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Pipe Major John McLellan DCM of Dunoon,
wrote more than 160 memorable melodies & songs, and everyone will have their own particular favourites! 'The Road to the Isles' is without a doubt his most popular tune though he also wrote the tune & lyrics to the very popular composition 'Lochanside' and also the great melody for 'Freedom Come All Ye' which is the tune known as 'The Bloody Fields of Flanders'. The tune we now recognize as 'The Road to the Isles' was actually composed by John McLellan DCM in 1890 or 1891, when he was just 16 years old, and at that time he named it 'The Bens of Jura' which he dedicated to his mother Mary Darroch. During subsequent years the tune's title was often changed as Jock, who was a piper in the British army, travelled from the UK to different countries around the globe. For example, in 1894 when Jock was first sent abroad with his regiment, the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) his tune had become so popular with his fellow soldiers and pipers, that he was asked to re-title it 'The 71st Farewell to Dover'. This event happened as the regiment departed from the port of Dover in England, though this title was only a temporary thing as the tune would later be called 'The Highland Brigade's March of Heilbron', and still later it aquired the title 'Burning Sands of Egypt', though it's been said that to Jock, the tune was always known as 'The Bens of Jura'. In 1917, while Jock was serving abroad with the 8th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders regiment, his tune titled 'The Bens of Jura' appeared in the 2nd edition of a small highland song book called 'Songs of the Hebrides Vol.2' which was part of a 3 - book series compiled by the Scottish singer and composer Marjory Kennedy - Fraser. Ms. Fraser had been touring around Scotland's western isles collecting local tunes, when she heard 'The Bens of Jura' being played on a chanter by Malcolm Johnson a local man on the island of Barra. She really liked the tune and told her friend Kenneth McLeod about it, McLeod who was a poet liked the tune so much that he decided to add his lyrics to it. He had already written a poem about the isles, so he decided to put his words to Jock's lovely melody, then he re-titled the composition 'The Road to the Isles'. Unfortunately, when the song appeared in 'Songs of the Hebrides Vol.2' neither Ms. Fraser or indeed Mr. McLeod acknowledged the tunes original composer, a decision that would eventually have quite severe legal consequences when the tune became more popular with the public. As I mentioned previously, when Jock's tune appeared in the 'Songs of the Hebrides Vol.2' song book, no credit was given to him as the tune's composer, and the impression given in the song book notes was that Mr. McLeod was actually the sole author himself. Also, Jock's tune 'The Bens of Jura' was already very well - known with pipers and old soldiers around Scotland. This was due to the tune being written as a march for the British army in the early 1890's. After the lyrics were added to the tune in 1917, and the tune was re - titled as 'The Road to the Isles', the song became quite popular with concert goers at that time, and a few years later it made a very big impact with the record buying public! In 1924, the Scottish singer Minnie Mearns was one of the first female vocalists to release a recorded version of 'The Road to the Isles'. which appeared on the Beltona Record Label and was on the B side of her rendition of 'An Eriskay Love Lilt'. It's full song title was 'The Road To The Isles' (A Trampling Song). Sole credit on the composition was taken by Ms. Fraser In 1926, 'The Road to the Isles' made a huge impact with the public when the world famous Scottish singer & entertainer Sir Harry Lauder released his version of the song on the flip side of his 78 rpm disc. The A side featured the popular song 'Keep Right On To The End Of The Road', though 'The Road To The Isles' became equally as popular as the song on the A side, and since then it's become one of the most iconic Scottish melodies ever. When Sir Harry Lauder's 78 rpm disc for 'The Road To The Isles' was released in Canada it was released as the main song on Side A, with 'Keep Right On To The End of The Road' on the B side. That could have been one of the reasons why 'The Road to the Isles' became hugely popular with pipe bands in north America, and also very successful around the world. Over the years, this classic song/tune has been recorded by many well known Scottish recording stars, choral groups & pipe bands including Andy Stewart, Moira Anderson, Robert Wilson, The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Pipe Band, Kenneth McKellar and The Glasgow Phoenix Choir to name a few. 'The Road to the Isles' has definitely endured the test of time, as have many of Pipe Major John McLellan DCM's other melodic compositions including: Bonnie Dunoon, Bloody Fields of Flanders, Lochanside, The Paps of Jura, Mary Darroch, Cowal Gathering, Dream Valley of Glendaruel, Glen Caladh Castle, The Highland Brigade at Magersfontain, The Sheiling, The Taking of Beaumont Hamel, Men of Argyll and South Hall. Now Jock's music catalogue can also be enjoyed online as music websites like YouTube & Spotify feature solo artists, folk groups & pipe band recordings of his most popular works. To date I've found a great many recordings of P/M John McLellan DCM's music on Spotify. There are also literally hundreds of versions of 'The Road To The Isles'. Freedom Come All YeIn 1960, just over a decade after Pipe Major John McLellan DCM's passing,
another well - known Scottish poet and songwriter, namely Hamish Henderson wrote and added his lyrics to Jock's popular tune titled ‘The Bloody Fields of Flanders’, and that song quickly became popular in certain circles in Scotland and abroad at the time. Hamish named his song ‘Freedom Come All Ye’, and he actually recorded an acapella version of the song, which he sung in the Scots language, you can currently listen to it on Spotify. He apparently wrote the song for the peace marchers at the Holy Loch in Scotland in the early 1960s. A few decades later, 'Freedom Come all Ye' was put forward within the halls of Scottish government as being a possible contender to take the place of 'Flower of Scotland' as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. P/M John McLellan DCM's popular tune 'The Bloody Fields of Flanders' was originally composed for the bagpipes during the First World War: it's been said that while serving abroad with the army in WWII, Mr. Henderson heard the tune being played by a military pipe band on the beaches of Anzio and he liked it a lot. 'Freedom, Come All Ye' made quite a big impact here in Scotland since first being released all those years ago, and over the decades it has been recorded by many famous singers and groups. The tune 'The Bloody Fields of Flanders' also continues to be very popular with pipers and pipe bands at Highland Games events in Scotland and around the world. There are in fact more than 20 versions of the song/tune currently online. You can listen to all the different versions right now in the 'Freedom Come All Ye' Playlist which is currently inside Spotify! It's a fact, many of Pipe Major John McLellan DCM's tunes continue to be popular with pipe bands from Scotland & around the globe, and his other tunes like 'My Home Town', 'Colonel McLean of Ardgour' 'Lochanside' and 'Freedom Come All Ye' have also made a big impact on the Scottish and British traditional/folk music scenes to this day. Popular groups like The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Calisaig, The Battlefield Band, The Glasgow Orpheus Choir, North Sea Gas and Skipinnish have recorded fine renditions of his music! |