Angus was born in 1877 and was still a youth when he became the personal piper to Col. Ewen Henry Davidson Macpherson, the 22nd Chief. Later he served in that capacity for Albert Cameron, the 23rd. He was only 11 years of age when the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie came to Cluny in 1888 for the first time. Mrs Carnegie had fallen madly in love with the music of the Highland pipes and persuaded her husband that he must have a personal piper. A contest was held in which many pipers of the day vied for the position. The winner -- Angus' older brother, John. The home that the Carnegies had leased in Scotland turned out to be too small for their purposes and, after a short search, settled on Cluny Castle which was available due to the need to relieve the stress on the Cluny family fortunes. That lease was extended for ten summers and during the period the family became acquainted with the piping skills of Angus as well as John.

Cluny Castle was no longer available for lease after 1898 and the Carnegies chose Skibo Castle, four miles west of Dornoch in Sutherland, as their new summer home. Remembering, Angus' ability, Mrs Carnegie chose him to be the Skibo piper. This was the beginning of several decades of pleasant association that involved not only concerts at Skibo but trips to New York for their daughter's wedding in 1919 and other celebratory occasions.

Angus became a businessman in time including a thirty-five year stint as a hotelkeeper, angling guide and farmer at Inveran near Skibo Castle on the River Shin. But these commercial activities only paid the overhead for his true love -- piping and he demonstrated his mastery of the art at the many piping competitions throughout the period. He was awarded the MBE for 'services to piping' at a private investiture by the Queen at Balmoral Castle a few years before his death in 1976, a year shy of a century.