The evening which was to feature a range of different bagpipes started with a bang. Angus MacColl played one of the copies of the Black Set of Kintail that Hamish Moore has made. These pipes can be found in Inverness Museum and are dated to 1785.
This particular set, in the key of A and made in mopane wood, was presented to Rachel Gray as her prize for winning the pìobaireachd song element of the recent Raasay Competition. Rachel was unfortunately unable to attend that night, but kindly allowed her new pipes to be used to introduce the concert.
By Angus Clarke
It says a great deal for Angus that he was prepared to open the night’s proceedings on an instrument that he had never seen until just a short while beforehand. He gave a lovely rendition of I got a Kiss of the King’s Hand on the pipes before switching to his own instrument. For those unfamiliar with these pipes in A, they have a lovely deep, sonorous tone that has to be heard live to be fully appreciated.
To settle his own instrument, Angus played a set of well-known 4/4 marches, followed by a slow air set. Just to remind us – or perhaps as a teaser for the following day’s activity just up the road at Blair Castle – Angus played the 2/4 competition marches Arthur Bignold of Lochrosque and the Argyllshire Gathering.
In doing so he reminded us of his wonderful musicality and his brisk, lightness of touch when playing these ‘heavy’ tunes. He finished his set with a highly entertaining and lively set of strathspeys and reels in the style required for step dancing. (As an aside, Angus was runner up at the recent Raasay competition in both the pìobaireachd song and the dance music sections.)
The concert’s interval was bookended by the group inB, featuring smallpipes and uillean pipes all in the key of B. The players were Fin Moore, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Louise Mulcahy and Tairnán Ó Duinnchinn.
As you might expect the audience was treated to a selection of Irish and Scottish material, and of course tunes that have crossed the Irish Sea in both directions and become embedded in both cultures – a process that happily shows no sign of ending as the jigs the Kitchen Maid, Joe P’s and Fog in the Bog clearly showed.
For a concert whose motivating force was Hamish Moore, it was entirely fitting that his tune Farewell to Decorum should have featured near the end of the set.
To conclude the evening’s theme of not so usual sights and sounds, Ross Ainslie came on stage to play a wonderful set of tunes. That in itself was not unusual; what was different was that Ross was on Highland pipes and unsupported. Added significance was lent to the occasion because he was playing Gordon Duncan’s Glen pipes – with the Duncan family’s kind permission.
The Vale of Atholl connection with Pitlochry and its Town Hall meant that neither the player nor the instrument were strangers to that particular stage. Also unusual was to hear Ross start with tunes coming from the ‘traditional’ piping canon, including a set of vibrant two parted strathspeys followed by the heavy competition reels Mrs MacPherson of Inveran and Pretty Marion, all played in grand style.
He concluded with an encore of Galician dance tunes that held the audience enthralled.
This concert marked in many respects a continuation of the concerts held in Blair Atholl village hall in the two years prior to covid. Again, these were held as an opportunity to enjoy a style of piping different from the competition piping held in the ballroom of Blair Castle the next day.
Speaking personally, I can vouchsafe that taking in both events was a highly enjoyable experience and one to be recommended.
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