Angry Scots defend MacCrimmons legend

Press, 16 August 1980, Page 16

Angry Scots defend MacCrimmons legend

A dirge of rage, fury, and discordant. abuse, has begun to sound from north of the English bor-

der. One of Scotland’s, most cherished, traditions — the origins and history of its . greatest bagpipe music — has been denounced as a monstrbus hoax. ■ '..■■■ ’•:

Scots have long revered the legend of the MacCrimmons,- a family-., of .. Isle, of Skye . bagpipers said to have transformed rough bagpiping into -the intricate form known as piobaireachd of “piroch,” the classical music of the bagpipe.

it is claimed that no other piper can aspire to their classical genius and that for 300 years, Gaelic chiefs from all over Scotland paid, large sums of money to send their .-own pipers to sit at the feet of the MacCrimmons and soak up the pibroch — a process that took seven years. . ■

Now an author and respected- Scots piper, Alis- ■ tair Campsie, -argues

forcefully in a new book, that- the MacCrimmon story is an elaborate whimsical invention. '

The . facts : are, he concludes, after years of research, that the piping’ MacCrimmons never lived in Skye, never ran a piping college, and were not re- .

sponsible for: the composition of the music with • which - they are credited. ' The main evidence for the MacCrimmons lies in book published in 1838 en-

titled a collection of ancient . piobaireachd or Highland pipe music. Its author was a young piper, Angus Mac Kay, whose father was supposed to have been taught by the last of the great MacCrimmon teachers and who became personal piper to Queen Victoria. Mackay’s book contained 60 compositions together with an account of their MacCrimmon origins, as well as a detailed description of the college of piping. Its object, said a preface, was “to preserve in its -native simplicity and purity the ancient music of the country, by furnishing a fixed standard for future performers.”

But, as Campsie demonstrates, the book is riddled with errors. -The so-called MacCrimmon tunes are either improvments on older tunes, or celebrate events unconnected with the so-called ■ MacCrimmon era.

So what was behind the fraud — if fraud there was? One answer is the Mac Kay himself, . a

brilliant piper and accomplished dancer, who became Queen Victoria’s pet bagpipes player in 1-48, suffered from mental collapse brought on by a cerebral syphilis.

Mac Kay’s mental state became a cause of grave embarrassment to the royal household. He claimed to be secretly married to the Queen, and accused Prince Albert of interfering with his marital rights. In 1854 he was hauled off in a “straight waistcoat” to the mad-, house at Windsor where he was described as “the most violent patient in England.” Eventually he was shipped back to Scotland where he drowned himself breaking out of Dumfries lunatic asylum. Nevertheless, Gampsie’s assault is viewed with horror by the Scottish musical and literary estab-, lishment' When he first voiced - his doubts about the MacCrimmons he was barracked in the street by a collection of Scots poets, and there has been a flurry of irate lettes in the “Scotsman” newspaper.

Christine MacLellan, who runs the magazine, the “International Piper,” with her husband, John (who is also secretary of the Pibroch Society), dismisses Campsise’s claims as “utter nonsense.” The author says he has also received death threats from enraged Gaels.

NZPA-Reuter report