Lochiel and=
the
Cameron Piping Tradition
by James (Hamish) Hamilton
Sir Donald Hamish Cameron of Lochiel was, in =
1991,
elected patron of the Northern Meeting, the most prestigious event in the internatio=
nal
piping calendar. Here is an extract of his address to the committee:-<=
/o:p>
“The Clan Cameron h=
as never
aspired to a Piping
School like the Mac=
Leods
of Dunvegan, but it can boast of a number of fine players bearing the name =
of
Cameron. In the middle of the last century there was a very distinguished
family of Camerons who came from the Seaforth county and one of them, Donald Cam=
eron,
was the “Champion of Champions” in the mid 19th Century. One of the last of that family, Al=
ick
Cameron, was employed by my father at Achnacarry and though I was only a sm=
all boy
when he died, I can remember him. .........”
The account which follows at=
tempts
to give a more detailed insight into the legendary Alick Cameron and his
subsequent arrival at Achnacarry.
<=
/o:p>
Donald Cameron had four sons=
- all
pipers - and this Cameron dynasty became famous for the style of pibroch
interpretation which it taught and played. Alick in particular came to be
regarded by the piping fraternity as the leading authority on pibroch tradi=
tion
and was much sought after as a teacher throughout his lifetime. At an early
age, he became personal piper to the Marquis of Huntly at Aboyne during whi=
ch
time he won all the top awards in both pibroch and light music. Unfortunate=
ly,
the popular movement at this time was the lure of the developing cities in =
the
central belt and Alick joined several other noted players in the move to Glasgow. He was em=
ployed
in several jobs in the area including a spell with bagpipe makers, Peter He=
nderson.
Although he taught piping on a regular basis, city life did little for Alick
and what follows brings us to his move to Achnacarry and return to a dignif=
ied
existence.
In 1912 Lochiel’s youn=
ger
brother, Alan, then a serving officer in the Cameron Highlanders stationed =
at Aldershot,
received information that Alick Cameron had been found in dire circumstance=
s in
London =
by two
Scots Guards pipers. Lochiel, on being acquainted with the situation made
arrangements for Alick to be brought to Achnacarry and afforded him
accommodation and a weekly allowance in return for modest piping duties and
small tasks around the estate. Thereafter, until his death in 1923, at the =
age
of 75 years, Alick lived in relative comfort and taught the art of pibroch
playing to aspirants from far and wide. One of these pupils was my uncle,
George Moss, who as a boy of 11 years lived on a neighbouring estate in
Glengarry. George was keen to learn all he could about the Cameron piping
tradition as told to him by his mother who was related to the Fraser pipers=
of
Strathglass. The presence of Alick Cameron in the area was a godsend and Ge=
orge
spent all his spare time over the next decade with Alick. I am fortunate to have been a pupi=
l of
George Moss and been afforded the opportunity to play what Alick Cameron
taught. This paragraph, however, has not been solely about Alick Cameron; it
demonstrates the kindness and compassion of a clan chief towards a fellow
Cameron who had fallen on hard times and epitomises the bond between them. =
In
effect Alick was resurrected from an early grave and his dignity restored. =
But,
what of the legacy?
<=
/o:p>
While at Achnacarry, Alick w=
as given
consent by Lochiel to pay a lengthy visit to Mid-Argyll to teach Archibald
Campbell of Kilberry the Cameron pibroch tradition. This resulted in the la=
ter
compilation by Kilberry of his books on Ceol Mor and his editorship of the
Piobaireachd Society Collections which are today regarded as the standard
settings for all pibroch competitions and on which the adjudicating panels =
base
their judgements. Although Kilberry always claimed that these compilations =
were
based on the teaching of Alick Cameron, this is disputed by many other pipi=
ng
students of the “master”, including his star pupil, John MacDou=
gall
Gillies.
Finally one must mention ano=
ther
excellent piper who was at Achnacarry for most of his lifetime, namely, Nor=
man
MacRae. Norman
was Lochiel’s personal piper for around 40 years and was a highly
successful competitor at all major competitions (eg The Northern Meeting in
1905). He also had an in-depth knowledge of Ceol Mor and the “oldR=
21; traditional
way of playing. As a small boy, at my grandmother’s house
at Achnacarry (The Clan Museum, today) I can recall listening to NormanR=
17;s
music as he performed during the evening at the “big house”
<=
o:p>