Music of the Scottish Regiments

[Muerrisch]

Stunningly good.

I own a few military books.

Some 100 feet of books, ranked side by side .............

Last month I risked £22 plus postage on the above title, by David Murray.

Quite simply, for like-minded people ......... very many GWF members for example ............. this is an amazingly good book.

Written by a Scottish soldier with a distinguished WW II record, a piper, and a very thorough and readable expert.

He covers pipes, tartan, bugles, drums, military bands, tunes, customs, military etiquette, and much more [see below for blurb]..

For example, Scottish units wearing things on their legs are almost without exception not wearing trews, but trousers.

The depth of knowledge on regimental lineage, and the myths surrounding tartan, is astounding.

All in a very very readable styles on beautiful paper and superbly bound.

Criticism: the illustrations, copious, are not sufficiently contrasty, so some lack the definition which we crave.If I, as a sassenach, was enthralled, how much more will the Scots enjoy this.

This book is an essential on every members bookshelf.

Try ABE, but insist on the hardback. There were two editions: the first edition has colour plates, the second [reprint] has a better dustwrapper but no colour inside.

While books on the military abound, there are certain aspects of Army life that have had a little or no attention paid to them. One of these is the music of the armed forces, which once regulated every area of a soldier’s life and accompanied his every activity. From waking up in the morning, through meal-times, on the parade-ground, while marching and on the battlefield, music was an integral part of military life and acted as a timekeeper, a rallying cry and a system to relay orders. Most of all, it provided regimental identity. With Music of the Scottish Regiments, David Murray has produced a timely and in-depth history and overview of all aspects of the music found within Scottish regiments, both Lowland and Highland. From the origins of military music to what the future holds for the regimental bands, which are now under further threat from amalgamation; and from the music played by marching bands û much admired by many from around the world at showcase events such as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo to the everyday calls which governed soldiers’ lives, as well as giving them comfort in unfamiliar surroundings and in times of conflict. In fact, all facets of the fife, drums, bugles and pipes that carried on the proud tradition of martial music are examined. There are detailed accounts of how the music has evolved over the last three centuries and how it is related to the traditions of Scotland and its clans, as well as descriptions of the ceremonies, rituals and dress that were once a fundamental part of military life. The book is illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs, which represent the pipe and military band over the centuries and the man who played them. It also contains a wealth of military folklore and personal experience, derived from David Murray’s thirty years of service and a lifelong passion for the music of Scottish Regiments. Contents: The origins of military music; The soldiers’ day; The six old regiments; The music and the tartan; The kilt; The military band; The pipers; Dressing the pipers; The drummers; The bugle; Regimental marches; Duty tunes and routine calls; Reveille, retreat and tattoo; The military funeral; The marching bands; Music in the mess; Music in war; The national service years; The end of the story

It is, simply, a stunner, and not just for Scots, either.

[Muerrisch]

Do please have a look ........

[daggers]

I think you are trying to say that you enjoyed it.

D

[squirrel]

What a write up! Will you be seeking out all the relevant recordings now? It's a shame nothing like this has been done for the Irish regiments though.

[IanA]

Do please have a look ........

I intend to. I've spent £8 ordering a hardback edition from a well-known on-line auction house. I'll be knocking on your door if it's no good.

[Muerrisch]

I intend to. I've spent £8 ordering a hardback edition from a well-known on-line auction house. I'll be knocking on your door if it's no good.

As I said above, the illustrations, although copious, are not very well reproduced .......... but the text!

[squirrel]

I ordered one through the Abebooks link. After you with the door knocker Ian.

[IanA]

I ordered one through the Abebooks link. After you with the door knocker Ian.

Well....if it has been written by someone who doesn't know a crotchet from a bull's foot there may not be much door left.

[Muerrisch]

Well....if it has been written by someone who doesn't know a crotchet from a bull's foot there may not be much door left.

Hoof, dear sir, hoof.

[squirrel]

Well, the book arrived this morning and a quick shufti suggests that it is all that Grumpy said it would be. Looks like the door and knocker are safe for now!

[IanA]

Well, the book arrived this morning and a quick shufti suggests that it is all that Grumpy said it would be. Looks like the door and knocker are safe for now!

Mine too. I've only had time to look at the pretty pictures so far so I'm reserving judgement. I am fortunate in that my £8 secured me a good second-hand copy with dust jacket and colour illustrations.

[squirrel]

My copy was a little more expensive but in very good condition, almost new in fact, and complete with dust jacket. Reckon it will creep to the top of the "to read" pile pretty quickly.

[Steven Broomfield]

I don't wish to create alarm and despondency, but have we defined "Scottish"?

[Muerrisch]

I don't wish to create alarm and despondency, but have we defined "Scottish"?

Feel free. You define it, and we will criticise your defintion.

Off you go.

[truthergw]

I don't wish to create alarm and despondency, but have we defined "Scottish"?

Like pornography, I know it when I see it.

[seaforth78]

I know the author very well. He is still a stout 79ther!

Read on gentlemen and make sure you thank tempare GRUMPY for without his advice, you would have never known of the book! (it came out in 1994)

[Muerrisch]

I know the author very well. He is still a stout 79ther!

Read on gentlemen and make sure you thank tempare GRUMPY for without his advice, you would have never known of the book! (it came out in 1994)

I actually bought the first edition AND the reprint ...... substantial differences internally and dustwrapper. Do you, too, find the illustrations frustrating in their reproduction? I would dearly love good versions of them.

Please convey my very sincere thanks to Major [?] David Murray, a magnificent book, never seen the like.

[squirrel]

Please convey my thanks too for producing such a fine book. It makes me wish that I could read music!

I have a first edition and I can understand Grumpy's frustrations with some of the black and white illustrations, but eighteen years ago the technology for copying and reproducing old photographs was not what it is now, in the digital age.

[seaforth78]

I did so and he was very delighted to hear this. Colonel Murray is now one of the last officers of the 79th that fought in the Burma campaign. He now is retired in Somerset.

The reason why the 2nd ed.came out in was because to reflect the new changes in the Army after 1994, the notorious options of change, and I think because there was a new publisher involved, hence the poor quality of the plates.

Its an excellent book which draws on the author's personal memory of the pre-war and post war Army.

[Muerrisch]

I did so and he was very delighted to hear this. Colonel Murray is now one of the last officers of the 79th that fought in the Burma campaign. He now is retired in Somerset.

The reason why the 2nd ed.came out in was because to reflect the new changes in the Army after 1994, the notorious options of change, and I think because there was a new publisher involved, hence the poor quality of the plates.

Its an excellent book which draws on the author's personal memory of the pre-war and post war Army.

I am not exactly thrilled with the plates in the first edition, either ......... perhaps it is my jaundiced modern eyes!

Better than the infamous Churchill's Collar Badges print by N&M, but not much ........ the eye craves for the detail that Murray describes so well. C'est la vie, as they say in Croatia.

[WilliamRev]

I bought this book a few months ago - 1994 Pentland Press edition - stunning colour plates in middle of book but, yes, indifferently reproduced black and white photos in text.

It is indeed a simply wonderful book, written by a chap (an officer in Cameron H'landers, then Royal Scots, later Black Watch - he plays the pipes and used to help organise Edinburgh Tattoo) who REALLY knows his stuff.

I can guarantee that if you are a semi-Scot who is obsessed with Scottish regiments in the Great War and is learning (very slowly ) to play the bagpipes, then this book will become one of your most treasured possessions (after your pipes of course).

William

[IanA]

I have just finished the book and can second GRUMPY's enthusiastic recommendation. A tremendous amount of military musical tradition bound up in one easy to read volume. I do not claim to be any sort of authority at all on matters of badges, buttons, tartans, etc but I read it with a critical musician's eye and could discover nothing to dispute. There is one matter which might have been amplified and that is the origin of the drum major's mace. Mr Murray conjectures that it "might have originated in the wand of office carried by the footmen who preceded the great and mighty through the streets in the eighteenth century". It seems that leaders of singing men may well have been issued with wands of office as far back as the mediaeval period but these were later enlarged and often used to enthusiastically mark the beat by thumping them on the floor. The most famous example of such a baton being used occurred in 1687 when Jean-Baptiste Lully, conducting a 'Te Deum', brought the instrument down, with some force, on his toe. The wound turned gangrenous and Lully died. Oddly, it later became the fashion to conduct with a rolled sheet of manuscript paper. History does not relate how many conductors perished through paper cuts...

I would conjecture that the long wooden baton as used by Lully in the seventeenth century was retained by military bands as a very practical way of leading players who are not sitting in serried rows with a clear view of the conductor.