067c.traditions.html

MACPHERSON PIPING TRADITIONS
      The bagpipes are not exclusively a Scottish instrument but there is no country on earth that pays more attention to it and the musicians who play it. Yet during the period 1747-1782 playing the pipes was proscribed by the British Government as part of the Disarming Act enacted after the defeat of the Highlanders at Culloden. The pipes were considered to be an instrument of war and the ancient art of the piobaireachd -- the classical music of the pipes -- might have disappeared were it not for the pipers of the Highland regiments. They were the sole exceptions to the ban because of the enormous influence that pipe music had on the soldiers who followed the piper into the battle against the King's enemies.
      Of course, piping is enjoyed in activities other than inspiring men to valour in battle. Whereas the piobaireachd, is the cèol mór (great music) of the genre, the cèol beag (small music) is the traditional accompaniment for Highland dancing as shown in the photograph at the left. Before the fiddle and accordion became available the bagpipes provided the music for country dancing given the large number of jigs, reels and strathspeys that are still played on the pipes. In recent years a number of rock bands have added a bagpipe to their complement of instruments. The celebrated Battlefield Band is one of these that incorporates a piper along with sundry individuals holding forth with electric guitars and drums.
      There is a long tradition of piping in the Clan Macpherson. As was the case for many Highland clans in earlier times, the Chief of the Clan Macpherson supported a personal piper. One of the chiefs who we know followed this tradition was Ewen ('Old Cluny'), the 20th Chief. He brought Angus Macpherson from Skye to Badenoch to provide pipe music on a daily basis in the mid-19th century. This tradition was continued well into the 20th century.
      Angus was followed by his more illustrious son, Malcolm who is better remembered as Calum Piobair. His photo and short biography appears below at item 67c. Malcolm had nine sons altogether, four of whom succeeded him as pipers -- John, Ewen Norman, and Angus. All four brothers dominated the piping scene during the late 19th and first third of the 20th centuries. Both John and Angus, in time, came to be the personal pipers of the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. Some of Norman's piping medals are shown as item 67e.