Leaving St. Kilda by Pipe Major W. Ross
Major W. Knox, M.C. by G. MacDonald
The Highland Brigade at Magersfontein by Pipe Major John MacLellan D.C.M.
| This set of tunes includes a slow air and two
3/4 retreat marches. The air, Leaving St. Kilda, comes from
the Pipe Major William Ross Collection. St. Kilda is a rocky,
treeless archipelago, about 110 miles west of the Scottish mainland.
The largest of the islands has been inhabited, for some periods at least,
from about four thousand years ago. The St. Kildans were
self-sufficient until the development of the steamship, which eventually
brought a steady stream of visitors. In relying on the steamers for
food and fuel in order to produce items for sale to tourists, the St.
Kildans were the designers of their own demise. When severe weather
prevented the steamers from appearing shortages occurred, and eventually
emigration began. Finally the population was reduced to such an
extent that life on the island was not sustainable, and on the 29th of
August 1930 the remaining islanders were evacuated to the Scottish
mainland at their own request.
Major W. Knox, M.C. and The Highland Brigade
at Magersfontein both come from the Cowal Collection of
Highland Bagpipe Music and the Seaforth Collection. These
two marches are typical of a pipe band set, and we added some pipe band
drumming into the sets to add this effect.
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