The patronage of elite Highland pipers collapsed after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Worried that the classical music of the Gaels would fade away, the English-speaking gentry offered prize money for scientific notations. By 1797, Colin Campbell had written 377 pages in a unique notation based on the vocables of Hebridean ‘mouth music’, but – unintelligible to the judges in Edinburgh – Campbell’s extraordinary work of preservation has remained overlooked or misunderstood until now. Barnaby Brown’s realisations bring the musical craftsmanship of a remote culture vividly to life, giving a voice back to some of Europe’s most illustrious ancient instruments and refocusing attention on a type of music whose trance-inducing long spans and elaborate formal patterning echo the knots and spells of Celtic culture.

Track listing:

1. Hindorõdin hindodre: One of the Cragich (a ‘rocky’ pibroch)
Barnaby Brown Highland bagpipe

2. Cumha Mhic Leòid (McLeod’s Lament)
Bill Taylor Highland clarsach

3. Fear Pìoba Meata (The Timid Piper)
Barnaby Brown canntaireachd, Bill Taylor wire-strung lyre

4. Cruinneachadh nan Sutharlanach (The Sutherlands’ Gathering)
Clare Salaman Hardanger fiddle

5. Hiorodotra cheredeche (a nameless pibroch)
Barnaby Brown vulture bone flute

6. Port na Srian (The Horse’s Bridle Tune)
Bill Taylor gut-strung lyre

7. Pìobaireachd na Pàirce (The Park Pibroch)
Clare Salaman hurdy-gurdy

8. Ceann Drochaid’ Innse-bheiridh (The End of Inchberry Bridge)
Barnaby Brown canntaireachd, Bill Taylor Highland clarsach, Clare Salaman medieval fiddle