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05/02/2013 |
Lochanside
Pipe Major John
MacLellan, Dunoon, DCM
Lochanside
was composed by Pipe
Major John McLellan DCM.
Known to pipers
as “John
MacLellan,
Dunoon” but to
friends and
family as
“Jock,” John
MacLellan was a
quiet and shy
man who composed
some of the most
enduring
melodies in pipe
music.
Among his
greatest
contributions
are the retreat
marches
Lochanside, The
Highland Brigade
at Magersfontein,
Heroes of
Vittoria, The
Bloody Fields of
Flanders
and The
Dream Valley of
Glendaruel,
the competition
marches The
Taking of
Beaumont Hamel,
The Cowal
Gathering, South
Hall and
Glen Caladh
Castle, the
slow air
Mary Darroch,
and the 2/4 slow
march The
Road to the
Isles. The
latter tune,
composed around
1891, began life
as “The Bens of
Jura,” soon
became “The
71st’s Farewell
to Dover,” then
“The Highland
Brigade’s March
to Heilbron” and
later “The
Burning Sands of
Egypt.” What
probably began
as a rousing 2/4
march was
gradually
transformed into
today’s popular
song and slow
march.
He was born in
Dunoon on August
8, 1875 of an
Islay father and
Jura mother,
Neil MacLellan
and Mary Darroch
MacLellan. He
had two brothers
and three
sisters.
Little is known
about his early
piping life, or
even who taught
him. This was
perhaps partly
because he was
known to be
modest to a
fault and would
very rarely talk
about himself.
Very few photos
of him have come
to light.
He enlisted in
1892 at age 17
with the
Highland Light
Infantry and
went with the
1st Battalion to
Malta in 1897.
It was at this
point that he
began naming his
compositions for
places where he
served or people
he served with.
He saw action in
the Boer War in
South Africa,
where he was
awarded the
Distinguished
Conduct Medal
for gallantry in
the field.
He
left military life
soon thereafter and
in 1903 joined the
Govan Police Pipe
Band in Glasgow
before returning to
Dunoon around 1905.
Some of his
compositions can be
found in the old
Peter Henderson
publications as
written by “J.
MacLellan, Govan
Police.”
However, most of his
tunes were first
published in the
Cowal Collection
books. Because he never
published his own
collection his status as
one of the greatest and
most prolific and pipe
music composers is
perhaps not as clear as
it is with G. S.
McLennan and Donald
MacLeod.
During the Great War
he was a piper in
the 8th Argyllshire
Battalion Argyll and
Sutherland
Highlanders – Willie
Lawrie’s regiment –
and served with
the 51st Highland
Division on the
Western front.
He
became pipe-major of
the 8th Argylls in
1919 held that
position until he
retired in 1930.
During the
1930s, he
compiled and
published a book
of tunes
composed by
members of his
regiment –The
8th Battalion of
the Argyll and
Sutherland
Highlanders
Collection.
He contributed
40 of the 65
tunes in the
collection, and
this remains the
largest single
collection of
his work
published while
he was alive.
In later life he
was active in
piping around
Dunoon, teaching
the Dunoon
Grammar School
Cadet Pipe Band
and helping the
local Boys’
Brigade band.
Besides
being a
piper, he
played the
fiddle and
was said to
be an
excellent
whistle
player. He
was a
middling
painter and
poet, and
one of the
few
composers
who often
wrote lyrics
to his
tunes. In
some cases
he wrote the
lyrics
first. He
was known to
write light
verse at the
front, 100
yards from
the German
lines, and
his poetry
was often
published in
newspapers
in the west
of Scotland.
He died at
73 on July
31, 1949 at
Dunoon
Cottage
Hospital
after a
short
illness and
was buried
with full
military
honours in
Dunoon
Cemetery. A
plaque was
erected in
his honor in
the Castle
Gardens in
Dunoon near
the pier in
1972.
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