The musical marriage between the violin and the bagpipe has been a long and fruitful one, and no fiddler contributed more to the piping repertoire than James Scott Skinner.

He was born in Banchory, a village 20 miles from Aberdeen, on August 5, 1843. His father William had been a full-time gardener and part-time fiddler, but when he lost three fingers on his left hand in a gun accident, he gave up gardening, switched his bowing to the left hand and became a full-time fiddler and dance master. He died when James was only 18 months, so his influence on him was indirect and passed on mostly through his family....

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James Scott Skinner's funeral procession in March, 1927,
led by the Aberdeen Police Pipe Band.


James Scott Skinner