Black Watch Pipe Major

[Ron Abbott]

From some other forums/websites:-

http://blackwatchforums.co.uk/showth...nderson-1st-Bn

http://www.heraldscotland.com/commen...s-men.22675093

http://bagpipejourney.com/articles/w...shtml#anchor_A

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/loc...t-jfk-1.157561

and from our own forum:-

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...estions-83521/

In that last one, the Pipe Major of the 1st Bn. Queen's own Highlanders (on the far right as you look at it) is Jock Allan, formerly of the 1st Bn. Scots Guards and who subsequently went on to become the Director of the Army School of Piping.

The Gordon Highlanders pipe-major in the photo is Joe Kerr and I think the Royal Scots pipe-major is Patrick 'Paddy' Morecroft. The cap badge on the partially hidden one might be Argylls, however I can't see the face well enough.

[OC Richard]

Yes here he is!





A very large man. I'm told his nickname in the battalion was Big Ug (can somebody confirm or deny this?) and I'm told he had an exceptionally good ear for music in general (non-pipe as well as pipe music).

There's a pipe tune, a 6/8 March, called Jimmy Anderson's Welcome to Arran composed by Duncan Johnstone. Here it is, the second tune?

https://soundcloud.com/tyler-bridge/...el-t-macdonald

An interesting uniform thing in the top photo is the Archer Green coatee which was introduced in 1953. Note that it lacks the gold 'lace' (braid) usually seen on Pipe Major's tunics, which you can see on his Archer Green doublet in the lower photo. The lower photo rewards study, as it shows a mix of the old 1953 Coatees, the new plain Doublets which lacked piping around the flaps, and Anderson's full-lace doublet.