Donald MacPherson (1922 - 2012) was a Scottish bagpipe player, and one of the most successful competitive solo pipers of all time.

Personal life

MacPherson was born into a large family on 5 September 1922 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He received all of his tuition from his father Iain, who was an army piper during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and had been taught by John MacDougall Gillies. Iain injured his hand when Donald was aged 5 and rarely played his pipes after that, but gave Donald instruction in all aspects of bagpipe playing. Donald joined the

Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christianity, Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman William Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade), Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun acti ...

pipe band at the age of 12. He entered his first solo competition at the age of 15, at the

Cowal Highland Gathering The Cowal Highland Gathering (also known as the Cowal Games) is an annual Highland games held in Dunoon, Scotland, over the final weekend in August. It is held at Dunoon Stadium. History The first record of an organised Highland games in the ...

, where he won both the Under 15 March, Strathspey and Reel and the Under 18 Piobaireachd. He also played in the Glasgow Shepherds pipe band under Archie MacPhedran. After leaving school he was an apprentice at the West of Scotland Engineering Company, but volunteered for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out. Shortly before returning from training in Naples he was seriously injured in a vehicle crash, and never regained full mobility in his left arm. While stationed in Wiltshire he met his wife Gwen, with whom he had three daughters. He worked as an engineer and lived for several years outside Scotland, working at

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for many years, and also spending some time at

Singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

. At times when living outside Scotland he did not compete for several years, but was always able to return to the top level of competition within months. During one of these breaks he became an accomplished

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. In 1971 he took up a permanent post at the College of Piping in Glasgow, where he was responsible for testing goods for sale and developing the programme of lessons and courses. He left that post after falling out with Seumas MacNeill, and from then on refused to play in front of MacNeill, so never competed in the Glenfiddich Championships. He was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

in 1986 for his services to piping. He died on 21 April 2012 in Edinburgh.

Musical career

MacPherson was one of the most successful competitive solo pipers of all time. In 1948, at his first outing at the

Argyllshire Gathering The Argyllshire Gathering is a Highland games held in Oban, Scotland. History A meeting on 23 August 1871 held at the Argyll Arms Hotel led to a resolution to have an "Annual Gathering of the Gentry of the County of Argyll for social purposes". ...

in Oban, he won the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

, and later the same day won the Clasp for former winners of the Gold Medal. In 1954, he won both the Gold Medal and the Clasp at the

Northern Meeting The Northern Meeting is a gathering held in Inverness, Scotland, best known for its solo bagpiping competition in September. History The Northern Meeting was set up in 1798 "for the purpose of promoting a Social Intercourse", and early editions f ...

in Inverness. Over his competitive career he accumulated fifteen first places in the Senior Piobaireachd event for former Gold Medal winners at Oban, nine first places in the Clasp competition at Inverness, and six first places in the Former Winners March, Strathspey & Reel event at Inverness. He also won the

Bratach Gorm The Bratach Gorm (or Blue Banner) is the highest prize given by the Scottish Piping Society of London and was introduced in 1938. History In 1994 the competition pool was further reduced in protest at the selection of judges. The competition has ...

three times out of five attempts. He retired from competitive playing after winning the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering at the age of 68, but continued to teach and adjudicate. Some of his students include Gold Medal winners Iain Speirs, Stuart Shedden and Douglas Murray. Macpherson was renowned for the quality of the bagpipe sound he produced. Until the early 1950s he played his father's pipes, but from then acquired from a colleague a set of 1936 R.G. Lawrie drones with a Robert Hardie chanter. He produced his own chanter reeds and developed tools for manipulating them. He was among the first solo competitors to use synthetic drone reeds. He composed at least 30 pieces of ceol beag (light music), but despite his competitive success he was not compelled to compose any pibroch.

Discography

* ''Highland Bagpipes'' (1970) * ''The Master Piper'' (1989) * ''Piping Centre 1996 Vol. 2'' (1996) * ''Donald MacPherson – A Living Legend'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Donald Great Highland bagpipe players 1922 births 2012 deaths Scottish bagpipe players Gold Medal winners (bagpipes) Royal Air Force personnel of World War II