Tune List
The tunes below represent the current repertoire for our Band. More will be added,
some removed. The links will take you to the history behind each tune, that is,
if one could be found. The stories to most tunes are, regretaebly lost to time.
The tunes are in alphabetical order. You can either scroll down the page, or use the alphabet links to go quickly to a particular
section by clicking on the first letter of the title (ignoring "The", "A" and so on).
The information has been taken from many sources (websites, music books, piping history books, etc.). Please be aware that history is fluid and
constantly evolves as new information comes available. The information herein should not be taken as the final word.
After every third tune, you'll find a link to bring you back to the top of the page.
Basic Tunes
Amazing Grace [LYRICS]
Barren Rocks of Aden
Bonnie Dundee [LYRICS]
Green Hills [LYRICS]
Scotland The Brave [LYRICS]
Highland Laddie [LYRICS]
2006 Competition Set
The March To Columbus Field
Jolly Beggarman [LYRICS]
Shoshanna's Lullaby
Marquis of Huntley
Quick Waltz/Thornton Dick
Strathspey & Reel Set
Molly Connell
Because He Was A Bonnie Lad
Piper Of Drummond
6/8 Set
Eastern Townships
Heights Of Dargai (Haughs Of Cromdale) [LYRICS]
The Duck
Staff/Dancer Tunes
Orange And Blue
Battle Of The Somme
Ghillie Cullem
My Love She Is But A Lassie Yet [LYRICS]
Paddy's Leather Breeches
Seann Triubhas
Piper's Polka
All The Blue Bonnets are Over The Border [LYRICS]
Atholl Highlanders
Misc. Tunes
Crags of Tumbledown Mountain
Campbell's Farewell To Red Castle
Corriechoillie's 43rd Welcome To The Northern Meetings
Dark Island [LYRICS]
Flett From Flotta
Mairi's Wedding [LYRICS]
Pipe Major Donald MacLean of Lewis
Piper's Waltz
Skye Boat Song [LYRICS]
Teribus [LYRICS]
When The Battle's Over [LYRICS]
We're No' Awa Ta Bide Awa' [LYRICS]
Wings
Flowers Of The Forest [LYRICS]
U.S. Army Song [LYRICS]
Air Force Song [LYRICS]
Marine Corps Hymn [LYRICS]
Coast Guard March [LYRICS]
Navy Song [LYRICS]
U.S. Merchant Marine Song [LYRICS]
Return to Top
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|XYZ|0-9|Misc.
The Jacobite emblem was a white cockade worn in the blue bonnets common at the time. The third and forth parts of the tune come from an even
older tune called, "General Lesly's March" which dates from around 1666. Words for the tune were written by Sir Walter Scott in 1820.
Amazing Grace
The words to "Amazing Grace" were written in the 18th century by John Newton. He was born in London and after a life, which included being
press-ganged into the navy, flogged and becoming a skipper of a boat plying the slave trade, was converted to religion and became a minister. He
wrote many hymns and this one was propelled into the pop charts when a pipe band recorded the tune. The now familiar and traditional melody of the
hymn was not composed by Newton, and the words were sung to a number of tunes before the now inseparable melody was chanced upon. They first
appear united in a hymnal from 1831 called "Virginia Harmony," where the tune is called "New Britain." Any original words sung to the tune are
now lost. The melody is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin; it is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune.
Anchors Aweigh
In 1906, Bandmaster Lieutenant Zimmerman was approached by Midshipman First Class Alfred Hart Miles with a request for a new march or fight song. Midshipman Miles was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1907. Miles and his classmates were eager "to have a piece of music that would be inspiring, one with a swing to it so it could be used as a football marching song, and one that would live forever." The two men reportedly worked out the tune and it was first called "Stand Navy Down The Field". It was first performed at the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia in 1906 (Navy beat Army 10-0!). For those who may not be aware, "aweigh", means to raise or hoist, comes from the nautical phrase "to weigh anchor". The current lyrics, as revised by George D. Lottman, were adopted in the 1920s, however there are many variations. The melody was revised by D. Sorvino and became the melody for the popular edition of Anchors Aweigh.
Today, the song has become an important part of Chief Petty Officers training. While there is a proposal to include protocol for performing "Anchors Aweigh" in the Navy Regulations and to designate it the official song of the U.S. Navy, it remains an unofficial service song. The 1906 version is the original version, but even there you will find various versions listed as the original.
The Army Goes Rolling Along
Name sound familiar? It should, the original name if this tune was (and still is), "Caissons Go Rolling Along". The original tune was written for the U. S. Army Artillery Corps and later, the Army rewrote the words to fit the role of the Army.
The song was originally written by field artillery First Lieutenant [later Brigadier General] Edmund L. Gruber, while stationed in the Philippines in 1908 as the "Caisson Song." The original lyrics reflect routine activities in a horse-drawn field artillery battery. The song was transformed into a march by John Philip Sousa in 1917 and renamed "The Field Artillery Song."
It was adopted in 1952 as the official song of the Army and retitled, "The Army Goes Rolling Along." The current lyrics tell the story of our past, our present, and our future. For more on the history of "The Army Goes Rolling Along," click on A Soldier's Song.
The "Army Goes Rolling Along" is played at the conclusion of every U.S. Army ceremony and all soldiers are expected to stand and sing.
A Soldier's Song
Excerpt from Soldiers Online - July 1994
By F. Peter Wigginton
(journalist with the American Forces Information Service in Alexandria, Va.)
It [The Army Song] got its beginnings during a difficult march across the Zambales Mountains in the Philippines. As a lieutenant leading a small detachment to select a route, Brig. Gen. Edmund L. "Snitz" Gruber overheard a section chief call to his drivers, "Come on! Keep them rolling!"
Gruber, an artillery officer whose relative, Franz, composed "Silent Night," was stationed with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, in the Philippines. In March 1908, about a year after Gruber overheard that section chief in the mountains, six young lieutenants - including William Bryden and Robert Danford - gathered in his thatch hut and decided they needed a song for the field artillery.
"A guitar was produced and tuned and - in what seemed to us a few moments - as if suddenly inspired, Snitz fingered the melody of the now-famous song," recalled Danford, who retired as a major general. Danford and Bryden helped complete the lyrics.
Gruber taught the song to officers of the 1st Battalion as they arrived at Fort Stotsenburg. Wrote Danford: "A few evenings later at the post reception for the new unit and adieu to the old, 'The Caisson Song' was given its first public rendition. Its popularity was instantaneous, and almost in no time all six of the regiments then composing the U.S. Field Artillery adopted it."
During the last days of World War I, senior artillery leaders wanted an official marching song. An artillery officer who did not know Gruber and thought "The Caisson Song" dated back to the Civil War, gave the piece to noted composer and bandmaster John Philip Sousa and asked him to fix it up.
Sousa incorporated Gruber's piece into his composition, which he titled, "The U.S. Field Artillery March" - a few beginning measures being his own and the balance from Gruber.
The resulting song became a blockbuster record during World War I, selling about 750,000 copies. Gruber heard of it and asked Sousa, "How about some money, since I wrote the song?" Embarrassed, the innocent Sousa made certain Gruber got his royalties.
In 1948, the Army conducted a nationwide contest to come up with its own official song. None of the five winners achieved any notable popularity. In 1952, the secretary of the Army appealed to the music industry for a composition. Composers submitted an avalanche of more than 800 songs.
But no submission sparkled enough to be accepted. So a soldier music adviser in the Adjutant General's office was asked to try his hand at it. As a result, H.W. Arberg adapted "The Caisson Song" to become the official U.S. Army song, "The Army Goes Rolling Along."
Atholl Highlanders
Dedicated to the private army of the Duke of Atholl, the last private army still legally existing, albeit on a token level, in the
British Isles. The original Atholl Highlanders (and the ones associated with the tune) were the old 77th Highland Regiment, raised in
1778 and commanded by Colonel James Murray. The 77th served in Ireland and was not engaged in active service, though its garrison services
were apparently useful in freeing other units for the conflicts with America and France. They were disbanded in 1783 after those conflicts
ended (although the disbanding may have come about because of a mutiny). The tune was later taken up as a march past by the 2nd Battalion
of the Cameronians, the 90th Light Infantry, who over the years had shed their Scottish origins. However, when pipers were introduced in
1881 they recollected their Perthshire origins and chose to play "The Atholl Highlanders" (also known in pipe literature as "The Gathering
of the Grahams").
Return to Top
Barren Rocks of Aden
Ok, here's another tune whose story is lost to history (see Heights Of Dargai). In my humble opinion, and from what I can understand from all of the web sites I've visited in order to retrieve the story of this tune, it seems the tune is an old fiddle tune that was played by the 78th Seaforth Highlanders when Britian withdrew from Aden.
One tome says this:
"This was originally an unnamed composition composed by Piper James Mauchline when a detachment of the 78th Seaforth Highlanders was
stationed in Aden (during the Aden conflict 1964-67).
Pipe Major Alexander Mackellar re-arranged and named the tune."
This from Nigel Gatherer's web site: http://www.nigelgatherer.com/tunes/tab/tab1/aden.html, one reads this:
"The Barren Rocks of Aden was being published in fiddle collections by the 1870s, but has been around longer in the bagpipe repertoire. Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea, was noted for its barren and desolate volcanic rocks, and was annexed to British India in 1839. In 1967, after violence between nationalists and British forces, it became what is now the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen."
From this web site, http://www.gutenberg.org/, we get this little tidbit:
Title: Tommy Atkins at War
As Told in His Own Letters
Author: James Alexander Kilpatrick
Publisher: McBride, Nast & Company
New York
Date: 1914
(This is a story about one British Soldiers' experiences in World War I
if you wish to read the complete story, go to this web site:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16675/16675.txt)
"The Highlanders have been great favorites in France. Their gaiety, humor
and inexhaustible spirits under the most trying conditions have
captivated everybody. Through the villages on their route these brawny
fellows march with their pipers to the proud lilt of "The Barren Rocks
of Aden" and "The Cock o' the North," fine marching tunes that in turn
give place to the regimental voices while the pipers are recovering
their breath."
One last item . . . According to this web site: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3640, The tune is also known as a "Polka"!
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3640
Battle of the Somme
The "big push" began on 1st July 1916. On the first day 100,000 allied troops assembled at their marshalling points and then at 07:30 hours
marched out, shoulder to shoulder, into no-man's land and towards the entrenched German positions. The grand set-piece offensive quickly
degenerated into wholesale slaughter. The allied causalities on this first day alone were nearly 60,000 (20,000 of which were fatal). The Somme
offensive did little to affect the outcome of the War and by the time the offensive ended in November the allied casualties were over 600,000.
The tune itself was composed shortly afterwards by Pipe Major William Laurie of the 8th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. It was
commonly regarded as the best composition of the First World War. Unfortunately Pipe Major Laurie died later that year of illness after being
invalided home. The Battle of the Somme was a Battle Honour of the Wellington Regiment.
Because He Was a Bonnie Lad
Because he was a Bonnie Lad is an old tune and I think the title comes from
the words of the song.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Return to Top
Bonnie Dundee
The words are by Sir Walter Scott. There is an older lyric version called "Jockey's Escape to Dundee." The tune may have been composed by
Charlotte Sainton-Dolby in the 19th Century. In The Scottish Orpheus (circa 1900), Adam Hamilton credits the tune to Dr. E. F. Rimbault. Rimbault
was a composer of operas and songs. He was the organist of the Swiss Church in Soho (1832). He was also a founder of the Musical Antiquarian Society
(1840).
Campbell's Farewell to Redcastle
Believed to be referring to Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, who led troops in the massacre of Glencoe Pass in 1692. Redcastle is a village on
the north side of Beauty Firth approximately 100 miles from Glencoe, whose castle was built in 1179 (it claims to be the oldest inhabited castle in
Scotland). The Scots Guards Standard Pipe Settings suggests that "The Sweet Maid of Glendaruel" follow "Campbell's Farewell to Redcastle." Glendaruel
is on the way to Tighnabruaich from Glencoe and is nearly as far to the south as Redcastle is to the north.
Corriechoillie's 43d Welcome to the Northern Meeting
The Search is over! According to the Museum curator of the College of Piping in Glasgow, Scotland:
"I expect you know that lairds in Scotland are usually referred to by the name of their estate. This
is the case with Corriechollie. The man for whom the tune was written was P. Cameron of Corriechollie who was a piping enthusiast. On the
cover of the Piping Times Vol 24 No 12 there is a picture of P. Cameron, Corriechollie with John MacDougall Gillies at the Argyllshire Gathering in
about 1903. The full title of the tune is Corriechollie's 43rd Welcome to the Northern Meeting. There is another tune similarly
named- Dr Ross's 50th Welcome to the Argyllshire Gathering- which commemorates another enthusiast. The Argyllshire Gathering and the Northern Meeting
are the two most important piping competitions."
Return to Top
Crags of Tumbledown Mountain
Pipe Major James Riddell commemorates the Falkland Islands Campaign and the combat losses suffered by the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in this tune.
Dark Island
The words of this version are by David Silver and the tune was first copyrighted by Ian MacLaughlan. It was written for the BBC film "The Dark
Island" in 1963. This was filmed mainly in South Uist, but was about Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. Another set of words to the tune was
written by Stewart Ross of Inverness - "In the years long gone by when I first left my home...That lovely dark island where memories stray."
The Duck
Other than it being by P.M. Donald MacLeod, I don't know. Still looking, but it still makes me think of Groucho Marx ("Say the secret woid and
a duck will fall out of the ceiling...")
Return to Top
Eastern Townships
Other than the eastern townships referred to are in Quebec and the Scots and Irish of the area tended to congregate and propagate their tunes together, I
have no other info yet.
Flett from Flotta
The tune was written by P.M. Donald MacLeod of the Seaforth Highlanders to honor his fellow piper, George Flett from Flotta in the Orkneys.
Ghillie Callum
A "ghillie" is a gamekeeper or fishing/hunting guide. Possibly Gamekeeper Callum helped his client catch a big old salmon. More factually, however, the
tune "Ghillie Callum" can be traced back to 1768 and is connected to an old "Kissing Dance" called "Babbity Bowster" (which, personally, I'd like to
hear Mike call in the middle of a performance-"At the halt...Babbity Bowster. Pipers bring 'em up.")
Return to Top
Green Hills of Tyrol
Originally from the opera "William Tell" by Rossini, but was transcribed to the pipes in 1854 by Pipe Major John MacLeod after he heard it played by a
Sardinian military band when serving in the Crimean War with his Regiment, the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders. In October of that year MacLeod and five
other pipers participated in the event that made the Regiment's reputation. The Russian heavy cavalry had taken the Causeway Heights, and its gun
emplacements, above the supply port of Balaclava. Only the Sutherland Highlanders under Sir Colin Campbell stood between them and the port - the
capture of which would have ended the campaign there and then. The heavy cavalry rolled down the hill onto the 93rd. Ordered to die where they stood
if need be, the 93rd was formed into an extended line two ranks deep rather than in the defensive square formation more usually adopted by infantry
facing a cavalry attack. The 93rd stood its ground, firing controlled volleys into the attacking cavalry. The cavalry faltered and veered to the left
of the 93rd exposing their flank to more fire. The repelling of a heavy cavalry charge by grossly outnumbered infantry was an unprecedented achievement.
The feat was witnessed by The Times' war correspondent who immortalized the 93rd as "the thin red streak tipped with a line of steel". When the
Crimean campaign finally ended the 93rd were immediately dispatched to fight in the Indian Mutiny. In this campaign Pipe Major MacLeod distinguished
himself at the siege of Lucknow when he was first through the breach and almost immediately began playing the pipes.
Heights of Dargai
A nice tune from what I hear (I've never heard it), with an interesting history and none
of us play it. What we're actually playing is "The Dagshai Hills". It was
erroneously published under "The Heights of Dargai" title either by accident, or in
a rush to put a tune by that name out to the public soon after the Battle of Dargai.
There are many versions of the history of this particular tune. The one part that all agree on is
the piper affiliated with the "Heights of Dargai", one George Findlater(VC).
In October, 1897 the British Government sent a force of 30,000 men to the Tirah Province of India to put down
a revolt by Afridi Tribsmen. The Gordon Highlanders were sent to join the force and on the
18th were part of an assault on the Heights of Dargai.
The Heights were taken and promptly lost to the attacking Tribsmen. On the 20th the
Dorset and Devon Regiment and the Ghurka Rifles were sent to storm the Heights. This attack faltered and the
Gordons were ordered into the fray. Led by their Colonel and with pipers playing, they crossed
open ground through heavy fire. The Afridi Tribesmen, seeing this, started a disorderly
retreat. Fourty minutes later, the Gordon Highlanders had re-taken the Heights. Piper
Findlater, shot in both ankles had fellow troopers prop him against a boulder so that he could continue to pipe
the Regiment forward.
Now the part that not everyone can agree on. It seems that alot of historians (and Official Records)
feel that Piper Findlater played the Gordon Highlanders' Regimental March, "Cock o'The North", this
is often disputed. Piper Findlater himself stated that he was not sure what to play, and chose the
a strathspey, "Haughs of Cromdale", as more fitting to the advance - a charge, not a march.
Findlater was invalided back to England due to the wounds he received during the battle. He was awarded the
Victoria Cross for Gallentry which was given to him by Queen Victoria herself.
If you're looking for the sound files formerly here, we apologize but,
due to copyright restrictions we've had to remove them. If you wish to
hear the "Heights Of Dargai", "Dagshai Hills", or "The Haughs Of Cromdale"
you can perform a Google search and you'll find many sights that have these
tunes available.
Thank you;
The "Management"
Highland Cathedral
The tune was written in 1982 by two Germans - Michael Kolb and Uli Roever. Kolb had fallen in love with the pipes when he heard them being
played by a Scottish Battalion stationed in Berlin. He was so impressed, he began learning from one of the military pipers. When the Scots
left, Kolb did as well, heading for Edinburgh and further pipe lessons. The tune was first recorded by Kolb (playing the pipes) also in 1982.
Return to Top
Highland Laddie
Originally the "Lass of Livingston" from the 1700's. The tune has been used with many sets of words ranging from Jacobite songs to Methodist Hymns.
The Korgi
Still looking for this one, too, but you have to admit that the tune gives a good audio picture of a Welsh Corgi trotting down the street!
Marine's Hymn
Following the war with the Barbary Pirates in 1805, when Lieutenant P.N. O'Bannon and his small force of Marines participated in the capture of Derne and hoisted the American flag for the first time over a fortress of the Old World, the Colors of the Corps was inscribed with the words: "To the Shores of Tripoli." After the Marines had participated in the capture and occupation of Mexico City and the Castle of Chapultepec, otherwise known as the "Halls of Montezuma," the words on the Colors were changed to read: "From the Shores of Tripoli to the Halls of Montezuma."
Following the close of the Mexican War came the first verse of the Marines' Hymn, written, according to tradition, by a Marine on duty in Mexico. For the sake of euphony, the unknown author transposed the phrases in the motto on the Colors so that the first two lines of the Hymn would read: "From the Halls of Montezuma, To the Shores of Tripoli."
A serious attempt to trace the tune of the Marines' Hymn to its source is revealed in correspondence between Colonel A.S. McLemore, USMC, and Walter F. Smith, second leader of the Marine Band. Colonel McLemore wrote:
"Major Richard Wallach, USMC, says that in 1878, when he was in Paris, France, the aria to which the Marines' Hymn is now sung was a very popular one." The name of the opera and a part of the chorus was secured from Major Wallach and forwarded to Mr. Smith, who replied: "Major Wallach is to be congratulated upon a wonderfully accurate musical memory, for the aria of the Marine Hymn is certainly to be found in the opera, 'Genevieve de Brabant'...The melody is not in the exact form of the Marine Hymn, but is undoubtedly the aria from which it was taken. I am informed, however, by one of the members of the band, who has a Spanish wife, that the aria was one familiar to her childhood and it may, therefore, be a Spanish folk song."
In a letter to Major Harold F. Wingman, USMC, dated 18 July [1919], John Philip Sousa wrote: "The melody of the 'Halls of Montezuma' is taken from Offenbach's comic opera, 'Genevieve de Brabant' and is sung by two gendarmes." Most people believe that the aria of the Marines' Hymn was, in fact, taken from "Genevieve de Brabant," an opera-bouffe (a farcical form of opera, generally termed musical comedy) composed by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), and presented at the Theatre de Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on November 19, 1859.
Offenbach was born in Cologne, Germany, June 20, 1819 and died October 5, 1880. He studied music from an early age and in 1838 entered the Paris Conservatoire as a student. In 1834 he was admitted as a violoncellist to the Opera Comique and soon attained much popularity with Parisien audiences. He became conductor of the Theatre Francais in 1847 and subsequently leased the Theatre Comte, which he reopened as the Bouffes-Parisiens. Most of his operas are classed as comic (light and fanciful) and include numerous popular productions, many of which still hold a high place in European and American countries.
Genevieve de Brabant was the wife of Count Siegfried of Brabant. Brabant, a district in the central lowlands of Holland and Belgium, formerly constituted an independent duchy. The southern portions were inhabited by Walloons, a class of people now occupying the southeastern part of Belgium, especially the provinces of Liege, Arlon and Namur.
Every campaign the Marines have taken part in gives birth to an unofficial verse. For example, the following from Iceland:
"Again in nineteen forty-one
We sailed a north'ard course
And found beneath the midnight sun,
The Viking and the Norse.
The Iceland girls were slim and fair,
And fair the Iceland scenes,
And the Army found in landing there,
The United States Marines."
Copyright ownership of the Marines' Hymn was vested in the United States Marine Corps per certificate
of registration dated August 19, 1891 but is now in the public domain. In 1929, the Commandant of the
Marine Corps authorized the following verses of the Marines' Hymn as the official version:
"From the Halls of Montezuma
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
On the land as on the sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marine."
"Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev'ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job--
The United States Marines."
"Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines."
On November 21, 1942, the Commandant of the Marine Corps approved a change in the words of the fourth line, first verse, to read, "In air, on land, and sea."
Former-Gunnery Sergeant H.L. Tallman, veteran observer in Marine Corps Aviation who participated in many combat missions with Marine Corps Aviation over the Western Front in World War I, first proposed the change at a meeting of the First Marine Aviation Force Veterans Association in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Many interesting stories have been associated with the Marines' Hymn. One of the best was published in the Stars and Stripes, the official newspaper of the AEF, under date of August 16, 1918.
"A wounded officer from among the gallant French lancers had just been carried into a Yankee field hospital to have his dressing changed. He was full of compliments and curiosity about the dashing contingent that fought at his regiment's left.
"'A lot of them are mounted troops by this time,' he explained, 'for when our men would be shot from their horses, these youngsters would give one running jump and gallop ahead as cavalry. I believe they are soldiers from Montezuma. At least, when they advanced this morning, they were all singing "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli".'"
The Marines' Hymn has been sung and played in all of the four corners of the earth and today is recognized as one of the foremost service songs.
Heave Ho! My Lads, Heave Ho!
Official Song of The U.S. Maritime Service. Words and Music written in 1943 by Lt.(jg) Jack Lawrence, USMS, (1912- ).
Molly Connell
Molly Connell was composed by Jim Wark for the wife of one of his colleagues
in the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Return to Top
My Love She is But a Lassie Yet
Still trying to find more information here as well. Robert Burns wrote the words, which were first published in February 1790 for the tune "Miss
Farquarson's Reel." I'm still looking for Miss Farquarson. I may put her photo on a milk carton. It couldn't hurt.
Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder - The Air Force Song
In 1938 Liberty magazine sponsored a contest for a spirited, enduring musical composition to become the official Army Air Corps song. Of 757 scores submitted, one written by Mr. Robert Crawford was selected by a committee of Air Corps wives. The song was officially introduced at the Cleveland Air Races on Sept. 2, 1939. Fittingly, Mr. Crawford sang it in its first public rendition.
Mr. Crawford's original title was "What Do You Think of the Air Corps Now?" but he changed it for the contest to "Nothing'll Stop the Air Corps Now." By the time the song was published in 1939 as "The Army Air Corps," the phrase had been changed again, this time to "Nothing'll Stop the Army Air Corps." With the creation of the separate U.S. Air Force in 1947, the official name became "The U.S. Air Force" and the phrase was changed to "Nothing'll Stop the U.S. Air Force."
The first page of the score that Mr. Crawford submitted to the selection committee in July 1939 was carried to the surface of the moon on July 30, 1971, aboard the Apollo 15 "Falcon" lunar module by Col. David R. Scott and Lt. Col. James B. Irwin. Ironically, at the moment the "Falcon" blasted off the surface of the moon with Col. Scott and Lt. Col. Irwin on board, a rendition of the "Air Force Song" was broadcast to the world by Maj. Alfred W. Worden, who had a tape recorder aboard the "Endeavor" command module, which was in orbit above the moon. Col. Scott, Lt. Col. Irwin and Maj. Worden comprised the first and only all-Air Force Apollo crew and arranged to take the page of sheet music with them as a tribute to Mr. Crawford and the U.S. Air Force.
Orange and Blue
Orange and Blue is sometimes thought to have Irish political connections but may be to do with the
colours of one of the Irish regiments.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Paddy's Leather Breeches
Still looking here as well. Insert rude pants joke of your own choosing here.
Return to Top
Pipe Major Donald MacLean of Lewis
P/M Donald MacLean was a well known piper who served during WW2 and was
afterwards the manager of Lawries bagpipe shop in Glasgow.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Piper of Drummond
The Piper of Drummond is also from an old song.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Piper's Polka
Yes, still looking for this one. It's a nice mental picture though. Lines of piper's gallumphing about, doing the polka.
Return to Top
Piper's Waltz
"Traditional" which seems to mean, "We don't know where it came from and nobody wants to take a guess."
Sandy's New Chanter
Written by Tom McAllister, Jr. in the late 1980's for (and in honor of) Sandy Bell, Pipe Major for Shotts & Dykehead.
Seann Triubhas
Which it isn't. It's really "Whistle O'er the Lave o'it". The dance was originally done to a tune called "Seann
Triubhas Willichan" and later changed over to the present tune. The most entertaining things about it are that Robert Burns
wrote his version of the words to a much (much!) bawdier earlier song (odd in itself since Rabbie liked putting ribald words
to older tunes) and the tune was once outlawed in a small Scots town. It seems a gentleman returning home rather late from the
pub claimed to have seen witches dancing in the graveyard to "Whistle" being played by the Devil on the pipes.
Return to Top
Scotland the Brave
A little history on Scotland the Brave:
SCOTLAND THE BRAVE. AKA "My Bonnie Lass(ie)," "Brave Scotland," "Scotland Forever."
Scottish, March (2/4 time); English, Morris Dance Tune. G Major (Brody, Wade): D Major (Reiner). Standard.
AB (Wade): AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Reiner). Tune used for a polka step in the North ‑West (England)
morris dance tradition, and a march in Scotland and Shetland. Jack Campin believes it first
appeared around the turn of the 20th century, with words set to it in 1950 by Cliff Hanley
(which may be tongue-in-cheek, there is a story that Hanly, a great humorist, tried to put as
many cliches about Scotland into the lyric as possible!).
Another story told regarding the lyric is told by Harry Burns:
***
"
Robert Wilson, who was at the time at the peak of his career, was looking for a new song for his
stage show. Hanley was commissioned to write the song. The fee was £25
and Wilson was to get the copyright.
Hanley took the completed song to Wilson who read it, gave him the agreed £25 then refused to let
Hanley sign away the rights. "Naw, naw son, this is far too good. I'd be
cheating you if I took the rights to this," said Wilson."
***
The oldest appearance of the melody Campin has seen was in a Boys' Brigade pipe tune book
from about 1911 where the title appeared as "Scotland, the Brave!!!". Charles Gore
says the tune appears to date from about 1891-5, when it was published in Keith Norman Macdonald's
Gesto Collection of Highland Music under the title "Brave Scotland" and/or "Scotland for Ever", however
the same tune in various arrangments had been passed down as as a medly sung to various lyrics in
many languages in pubs throught europe in the 19th century.
Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 252. Reid, pg. 5. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles),
1979; pg. 16 (includes variations). Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965; pg. 50. Wade
(Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 18. F&W Records 6, Fireside String Band
"Square Dance Tunes for a Yankee Caller." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars "The Hammered Dulcimer."
Tradition 2118, Jim MacLeod & His Band "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979).
Semper Paratus - U.S. Coast Guard Hymn
No one seems to know exactly how Semper Paratus was chosen as the Coast Guard's motto. But there is no doubt as to who put the famous motto to words and music.
Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck wrote the words in the cabin of the cutter Yamacraw in Savannah, Ga., in 1922. He wrote the music five years later on a beat-up old piano in Unalaska, Alaska. At that time it was probably the only piano in the whole long chain of Aleutian Islands. Van Boskerck received his commission in the Revenue Cutter Service May 20, 1891. Between 1914 and 1915 he superintended the construction of the cutters Tallapoosa and Ossipee at Newport News, Va.
"Captain Van," as he was known to his many friends, was next ordered to Seattle as Assistant Inspector of the Northwest District. In 1925 and 1926 he was Commander of the Bering Sea Forces, headquartered at the remote port of Unalaska. It was here that he found time to fit the words of his song to music with the help of two Public Health dentists, Alf E. Nannestad and Joseph O. Fournier. Mrs. Albert C. Clara Goss, the wife of a fur trader, let them use the beatup piano on which the song was written. For probably as long as Captain Van Boskerck could remember, Semper Paratus had been a Revenue Cutter and Coast Guard watchword. The words themselves, always ready or ever ready, date back to ancient times.
No official recognition was given to the Coast Guard motto until it appeared in 1910 on the ensign. Captain Van Boskerck hoped to give it as much recognition as "Semper Fidelis" of the Marines and "Anchors Away" of the Navy.
Skye Boat Song
The words are by Sir Harold Boulton, Bart., 1884. The first half of the tune is said to be an old sea shanty; the other half is
traditionally attributed to Miss Annie MacLeod. Charles Edward Stewart, the Young Pretender, was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland
on Culloden Moor in 1746. Aided by Flora MacDonald, Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to the island of Skye. He was later taken by a
French vessel to Morlaix on the coast of Bretagne. The words commemorate the Prince's escape.
Teribus
The melody's traditional and dates back to the 16th Century. A gentleman (and a poet) named James Hogg put words to it around 1819.
The title is Welsh (of a sort) and is actually "Tyr y Bas y Tyr y Odin" or "Tyr be with us, Tyr and Odin". (And no, I don't know why
a Scottish Borderer poet would write a Welsh title referring to Norse gods. It's probably some grand "Co-Celtic peoples welcoming the sword and gold
of the Norsemen" kind of thing.)
Return to Top
Walking the Floor
Still looking for this one, too. Written by an expectant father perhaps? And at tempo, shouldn't that be (at the least) "Trotting the Floor"?
We're No' Awa' to Bide Awa'
Originally a drinking song, this is the archetypal "farewell" song, played by pipers on the quayside when many a ship has left port. There are
a number of variations of the words - though most people only know the chorus.
When the Battle's O'er
When the Battle is Over is a suitable title for a retreat march as these
were played for soldiers when returning to their barracks or camp at the end
of the day. Andy Stewart later put words to the tune.
Source: Museum Curator, The College of Piping
Return to Top
Wings
The regimental march of the Royal Engineers. In 1870 the Commandant of the School of Military Engineering directed that a popular air
of the day be adopted as the Corps Regimental March, unaware that The British Grenadiers had already been authorized. The tune adopted
was "Wings", a combination of two tunes, "Wings" and "The Path Across the Hills". It was not until 1902 that Wings was
officially recognized with The British Grenadiers as the second Regimental Quick March.
Return to Top
[Home][About Us][Tune List][Contacts][Links][Email Us]