THE GUARDIAN, CH ‘AG! NINE

iITHE MAKING

on Si. Andrews‘ Day i! is in- teresting to note that scattered fhrgughﬂil! the world today are hundmd; of pipers, among them Australians, New Zea- , and even two Americans, who o. o something of their skill in a Scotsman who has probably taught more pipers than any oth-

‘r man in the world. lie is PEpn-hinlor William Rose, dn- n n! SPnZtiSh pipers and in- » n! the Edinburgh Castle n2. Born in Glen- _ which he describes oneliPst glen in SCJY- '_ ‘wmq Willie Ross began v ~ lmzpipcs when he was

s nlcl.

wnq a piper and so ~11 quickly ‘out even Mr‘. nt — and unusual- was a piper. she surprised caving world by send- ‘v rh over the air from

Juriios of the B. , Corporal Donald MacKinnon,

l iuvd the Scots » ' i - i r _ ' . _' v - 111 wml served xvith ‘ ’_ v . ._ , _ i , ‘. - ' __ i‘ i 7st Battalion, King's Own Scol- Wi‘ lg" ‘ms’ ~ j i * » ' , ~ ’ ‘ i A i , i i ‘ tish Borderers, was born not far i i i ' ' ' i ' . ' t t i, i ‘I‘ i - i i from Dunvﬂgﬂn Castle, Sk I, _ _ i ' i where the famous MacCrimmihn Six of flI9‘SCO"l$ll regiments are represented in this pipers practised their art. He 2z::.r;."'2:;:,:""*'":w" t." '~ i a a a . 2"‘ is": i" 2:‘ '- Pas °"$ 6g on t. Mar aret’: - i ' i ‘~ _ . i °Yr u "'1"? l I W0! 0 on- Chapel to the School of Piping. ln the present gcourgg . ' _ , g Cloned his career a: an Army are pipers from the Royal Scots, Royal Scots Fugiliers, - . ~ _ ' A ~ - ‘ v , _ ~ piper to become a fighter pilot King's Own Scottish Borderers, Highland Light Infantry, - i : I i‘ , " a . . . in the R.A.F. After the war he Gordon Highlanders and Argyll and Sutherland High- i - i- ,ii ' _ . ~i ' f" * returned to the ArmY- "I lenders. ' _ I . , ,‘ _ couldn't stay away from the

(Continued from column D

Queen's Medal o! the South Airi- oaa War carries eight ban.

Ila Uh’! Work

Then in 1919 he setvhled down to what has become his lite‘: work, the making of pipe-majors for the regiments of Scotland and tor many another organization, some Iver-sea. ln that year he took over the school in Crown Square, Edinburgh Castle. and in the 30 years that have followed a stream o! pipers, numbered in hundreds, has passed through the school.

Normally “pupils” spend Ill months at the school, learning the theory and practice of piping, but during the war years special eoureea lasting only one month were organised, and in this way I13 pipers received tuition

With the return o! peace, the Dix-monthly courses — with six pipers in each course-were begun lgain. Pipers come to the school as advanced players who may tome day become pipe-majors. At the end o! their six-anonths’ tui- tion they undergo a two-day exam- ination. Part nt‘ their test is the writing in manuscript form of an air on the pipes,

The Itandard of piping today la fairly good, says PipeJ/iajor Reel, and the popularity of the pipes h growing all the ti’ Modestly he eschew-s any per-so al credit for the job that is being done and gives most of the praise to the Piobaireachd Society of Scotland. "they are doing a great service to . . the ‘pipin! world by ﬁnancing thiia _ _ - _ _ _ lchool." he says.

_ ~. i i ' P'P°'M°l°l' G- smdda": ROY“, i . i ' v 0t his own part he will only ii Scots Fusiliers interrupts hls ’ ' i ii i ‘M’ "M“5l° l’ ° gm ""4 U 1 Teacher a; h - _ - - - . - _ ’ a ' - hadn't been given n. it is breaking t . school for 3o years’ Plpe Male, wlmam R055 '3 know" to plpers playing 0f the mUSlC 0n the black- ' - . . ii 'i [tones at the side of the road that ' ' . I would be doing today."

the world over" board while Pipe-Major Ross clarifies a point for the rest of the class. On the walls are Pipe-Major Ross’: photographs and cuttings, collected by him Since l9l9.

Leod. Glen Willaani, l . , who is a wartime product oi‘ the Edin- burgh Castle School of Piping.

Piper Macbeod was a membl! o! the North Nova Scotla High- landera of the 9th Highland B11- gade o! the Canadian Third Divis- ion. He joined the unit. in 19D and served with it until the and d the war. A regimental piper, ea 9-Day, June 6, 1944, Piper MacLeod piped "D" Company (P111 ‘sl onto he beaches at Normandy at Berni Eur-Her to thetuneot“the4 — e company March Past. Waiﬂ deep in water he also played "Pa. Pibrooh o! Donald Dhu“ tho March Past of the Picto\\9-"A‘ Company - some or whose pew eonnel were aboard the landing craft. The pipes and drums n! the 9th Brigade also echoed in the Reich- swald Forest when the Brigade prepared to join ihn 51d Hzghland Di ‘sion for the crossing of tht x " .. _ Rhine. i ' ‘ " ~ Piper MacLeod will be a guell piper at St. Andrew's dinner t0- morrow night. ‘

... y; .

r . - '

{me Malor W. Anderson, Gordon Highlanders was among the men who went -

WW” Wm’ "l! 5|! Division at El lldmelmlHere he is memorising d pibfvﬂll ]_ gum, o; 9,, Royal 5cm, w“, in manna-gm u,‘ music o; an ab, which --a_~..______ "Mk has lust been Played on the chanter mifiﬁiiiii “Wm”