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Soor Plooms o’ Galashiels
A fine Lowland air from the early 1700s with an interesting title. The story goes that in 1337 an English raiding party were returning south and stopped near Galashiels to feast in the fruit from some plum trees… read more…
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Stumpie
The Reel of Stumpie, Buttered Peas, The Highland Wedding, Wap and Row, Pwt ar y Bys, Jack’s be the Daddy On’t… just some of the names connected to this auld tune. read more…
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Maggie Lauder
As The Traditional Tune Archive says, “The melody “Maggie Lauder”…has had astonishing longevity from its first publications in the late 17th and early 18th centuries read more…
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Jack Lattin
Jack Lattin is a tune once popular across these islands. Composed in Ireland sometime in the early 1700s it quickly spread across the Irish Sea and appears in many music collections of the 18th century. read more…
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The Drummond Castle Manuscript, Book One – Border Pipe Settings
The Drummond Castle Manuscript, dated 1737, was compiled by David Young for James Drummond, the 3rd Duke of Perth, a prominent Jacobite and lieutenant-general of the Jacobite army in 1745. read more…
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Why Auld Tunes?
It is remarkable that tunes like Corn Rigs (first appears c1671) or The Roke (first appears c1663) have been part of our repertoire for at least 350 years but there are plenty more that that have fallen out of favour and countless others that have been forgotten completely. read more…
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Dancing Around The Mast
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I think this was the first tune I wrote on gaita, the bagpipe from Galicia in north west Spain, it’s certainly the first I have written down. read more…
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Auld Tunes – Stalker Castle
Here’s an interesting wee tune from The Piper’s Assistant, Published by Glen Bagpipe Makers in 1845 and edited by John McLachlan. read more…
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Mrs Catherine McNally of Glenburn
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A slow jig named after my paternal grandmother, Catherine McNally (nee McCormick) of Glenburn in Paisley. read more…
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Duncan’s Boots
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This reel was written in the summer of 1997 after a memorable time at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye during […] read more…
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Captain Service’s Trip to Whitehead
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Here’s a wee march that I wrote in 1997 and dedicated to Campbell Service, or Paddy as he was known […] read more…
