The Oban Times 1 June, 1929
A Royal Piobaireachd
In the olden days in the Scottish Highlands it was customary to dedicate original compositions on the great Highland bagpipe to Kings and Princes in order to commemorate special occasions. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York have been pleased to accept as peculiarly their own an original Piobaireachd, entitled “Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York’s Welcome to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.” The Piobaireachd seeks to commemorate the Royal visit to the Scottish capital together with the important Union of the Churches in Scotland, thus reviving one of the most ancient of Scottish customs.
(1)The insignia of the Order of the Thistle surmounted with the Scottish crown.
(2) A Highland Scene, the subject of which is the mountain and the loch, depicting the piper playing the fiery Cross through the glen, with a boat waiting in readiness on the loch to row the messengers of war across the water from the castle of the chieftain.
(3) The Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The tune is simple and breathes the spirit of the mist and the mountain from whence comes the composer’s inspiration, and the intricate variations are ingeniously worked out from the pleasant melody of the ground-work of the tune.
The composer and designer is John Grant, F.S. A. (Scot.), The well-known authority on Ancient Piobaireachd, 27, Comely Bank Street, Edinburgh. Mr. Grant has done much to preserve Ancient Piobaireachd and revive the composition of a long forgotten art. He is author of “The Royal Collection of Piobaireachd,” “Piobaireachd: Its Origin and Construction,” joint author of “the Pipes of War,” and was presented in 1922 with the Highland Society of London’s Medal for his services as an instructor of piping for the Army during the war and his interest in Ancient Piobaireachd.
