The
Minch (Scottish Gaelic An Cuan Sgìth/Cuan na Hearadh), also
called The North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland,
separating the north-west Highlands from Lewis and Harris in the
Outer Hebrides. The Lower Minch (an Cuan Canach) is to the south
and separates Skye from the lower Outer
Hebrides: North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra
etc. It opens into the Sea of the Hebrides. The combination of the Minch, the Sea of the
Hebrides, and a stretch reaching Ireland constitutes the Inner also known as the
Inner
Scottish
Sea.
The late
Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, MBE, (above) esteemed as a composer
and remembered as a virtuoso recitalist, was also a popular and
distinguished teacher in Canada and the United States as well as
in Scotland.
He was
born in 1916 in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, in the Scottish
Hebridean Islands. He was initially taught the pipes by his
father, “Doyle”, and went on to be tutored by P/M Willie Ross
then John MacDonald, Inverness with whom he studied for 27
years. John Morrison of Assynt House was a benefactor to many
young people in Stornoway and district; it was he who took
Donald to the Northern Meeting for his first major junior
competition, which he won.
He
enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders in 1937 and his Pipe Major
was the well known late D. R. MacLennan. Donald was promoted to
pipe major after only four years. During World War II he served
in France with the 51st Highland Division, was taken prisoner by
the Germans at St. Valery, escaped during a forced march and
eventually managed to return to the UK. In 1945 he piped his
battalion across the Rhine during an assault crossing - even
though he had been advised not to do so by his commanding
officer.
During
his army career he was highly successful in piping, winning all
major competitions. He retired from the army in 1962 and from
competition in 1966, he then went on to judge young people and
major adult competitions. He especially enjoyed judging at the
junior competitions, often held in the local school.
The
Glasgow based Scottish Pipers’ Association, each year in
November, invited Donald and Duncan Johnstone to give an evening
recital. It was always a very popular event and in 1977 Donald
decided it was to be his farewell appearance, it was a very
memorable evening.
He
published six books of light music covering all types of
composition, many of which are modern classics. He also
published a collection of piobaireachd.
He was
awarded the Membership of the Most Excellent Order of the
British Empire in 1978 for outstanding service to piping.
The
Donald MacLeod Memorial Competition, which was established from
an idea by Pipe Major Iain Morrison of Lewis, is an invitational
competition held in Stornoway and celebrates Donald’s life and
work. Started in 1994 by the Lewis & Harris Piping Society, it
was instituted to honor “Donald Macleod, one of the best
all-round pipers of the 20th century“. In addition Donald is
considered one of the century’s best composers. The pipers are
chosen from the best competing pipers in the world, making it a
very successful and popular competition.
Over
the last 10 years or more of his life Donald recorded 46
teaching tapes covering approximately 230 piobaireachd - a labor
of love which was completed only a few months before he died in
June 1982.
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