David Manson was a retired officer of the Canadian army who worked as a Glasgow silversmith. It was during this time that he wrote his famous competition march “Major David Manson at Clachantrushal” on a practice chanter borrowed from fellow piper Alex Craig. He would spend the next five years as a prisoner of war in Germany and Poland. Here’s the frontispiece for the small two-tune folder published by Glasgow’s College of Piping in the 1950s just to keep us right.Īnd a few words on the composer, Pipe Major Donald MacLean, courtesy of “On June 12, 1940, he, along with the likes of Donald MacLeod, John Wilson, George McIntyre and many other pipers in the 51st Highland Division, were captured in France at St. Not many tune titles happen by accident and all of them are there to represent something important to the composer, and, in turn, the star of the tune – be that a person, place or thing.Īnd so, did the melody in question – composed, in this example, by Donald MacLean (Lewis) stand as a “fond, emotional farewell” or a “geezuz, for gawd sakes, yer still here?” commemoration ? To pipers (and some publishers) tune titles mean little and, generally, and are forgotten often. The second? As a guy who makes tunes from time to time it bugs me that people frequently screw with titles – tune titles. Along with that, this tune is played a lot, and in name, represented wrongly – a lot. I think, first, if I was true to myself and fessing up, well, it’s a parochial bagpipe thing: it’s just not permitted in our little world to have perceived errors in fact or musical score portrayed as otherwise in any situation – dammit. Why the bother, you ask? And get a life – I hear you. There are a couple of instances where people might talk and, so, where I find myself more riled up than other times: those that get me going more than almost any other: the first, the georgebushian “nucular”, for nuclear (as in war and bombs) and the second related to the pipe tune, “Pipe Major Manson’s Farewell to Clachantrushal” for “Major David Manson AT Clachantrushal”, the later being the accurate and right name for this bagpipe 2/4-timed march – played always and often in bagpipe circles. Clachantrushal Septemon 6:56 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Random Thoughts, Solo Piping, Whinges | Comments Off on Clachantrushal
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