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Duncan Johnstone

from Undark by Cantrip

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about

Duncan Johnstone – King of the Jigs–(1925–1999) was born in Glasgow to immigrant parents: both his parents being from the Outer Hebrides. Most sources claim his mother to have been from Benbecula and his father from Barra. However, that the famous Fr. John MacMillan of Barra was his uncle suggests that the converse was, in fact, the case. He studied pipes under Angus Campbell, Ballachulish, and following his schooling, worked as a cabinet maker. He joined the Royal Navy during the war and worked as a mine sweeper in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas and subsequently became a joiner for the Clan Line & Stephen shipyards. Throughout his life, Duncan was a dedicated teacher and included in the ranks of his students are Findlay MacDonald, Dougie Pincock, Roddy MacLeod (MBE, don’t you know) and Neil Dickie. In spite of his prowess as a musician (or perhaps because of it) he was not a big man for the competitions. In his own words: “I was never interested if I could beat this man or the next. I always wanted to play well but not with the idea of beating anyone.” All this notwithstanding when attending the Scottish Pipers’ Association Knockout Competition in 1964 he was asked to stand in for John MacKenzie, Dunblane, who had pulled out at the last minute. Famously, in the final round the audience judged him the better performer over the mighty Donald MacLeod. Perhaps in honour of this event or in honour of the friendship between them that ensued, Donald composed this tune for Duncan.

The Rapho is an Irish melody that cannot decide if it is a jig or a reel and our fierce and fiery fiddler, Fr. Jon Bews has done everything within the means available to him to enable and call attention to its indecision.

Caisteal Úi Cheilleigh, Castle Kelly, is sadly, though understandably, somewhat over played in certain circles. Those circles, however, do not include those of Scottish pipers as they would normally not have all the requisite notes, and therefore the means, to squeeze it out. Now we do! We have the power now, and we’re not giving it back.

This set finishes with a tune called The Wise Maid which we got from piper Iain MacInnes. This is probably not the Wise Maid that you are thinking of. This one is neither a rake from Connemara, nor has she been all around the world.

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from Undark, released March 3, 2023

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Cantrip Scotland, UK

"Their music comes from wild landscapes and wild places of the spirit." -- The Orcadian

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