Mackay of Raasay, Angus

Much of the Scottish piping heritage stems from this family; Angus, son of John Mackay of Raasay (who according to Angus has been taught by the MacCrimmons, and most certainly by the son and grandson of Iain Dall Mackay of Gairloch), won a 4th prize at an open competition when he was 13 years old, and became the Champion piper in 1835; The great piper of the 19th century, he is mainly remembered for his many transcriptions of Pìobaireachd from Canntaireachd into staff notation; He was able to note down 183 Pìobaireachd (mainly from his father’s repertoire) and published, 1838, a book with 61 Pìobaireachd tunes; From 1843 he was piper to Queen Victoria for about 10 years; He introduced the "competition march" and is thought to be the first to compose that type of music; NB: ➺ Donald Cameron, John Ban Mackenzie and Malcolm Macpherson ("Calum Pìobaire").