OT: 9 July 1910 – J.D.R. Watt “The Piobaireachd”

The Oban Times, 9 July, 1910

The Piobaireachd

East London, South Africa,

13 June, 1910

Sir,–I have had brought to my notice in an old copy of your paper, dated 25th May, 1907, a letter by “Observer,” in which he asks, “What use could a non-Gaelic speaker make of Captain Neil MacLeod of Gesto’s tunes, printed in manuscript piobaireachd, as taught verbally by the MacCrimmons to their apprentices?” and he owns the want of Gaelic to be a serious handicap to the understanding of piobaireachd.

Well, I would mention that regarding that it is quite a fallacy to suppose the MacCrimmon manuscript in piper’s sol-fa (so-called) is Gaelic; the musical sounds, as they fall on different persons ears, may be written down in various manuscript forms, as exampled in the methods used in other old piping schools.–I am, etc.,

J.D. R. Watt