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The MacCrimmons (Gaelic:
MacCruimein) were a Scottish family, pipers
to the chiefs of Clan Macleod for an unknown
number of generations. The MacCrimmon kindred
was centered at Borreraig near the Clan Macleod
seat at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
During the Jacobite Rising in
1745 the chief of Clan MacLeod supported the
Hanoverians against the Jacobites.As MacLeod's
piper, Donald Ban MacCrimmon (Dòmnhall/Dòmnhull
Bàn MacCruimein - bàn meaning fairhaired
cf Duncan Ban MacIntyre) took an active part in
the conflicts against the Jacobite forces.
As hereditary piper to Clan
MacLeod, he marched upon Aberdeen to seize Lord
Lewis Gordon. The force, however, was attacked
and routed at Inverurie, and Donald Ban was
taken prisoner. Next morning, contrary to
custom, there was no pipe music at the Jacobite
quarters. When Lor Lewis and his officers
enquired the reason, they were told that so long
as MacCrimmon was a prisoner there would be no
pipes played. On hearing this, Lord Lewis at
once ordered that Donald Ban should be set
free. Not long afterwards, however, MacCrimmon
met his fate at the Rout of Moy on February 17,
1746. He was one of the party sent out by Lord
Loudon from Inverness
to seize Prince Charles as he lay unguarded at
Moy Hall. The raid was turned into a route by
the strategy of Lady Mackintosh and the courage
of the blacksmith of Moy with two or three
clansmen, and in the confusion and flight Donald
Ban was slain. After his death, his sister is
believed to have written the words to go with
the haunting tune believed to have been composed
by Donald Ban when he had a premonition of his
impending death.
The MacCrimmon piping dynasty
is honored in the form of cairn built in 1933,
at Borreraig. This cairn, which overlooks Loch
Dunvegan across to Dunvegan Castle, was paid for
by clan societies and donations from around the
world. The Gaelic inscription on the cairn reads
in translation as: "The Memorial Cairn of the
MacCrimmons of whom ten generations were the
hereditary pipers of MacLeod and who were
renowned as Composers, Performers and
Instructors of the classical music of the
bagpipe. Near to this post stood the MacCrimmons'
School of Music, 1500 – 1800".
In the last century, with a
revival in clan interest, the modern chiefs of
Clan MacLeod have instated two MacCrimmons as
hereditary pipers to the chief.
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