got married at Crieff. Shortly afterwards John was appointed piper to the then Marquis of Breadalbane, in whose service he remained for thirty years, when ill-health forced him to retire. He spent the evening of his days in a fine cottage which he bought in the village of Munlochy, Ross-shire, and died in 1864, deeply regretted by all who knew him. He was buried at Strathpeffer, where a fine headstone was erected by his wife, to mark his grave.

John Bane Mac Kenzie was the foremost player of his time, and as an all round exponent of the national instrument it is doubtful if he ever had an equal. In appearance he was the finest possible specimen of a Highlander, of tall, handsome physique, upright in appearance as in character. When in full uniform his tunic was covered with medals and decorations won at competitions, including the gold medal of the Highland Society of London, which he won in 1838, when it was first offered. His knowledge of English was limited, but what he lacked in English he made up in the quaintly humorous nature of his replies and his good knowledge of his native tongue. He composed a number of tunes, the best known of which is “Mac Kenzie’s Farewell to Sutherland.” Her late Majesty Queen Victoria having seen John, asked his master if his piper would enter her service. The story of how he declined the Queen’s offer is worth telling. When she communicated to Breadalbane her desire to have Am Piobaire Bàn as a member of the Royal household, the chief felt taken aback, but not wishing to offend Her Majesty, he approached John on the matter:—

“‘John,’ he said, ‘the Queen wants a piper.’

“‘Yes, ma Lort.’

“‘He must be thoroughly first-rate at marches, and also at strathspeys and reels, just the same as you are yourself, John.’

“‘Yes, my Lort.’

“‘The Queen also wishes her piper to be a fine specimen of a Highlander, tall and handsome, with a fine face and figure; in fact, one something like yourself, John.’

“‘Yes, my Lort.’

“‘There is one other indispensable qualification. He must be sober, reliable, and in every way a respectable man, just like yourself, John.’

“‘Yes, my Lort.’

“‘Well, I have now told you all that is required in the man wanted by the Queen. He must be in all respects like yourself, both as man and as piper. Can you recommend any?’

“‘Inteet, ma Lort, there’s no sich a man to be found in aal Scotland.’

“‘And will you go yourself, John?’

“‘Na, na, my Lort, na, na.’”

This finished the conversation, and John remained with Breadalbane. This story, it may be noted, bears a striking resemblance to one told of the Prince of Wales’s piper in a previous chapter.^[15]

Queen Victoria seems to have coveted the best of the Highland pipers, but while no one doubted their loyalty, they did not always agree to serve Her Majesty. Not only did John Bane Mac Kenzie prefer the service of his chief to that of his Queen, but Donald Cameron, a pupil of his, and the piper who, more than any other, was acknowledged to be the true successor of the Mac Crimmons, declined a similar offer, and remained with his Highland master.

Eleven years before the last Mac Crimmon piper died, Donald Cameron was born at “the burn of the music,” in Strath-Conan, Ross-shire, and at eight years of age he was playing the pipes. The late Mr. Mac Kenzie of Millbank, an influential Highland gentleman in the district, took a great interest in the youthful musician, and put him under the tuition of Big Donald Mac Lennan, of Moy, father of the well-known John Mac Lennan, piper to the late Earl of Fife. Cameron was next taught by Angus Mac Kay, whose father, John Mac Kay was taught by John Dubh Mac Crimmon. His last tutor was John Bane Mac Kenzie. He first competed in Edinburgh in 1838, at seventeen years of age, and won second prize, a claymore marked “Andria Varara,” which afterwards came into the possession of the late Major A. C. Mac Kenzie, Maryburgh, Ross-shire.

The prizes won by Cameron during his career as a professional piper were not very numerous, but they were all high, and he soon became ineligible through having won all the possible firsts. In his early days there was generally a rehearsal of intending competitors, and only the best were allowed to compete in public, with the result that the very permission to compete was considered an honour, and the winning of a prize a distinguished honour. Cameron won at Perth, in 1850, a large silver challenge medal presented by his employer, the late Colonel Keith W. Stewart Mac Kenzie of Seaforth; and he won the Highland Society of London’s challenge gold medal in Inverness in 1859, a feat which was subsequently performed by his sons, Colin and Alexander; and also six sets of pipes at different meetings. His first service as piper was with Mr. Robert Morison, Scallisaig, Glenelg. Afterwards he was employed by Sir James J. R. Mac Kenzie, Bart., of Scatwell and Rosehaugh, but his principal service was with Colonel Mac Kenzie of Seaforth, with whom he continued till his death at Maryburgh in January, 1868. When the Brahan Company of Volunteers was formed by Seaforth in 1866, Cameron was appointed honorary piper, and when he died a detachment accompanied his remains to the burying-ground of the High Church, Inverness.

In 1863, Seaforth presented his piper with the title deeds of one of the best houses in the village of Maryburgh, thus following to a certain extent the practice of the chiefs when the piper was a part of the household. Ten years previously he was selected to be piper to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, an honour which he highly appreciated, but so strong was his attachment to Seaforth that he preferred to remain with him. Donald Cameron was very like the Mac Crimmons. He lived in different times, but had he lived when they lived he would have been as one of them. In his theory of pipe music the sounds formed a continuous and harmonious whole, as distinguished from that of one or two other well-known pipers, whose playing, even of pibrochs, was marked by its jerkiness. He was practically an illiterate man, but, besides being able to read ordinary music, he noted his tunes in a special manner, on the lines of the Canntaireachd of the Mac Crimmons or the Mac Arthurs. Each of these systems of notation was different from the others, and the invention of the piper who originally used it, so if Cameron was illiterate he was certainly also clever. He was a shrewd old man, with a fund of stories connected with the Highlands and leading Highland families. He was a keen angler and a great favourite with Seaforth. When, at a comparatively early age, he had ceased playing at competitions, he determined once more to try his skill in public. So he took advantage of the Northern Meeting, Inverness, where a competition was to be held for former gold medalists only. This competition was the first of its kind, and all the best men were there. When Donald Cameron began to play a great hush fell on the crowd, and he played to an audience that scarcely breathed. He was, of course, placed first. On that matter there was no room for dispute. The photograph here reproduced was taken immediately after that competition.

When Cameron was playing in the year 1859 for the Highland Society of London’s gold medal at Inverness, he had rather an awkward experience. The tune was “Mac Intosh’s Lament,” and he had not got much more than through the ground or urlar when the drones began to slip off his shoulder. He made several futile attempts to adjust them, but down they would come, and down they did come, until they rested on his arm. But this made no difference whatever to the rendering of the tune. He played just as if the instrument was on his shoulder in the ordinary way. An onlooker remarked to Alexander Mac Lennan how splendidly he played, although under a disadvantage. “Sandy” replied that “it made no difference to Donald although he held the bag between his knees.”

In personal appearance, as the sketch shows, he was the ideal successor of the hereditary pipers. In 1862 he won a prize of £10 offered by the Club of True Highlanders for the best rendering of pibrochs, and the chronicler of the event refers to him as being “with his grand, massive face and ample grey beard, the very impersonation of an old Highland piper.” His favourite music was pibroch, but he was an all-round master of the pipes. Like many old players, he made all his own reeds, and was very particular about them. He had one special reed, which he used only on high occasions, such as a guest night at Brahan Castle. He kept it, when not in use, in an air-tight bottle, and one day a tinker piper called at his house, and, as usual with the class, begged for a reed. Mrs. Cameron thoughtlessly gave him this old-looking reed out of the bottle, and when Donald came home some time after, and was told what had been done, he was sorely put about. Cameron was one of that small number of men who could keep up a continuous sound when playing the practice chanter, a thing very few players can do. He was the composer of some first-class tunes, including “Kessock Ferry,” “Brahan Castle,” and “Lady Anne Mac Kenzie’s Farewell to Rosehaugh.” Of his four sons, three became pipers. Colin, piper to the Duke of Fife, is well known as a teacher of pipe music; Alexander was piper to the Marquis of Huntly; and Keith Cameron, now dead, was piper to the Highland Light Infantry. They all made names for themselves in the musical world, but in no case is their personality so outstanding as that of their father. Although the mantle of the Mac Crimmons seemed to fall on him, the changing circumstances of life made it impossible for him to pass it on to another generation, and to find the true representative of the old pipers in the pipers of to-day would task the ingenuity of those best acquainted with the accomplishments of the different men.

John Bane Mac Kenzie and Donald Cameron were the only players who held the title, “King of Pipers.” This was played for at the Northern Meeting, Inverness, and was the prize given at a competition between champions, the winner being known as the “champion of champions” or “King of Pipers.” After Donald Cameron’s day, when he won the prize and the title, the competition lapsed, and though there are now many so-called “champions,” there is no “King of Pipers.”

Among other latter-day pipers it is almost impossible to pick and choose. There was Donald Mac Phee, a miner lad from Coatbridge, who became pipe-maker, teacher, composer of and writer about pipe music, and died in Glasgow in 1880; William Ross, piper to the Black Watch, and later to Queen Victoria, who compiled a book containing forty pibrochs, and 437 strathspeys, marches, and reels; Donald Mac Phedran, a first-class Glasgow player who had one of the largest known collections of manuscript tunes; Alexander Cameron, a brother of Donald Cameron, who won all the champion gold medals, and was looked on as the Mac Crimmon of his day; Duncan Mac Eachern, an apparently clumsy manipulator of the pipes, but an able player; Donald Galbraith, a native of Islay; Alexander Mac Donald, late piper to the Duke of Fife; the Mac Lennans, especially William Mac Lennan, who as a piper and dancer occupied a unique position; Alexander Mac Donald, Glentruim, a splendid pibroch player, who died a few years ago at Aberlour; Malcolm Mac Pherson, Cluny’s piper, and a well-known pibroch player; John Mac Rae, known as Piobaire Beag, who was piper to Francis, Lord Seaforth, and John Bane Mac Kenzie’s first tutor; Duncan Campbell, piper to Sir Charles Forbes, Castle Newe, Strathdon, a piper who on arriving at a competition always asked if Donald Cameron was there, as “he did not care for anyone else;” Pipe-Major Alexander Mac Lennan, of the Inverness Militia; John Mac Lauchlan, a first-rate player of the “little” music; and many others who deserve to be written about. In our own day we have Colin Cameron, son of Donald, piper to the Duke of Fife and recognised as not only one of the best living pipers, but a man who takes more than a passing interest in the literature of his art and of the Highlands generally; William Sutherland, Airdrie, now retired, a man who had not his equal at jigs, was very successful as an all-round player, and composed numerous tunes; Pipe-Major Mac Dougal Gillies, of the 1st H.L.I., a pupil of Alexander Cameron, son of Seaforth’s famous piper, and himself one of the best known and most successful of living players; John Mac Coll of Oban, a pupil of Mac Phee’s and holder of most of the highest possible honours; Ronald Mac Kenzie, late of the 78th Highlanders and now piper to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon; Angus Mac Rae of Callander; Farquhar Mac Rae of Glasgow, and other leading pipers whose success and popularity deserve notice. But to do justice to the subject would require a large amount of space and it would also necessitate comparisons between the abilities of lately deceased and still living men, which the present writer is not at all inclined to make. The task of general biographer would no doubt be pleasant, and there are materials enough in existence to justify anyone in believing that the result would be well worthy of the effort, but this is hardly the place for it. It is enough for us, at present, to know that we still have men fully capable of keeping pipe music up to the high standard set by its old time exponents and that, if we have few who, like Saul of old, are head and shoulders above the crowd, the stature of the crowd itself is of a high average. Perhaps that very fact will make the task of the biographer all the more difficult.