I took a trip up Glen Strathfarrar a week ago to see the P/M Willie Ross cairn. It’s been in situ for about 15 years following the campaign by the late Finlay MacRae for a monument to his old tutor born in the glen at Camsorie.
By The Editor
A visit to the cairn should be on every piper’s bucket list. To get there take the A831 from near Beauly west of Inverness and turn onto the minor road before Struy Bridge. There is a signpost:
Drive a few miles until you are confronted by one of those rising barriers you usually see at border patrol checkpoints. The road hereafter is private but the two estates involved allow motor access at given times:
Ring the bell at the cottage and someone will allow you through, noting your vehicle registration and telling you that your car must be out of the glen by 19.00 or the mountain rescue might be called.
The cairn is about seven miles further on. It is a pleasant drive even with the hydro-electric industrialisation. Watch for the cairn on your right at Ardchuilk (NH2638 or ///equality.branch.grounding).
Park the car and a small grassy incline takes you to the memorial. As you can see from the photo at the head of this article, its scenic situation could not be bettered. I’m happy to report that it is still in good condition with the plaque clearly legible:
The Willie Ross cairn is just one of several must visits for any self-respecting piper. Firstly in the south we have the memorial to Angus MacKay on the shores of the Nith in Dumfriesshire and well maintained by pipers in the south-west. It’s off the B725 before the village of Glencaple:
It was here that Angus, the great genius of the bagpipe, left this earth; deranged, he plunged headlong into the cold waters of the estuary never to be seen again.
Next we have the Calum Piobaire cairn in Badenoch, just off the A889 on the road to Laggan. Look out for it on the small hill to your left as you head north:
Over in Deeside there is the cairn to the Bobs of Balmoral at Braemar, an idyllic spot among the birches and close to where the piobaireachd board at Braemar games is sited:
Topping them all in size and import is the MacCrimmon Cairn at Borreraig in north west Skye. It’s a long but worthwhile trek to the hallowed, windswept turf.
Planning a trip to take in them all is pretty straightforward. Take your pipes and have a tune at each. Take a few pictures and put them on the wall of your piping cave. On completion of your tour you can consider yourself a piper who knows and appreciates something of your heritage.
I am lucky that I took the way to Borreraig when I was on Skye back in 2017. It was in my early years of piping when I just started diving into this high cultural tradition of the MacCrimmons and I was able to play just the urlar of a piobaireachd at that time. (Didn’t know that I had to cross at least one fence with my kilt on…)
But when I stood there in the gusty wind overlooking Loch Dunvegan with the mighty castle on the far right, I felt overwhelmed and free and the melody flew and the fingers worked well although they were frozen. I will never forget this moment of dignity.
There is also the memorial to Iain Dall MacKay (the blind piper) in Flowerdale Glen, Gairloch, Wester Ross. An easy walk, although haven’t shouldered the pipe up to it yet!