Donald MacDonald (1767-1840), Skyeman, piper, soldier, bagpipe-maker, music publisher and ‘Pipe Maker to the Highland Society of London’ is a key figure in the history of piping. He was the first to make a comprehensive collection of Highland bagpipe music in staff notation. A part of his unique collection of pìobaireachd was first published in about 1820 and then republished in 2006. The balance of his collection remained in manuscript until 2011, when 50 tunes were published for the first time in a scholarly edition prepared by Roderick Cannon and Keith Sanger for the Pìobaireachd Society. This was made possible through the generosity of the Highland Society of London, William Grant and Sons Distillers, the MacRobert Trust and the Clan Donald Lands Trust.

Donald MacDonald was one of the first of the emerging class of professional bagpipe makers in Edinburgh and London. Although the work of other makers overtook his products in the course of the busy 19th century, it was his distinctive design and workmanship that came to define the Great Highland Bagpipe as we know it today. Donald MacDonald marks the point of entry into the known history of the Highland bagpipe.

As already mentioned, Donald MacDonald was born in 1767 in Glenhinnisdale in Skye. It has been said that he was taught by the MacArthurs – at least he dated his own early piping experience to the late 1770s. He first comes to our notice when he joins the armed forces – the Rothesay and Caithness Fencibles – in 1795. Donald served until about 1802, and then, as he settled in Edinburgh, he began to make his mark in the annual pìobaireachd competitions of the Highland Society of London. Both Donald and his three sons took many prizes, and Donald himself (after another break for military service) won the top award in 1817. But still more significant for us, he learned to write pipe music in modern notation, and, as early as 1806, he won a substantial prize for producing the largest collection seen up till that time. In 1820, he finally published his first collection of pìobaireachd. This publication prefigures an important pattern whereby the most significant published works were produced by the bagpipe makers themselves, Donald MacDonald thus being the pioneer of such enterprises. In many ways, the notation set the standard for all the books we have today. Donald’s 1820 book contained 23 pieces noted in complete detail, and the quality of the music and sophistication of his style of ornamentation show clearly what a strong tradition he had inherited. Many of our most famous tunes first saw the light in that book – ‘The Prince’s Salute’, ‘The Finger Lock’, ‘Craigellachie’, ‘Glengarry’s March’ and so on. They are still favourites today, and although styles of playing are now different, the basic melodies remain as he gave them.