Dunblane
(Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town north of Stirling
in the Stirling council area in Scotland. Its main landmark is
Dunblane Cathedral. Dunblane Cathedral is the larger of the two
Church of Scotland parish churches serving the small town of Dunblane. It contains the
graves of Margaret Drummond, a mistress of King James IV of Scotland and her two sisters.
The
name Dunblane means 'fort of Blane'. This early saint (Old Irish
Bláán) flourished probably in the late 6th century. His main
seat was Kingarth on the Isle of Bute. He or his followers may
have founded a church at Dunblane, or the cult of Bláán may have
come there with settlers from what is now Argyll in later
centuries. The earliest evidence for Christianity on the site
are two cross-slabs of the 10th to 11th centuries preserved in
the cathedral. Incorporated into the later medieval building,
but originally free-standing, is an 11th-century bell-tower,
whose height was increased in the 15th century. The nave and
aisleless choir are 13th century. Dunblane did not have a rich
or extensive medieval diocese (37 parishes), and the cathedral
is relatively modest in scale, but its refined architecture is
much admired, as is its setting overlooking the valley of the
River Allan. After the Reformation, the nave was abandoned and
soon became roofless and used for burials.
Charlie
Glendinning wrote this stunningly beautiful tune after 16
children and their teacher were slain by a gunman on March 13,
1996, in Dunblane, Scotland. Reflecting on his composition,
Glendinning said, "The tragedy was like an icy blast of winter
returning to kill every flowering bud of spring."
Charlie Glendinning started on the piano at
three and switched a few years later to the violin which he
studied seriously through high school. He played with the
American Light Opera Company, The Annapolis Symphony, and as a
high school senior, won the National School Orchestra Award. At
that time, he began playing the bagpipes. Over his 30-year
piping career he played with what is now the City of Washington
Pipe Band, serving as Pipe Major for a time but mostly Pipe
Sergeant.
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