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Clan Maclean Heritage Trust

Events

2012

International Gathering

 

Lichd Lee

On Thursday, 21st June 2012, during the International Gathering, a cairn was unveiled by the Chief, Sir Lachlan Maclean of Duart and Morvern, Chairman of the Heritage Trust, at Lichd Lee on the Isle of Mull.

 

This cairn commemorates the victory of the Macleans, led by Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean of Duart, 14th Chief, over the Macdonalds, led by Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat, in 1585. The defeat of the Macdonalds was foretold in a dream to Maclean of Boreray, in the famous words:

        O Lecklee, thou dread Lecklee,

        Great the carnage thou shalt see.

        The Macleans shall win the day;

        The invaders slain shall be.

        Gerna Dubh, thou hill of woe,

        Tides of blood shall round thee flow,

        Ere the gleaming swords shall rest

        The Red Knight shall be laid low.

After a march to the site and a welcome from the Chief, Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch gave a brief account of the battle and the Seneachaidh, Brigadier John Macfarlane, recited the above poem. The cairn was then unveiled by the Chief, together with David MacLean-Watt, a descendant of the Macleans of Boreray.

The cairn was erected with the kind permission of Tim Radford, owner of the Knock Estate.

 

This was followed by an inspection of the stones of Lichd Lee, where the Macleans are traditionally held to have sharpened their swords. The gouges in the stones are still visible to believers!

 

 

Pipe Music of the Clan Maclean

On the same day, 21st June, the Trust's latest publication, Pipe Music of the Clan Maclean, was launched at the reception held for the Friends of the Heritage Trust at Gruline House, by kind permission of James and Nichola Harmer.

This book, the first book of Maclean pipe music for more than 100 years, contains tunes written by or about Macleans or about Maclean lands. The 76 tunes cater for all levels of piper, from novice to MSR competitor. For further information about the book, which is available from our bookshop, see here.

A second launch was held at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow on Thursday, 9th August 2012. This took place during Piping Live!, Glasgow's annual festival of pipe music. To mark the occasion the Trust sponsored a competition, which was called the Clan Maclean Quaich Piobaireachd Competition. Four notable pipers had been selected to compete and they each played one of the tunes from the book:

• Allan MacDonald played Lament for Maclaine of Lochbuie.

  He is one of three piping brothers from Glenuig. He won the Gold Medal for Piobaireachd at Inverness in 1984, and has won the Clasp to the Gold Medal on two subsequent occasions. A Gaelic speaker, he has an MPhil awarded by the University of Edinburgh for a thesis entitled "The relationship between piobaireachd and Gaelic song: its implications on the performance style of the piobaireachd urlar", which broke new ground in relating piobaireachd to Gaelic song of the 16th and 17th centuries. He is also a folk musician and teaches at the National Piping Centre.

• Brian Donaldson played The Macleans' Gathering tune 3.

  He served in the Scots Guards and was Pipe Major of the 1st Battalion of that Regiment from 1995 to 1997. He won the Gold Medal for Piobaireachd in 1990 at Oban. He now runs his own bagpipe making business, Inveran Bagpipes, which he is in the process of moving to the United States.

• Dr Simon McKerrell played Hector Maclean's Warning.

  He is a graduate of the BA degree in Traditional Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is an A Grade professional player for both piobaireachd and light music. He undertook further research into the competition light music repertoire of the Highland bagpipe, resulting in the award of a PhD for a thesis entitled "Scottish Competition Bagpipe Performance: Sound, Mode and Aesthetics." He is currently Lecturer in Music in the International Centre for Music Studies at the University of Newcastle. Dr McKerrell won the competition sponsored by the Heriatge Trust for a new pipe tune to mark the centenary of the recovery, restoration and re-opening of Duart Castle (see 2011 Events).

• Callum Beaumont played Macleans' Gathering tune 2.

  He is currently one of the best young players in the world and is based at the National Piping Centre, where he teaches. He has played with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, winning the World Pipe Band Championships with them. He currently plays with the Grade 1 Inveraray Pipe Band. He won the Gold Medal for piobaireachd at Oban in 2011.

 

The judge was John Wilson, piobaireachd Gold Medallist and Senior Piping Judge at the National Piping Centre. The winner was Pipe Major Brian Donaldson, who was presented by the Chief with the Clan Maclean Quaich.

 

 

 

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