A warm welcome to
Pipe Major John McLellan DCM's
Tribute Website
A warm welcome to
Fàilte gu làrach-lìn ùmhlachd
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Known to pipers as John McLellan, Dunoon. John, or Jock as he was known to his family & friends was a very talented musician, music composer & poet who was born in Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland on the 8th of August, 1875.
He was the town's best known composer of pipe music and songs, and is perhaps best remembered for writing the music to the very popular songs 'The Road to the Isles', 'Lochanside' & 'Freedom Come All Ye'. Pipe Major John McLellan DCM of Dunoon wrote more than 160 songs & tunes all together. It's been said that he would often write down the lyrics before composing the tune.
Other memorable tunes written by Jock include: The Highland Brigade At Magersfontein, Bloody Fields of Flanders, Colonel McLean of Argour, The Holy Loch, Mary Darroch, Bonnie Dunoon, The Paps of Jura, Cowal Gathering, Dream Valley of Glendaruel, Glen Caladh Castle, The Taking of Beaumont Hamel, My Home Town, Men of Argyll and South Hall to name a few. 
John McLellan DCM's story is really quite fascinating because surprisingly, no one is very sure who taught him to play the bagpipes, read music or write lyrics! 
You can find out more about the Man & his life, inside the 'About Jock' page in this website. Do check it out! ( Photo of Isle of Jura above. Courtesy of Island-Light.Photography ) Here now is a great wee YouTube video featuring tunes penned by P/M John McLellan DCM,
played by Inveraray's multi-award winning piper & Pipe Major Stuart Liddell. Get the latest exciting news about Stuart here: http://www.stuartliddell.com |
News Stories Relating to Jock
Checkout Jock's Top Tunes
Playlist on Spotify
JOHN MCLELLAN DCM’s Top Tunes on Spotify! is a recently updated Playlist which was originally titled
P/M John McLellan DCM’s Top 10 Tunes on Spotify.
This Playlist has now been expanded, and features 30 tunes and songs written by Jock,
though a few of his tunes are included in medleys of tunes by other composers also.
You will hear a great mixture of music styles in the Playlist, from traditional highland bagpipe performances by popular
solo pipers like James McGillivary, Stuart Cassells and Rob Crabtree, and famous pipe bands like
'The City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band’, ‘The Dysart & Dundonald Pipe Band’ and ‘The Toronto Police Pipe Band’.
There are also fine Dunoon barn dance arrangements by well known Ceilidh bands like Iain MacPhail & His Scottish Dance Band,
'Jimmy Shand Jnr', and ‘John Carmichael’s Ceilidh Band'.
Other top artists featured on Jock’s Top Tunes Spotify Playlist includes: The Occasionals, Blazin’ Fiddles, The Campbell’s,
The Battlefield Band,
Ian Tonkan McDonald, Griogair Labhriud, The Glasgow Phoenix Choir,
Skipinnish,
North Sea Gas, Archie McAllister,Kevin Mcleod & Alec Finn, Pumeza Matshikiza, and many more.
Please don't forget to LIKE us on Spotify should you pay our Playlists a visit! Cheers!
solo pipers like James McGillivary, Stuart Cassells and Rob Crabtree, and famous pipe bands like
'The City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band’, ‘The Dysart & Dundonald Pipe Band’ and ‘The Toronto Police Pipe Band’.
There are also fine Dunoon barn dance arrangements by well known Ceilidh bands like Iain MacPhail & His Scottish Dance Band,
'Jimmy Shand Jnr', and ‘John Carmichael’s Ceilidh Band'.
Other top artists featured on Jock’s Top Tunes Spotify Playlist includes: The Occasionals, Blazin’ Fiddles, The Campbell’s,
The Battlefield Band,
Ian Tonkan McDonald, Griogair Labhriud, The Glasgow Phoenix Choir,
Skipinnish,
North Sea Gas, Archie McAllister,Kevin Mcleod & Alec Finn, Pumeza Matshikiza, and many more.
Please don't forget to LIKE us on Spotify should you pay our Playlists a visit! Cheers!
Hello and Happy New Year to you!
Many thanks for visiting Pipe Major John McLellan DCM’s tribute website which draws inspiration from
the man and his awesome legacy of music.
One of the reasons that this website was set up in 2020, was to gather together news stories and related articles found at
various websites online about Jock and his life, and during the past year popular pipe music websites
like Bagpipe.news and Piping Press have featured a number of interesting articles about him and his melodies,
which was great to see!
Many thanks for visiting Pipe Major John McLellan DCM’s tribute website which draws inspiration from
the man and his awesome legacy of music.
One of the reasons that this website was set up in 2020, was to gather together news stories and related articles found at
various websites online about Jock and his life, and during the past year popular pipe music websites
like Bagpipe.news and Piping Press have featured a number of interesting articles about him and his melodies,
which was great to see!
I also found out a little bit more about the Isle of Jura, and its relevance to Jock, and while visiting the Pipe Tunes website
I discovered that Jock’s mother Mary Darroch McLellan who hailed from the island, was a talented pianist,
and tunesmith who composed the melodic slow air titled ‘Bonnie Isle of Jura’.
On the home page of this website is a great wee YouTube video of Pipe Major Stuart Liddell
performing two P/M John McLellan DCM tunes on the pipes, as part of the ‘Lads of Argyll’
Cowal Virtual Highland Gathering Tribute to Jock in 2020.
My thanks again to Stuart for allowing me to continue to feature the video,
and also the folks at The Cowal Highland Gathering.
I discovered that Jock’s mother Mary Darroch McLellan who hailed from the island, was a talented pianist,
and tunesmith who composed the melodic slow air titled ‘Bonnie Isle of Jura’.
On the home page of this website is a great wee YouTube video of Pipe Major Stuart Liddell
performing two P/M John McLellan DCM tunes on the pipes, as part of the ‘Lads of Argyll’
Cowal Virtual Highland Gathering Tribute to Jock in 2020.
My thanks again to Stuart for allowing me to continue to feature the video,
and also the folks at The Cowal Highland Gathering.
Another wee acknowledgement is due to the Oban Times for featuring an interesting article about Jock
and this website which created a lot of interest, and also to Ron at Island.Light.Photography
who supplied me with some lovely photos of the Isle of Jura.
Over the next few months, you will see a few subtle changes to the page layouts of the website as
I’m aiming to fine-tune the information there in. Cheers!
and this website which created a lot of interest, and also to Ron at Island.Light.Photography
who supplied me with some lovely photos of the Isle of Jura.
Over the next few months, you will see a few subtle changes to the page layouts of the website as
I’m aiming to fine-tune the information there in. Cheers!
The Spotlight falls on Jock's old regiment The HLI
and it's place inside The famed RHF Regimental Museum
Located near Charing Cross in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, the impressive RHF Regimental Museum highlights
two famous old Scottish regiments which includes the Royal Highland Fusiliers (RHF) and the Highland Light Infantry (HLI).
Pipe Major John McLellan DCM actually signed up with the HLI in Glasgow way back in 1892, and over the next decade
he served abroad with the regiment in places like Malta, Crete, Egypt and South Africa.
The RHF Regimental Museum highlights the history and accomplishments of each regiment during war and peacetime too!
It has a number of interesting displays featuring everything from ancient army uniforms,
musical instruments, different types of weaponry and vehicles,
and many flags, photos and posters many of which are over a century old.
If you'd like to know more about the RHF Museum, here is the website link:
https://www.museums.co.uk/details/Regimental-Museum-of-the-Royal-Highland-Fusiliers/
It has a number of interesting displays featuring everything from ancient army uniforms,
musical instruments, different types of weaponry and vehicles,
and many flags, photos and posters many of which are over a century old.
If you'd like to know more about the RHF Museum, here is the website link:
https://www.museums.co.uk/details/Regimental-Museum-of-the-Royal-Highland-Fusiliers/
This past year, a great wealth of Pipe Major John McLellan DCM's music has been discovered on Spotify.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any actual recordings of Jock performing his tunes himself, but there are a great many recordings
of his work featuring a myriad of other artists, including many well known
solo singers and folk groups,
award winning pipers and pipe bands, popular instrumentalists and yes, ceilidh bands too!
Unfortunately, there aren’t any actual recordings of Jock performing his tunes himself, but there are a great many recordings
of his work featuring a myriad of other artists, including many well known
solo singers and folk groups,
award winning pipers and pipe bands, popular instrumentalists and yes, ceilidh bands too!
With that in mind, I’ve compiled a number of Spotify Playlists featuring Jocks tunes and songs,
the most recent being ‘The John McLellan DCM Tribute 2021’, ‘The Freedom Come All Ye Collection’
and the ‘North Sea Gas & Friends’ Folk Music Tribute’.
Should you decide to checkout Jock’s Spotify Playlists yourself,
please give us your support by giving us a Like after listening to each tune or song!
To listen, just enter John McLellan DCM’s name in the Spotify search engine in the website,
and his list of Playlists will be revealed to you! Enjoy!
the most recent being ‘The John McLellan DCM Tribute 2021’, ‘The Freedom Come All Ye Collection’
and the ‘North Sea Gas & Friends’ Folk Music Tribute’.
Should you decide to checkout Jock’s Spotify Playlists yourself,
please give us your support by giving us a Like after listening to each tune or song!
To listen, just enter John McLellan DCM’s name in the Spotify search engine in the website,
and his list of Playlists will be revealed to you! Enjoy!
Jock wasn't the only music composer in his family!
Pipe Major John McLellan DCM of Dunoon was a multi-instrumentalist who could not only play the bagpipes and read music,
he was also a dab hand at playing the penny whistle, fiddle and the piano.
Quite surprisingly, no one is very sure who taught Jock to play these musical instruments,
though it's surmised to have happened in Dunoon, and on the Isle of Jura that he developed his great talent.
Recently, while doing some research online, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a nice wee tune
which was composed by one of Jock's close family members.
It's a wee tune which was composed by his mother Mary Darroch, and is a melodic slow air called ‘Bonnie Isle of Jura’.
he was also a dab hand at playing the penny whistle, fiddle and the piano.
Quite surprisingly, no one is very sure who taught Jock to play these musical instruments,
though it's surmised to have happened in Dunoon, and on the Isle of Jura that he developed his great talent.
Recently, while doing some research online, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a nice wee tune
which was composed by one of Jock's close family members.
It's a wee tune which was composed by his mother Mary Darroch, and is a melodic slow air called ‘Bonnie Isle of Jura’.
You can listen to a sample of ‘Bonnie Isle of Jura’ by Mary Darroch inside the Pipe Tunes website and here’s the link:
https://pipetunes.ca/tunes/?frm-search-text=bonnie+isle+of+jura&frm-time-sig=&frm-number-of-parts=&frm-composer=&frm-arranger=&frm-difficulty-level=
The photo of Jock above, appears in various configurations inside this website and is courtesy of Piping Press.com
https://pipetunes.ca/tunes/?frm-search-text=bonnie+isle+of+jura&frm-time-sig=&frm-number-of-parts=&frm-composer=&frm-arranger=&frm-difficulty-level=
The photo of Jock above, appears in various configurations inside this website and is courtesy of Piping Press.com
Check out Jock's recently updated Music Legacy & YouTube Page!
Photo Credits:
A number of P/M John McLellan DCM's photos which appear in this website and on the Spotify Playlists were found online,
and also at the following websites:
Pipingpress.com, Bagpipe.news, Pipesdrums.com, The Anglo Boer War website,
Pipetunes.ca and The Cowal Highland Gathering.
My sincere thanks to these websites for letting me use the photographs.
A number of P/M John McLellan DCM's photos which appear in this website and on the Spotify Playlists were found online,
and also at the following websites:
Pipingpress.com, Bagpipe.news, Pipesdrums.com, The Anglo Boer War website,
Pipetunes.ca and The Cowal Highland Gathering.
My sincere thanks to these websites for letting me use the photographs.
Tapadh leibh airson tadhal! Thankyou for visiting!
Checkout my Cowal Photo Gallery
in the website menu
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