Some pipe music comes equipped with interesting histories and stories. Here I've gathered together some notes about the tunes we play.

• The Crags of Tumbledown Mountain: P/M James Riddell (Scots Guards) christened his tune "The Crags of Tumbledown Mountain" after the 2nd battalion Scots Guards took the high ground near Port Stanley after being pinned down for hours. This Falklands War (1982) battle lasted 8 hours and drew to a close only after the battalion mounted a swift and ferocious assault which scattered the Argentine 5th marine battalion before them.
  [Source: The Scotsman newspaper website]
• Highland Laddie: This is a common choice as a regimental march, and is used as such by the Black Watch and Scots Guards (among others).
  There is a dramatic World War II story surrounding this tune. Bill Millin, a commando then 21 at the Sword Beach landing on June 6, 1944, played Highland Laddie as he waded ashore under heavy fire. Playing pipes was forbidden by the military high command (to keep casualties low), but at the insistence of Lord Lovat, the brigade's commander, Millin played Highland Laddie, Blue Bonnets and Road to the Isles as he waded ashore, leading the troops. Said Millin, "I was the only one with a kilt on, a set of bagpipes and a knife and I wasn't armed. My most traumatic experience was jumping into the icy waters with a kilt on."
  [Source: BBC website]
• The Barren Rocks of Aden: This mid-1800s tune was an unnamed composition by Piper James Mauchline when a detachment of the 78th Seaforth Highlanders was stationed in Aden. Pipe Major Alexander Mackellar re-arranged and christened the tune.
  [Source: Halifax Citadel Regimental Assoc]
• Bonnie Dundee: This is the modern form of a 17th century tune called "The Band at a Distance," and may have originally been performed on the harpsichord in a different time signature.
  [Source: Bob Dunsire Forums]
• The 79th's Farewell to Gibraltar: This mid-1800s tune was composed by Pipe Major John Macdonald of the 79th Cameron Highlanders in June of 1848 when his regiment left Gibraltar for Canada.
  [Source: Halifax Citadel Regimental Assoc.]
• Brigadier Snow: Commanded by Brigadier A. E. Snow OBE, Force 135 conducted Operation "Nest Egg," the peaceful and unopposed liberation of the Channel Islands, after negotiating the surrender of the 25,500-man German garrison on 9 May 1945. Three days later, German Vice-Admiral Hüffmeier surrendered personally to Brigadier Snow on Guernsey but informed the Brigadier he had destroyed his sword! Hüffmeier and General-major Rudolf Wulf, commander of the 319th Infantry Division (the primary Channels Islands garrison force), were transported by ship to Plymouth to begin their three-year stints as prisoners of war.
  [Source: www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk/Vizeadmiral%20Friedrich%20H%FCffmeier.htm]
• Mingulay Boat Song: The premise of the "Mingulay Boat Song" is that it would be sung by Scottish fishermen as they returned from the Atlantic towards the Isle of Mingulay.

  The lyrics were penned by Sir Hugh S. Roberton (1874-1952) in the 1930s. The melody is described in Songs of the Isles as a "traditional Gaelic tune (probably Lochaber) arranged by Hugh S Roberton". In fact, the original tune was a pipe tune, "Creag Guanach"; from Lochaber. Moreover, the isle itself was abandoned in 1912, and therefore the song is not, as popularly fancied, authentic to the isle's fishing community.
  [Source: Wikipedia]

Retreat marches often have a lilt and swing to them that makes them pleasant to listen to, the idea being to calm down troops at day's end rather than getting them charged up. The two retreats presently in the band's repertoire are the Green Hills and Battle's O'er:

• The Green Hills of Tyrol: This tune is an 1854 transcription and adaptation by John Macleod from the Rossini opera "William Tell", after he'd heard it performed by a Sardinian military band.
  [Source: Wellington Scottish Pipes and Drums]
• When the Battle's O'er: Attributed to William Robb, this march bears a strong resemblance to the melody of Thomas Moore's song "The Last Rose of Summer", but Moore may have only composed the lyrics for the Irish song. The composer credited may have only changed timing to arrive at the tune we recognise today. The tune entered the piping repertoire between the Boer and First World Wars.
  [Source: Bob Dunsire Forums]
• The Battle of the Somme commemorates the World War I battle at which many commonwealth troops were present, in particular, the Newfoundland regiment which was viciously cut down by enemy cross-fire without the protective advantage of supporting artillery.
• The Heights of Dargai tune, written by J. Wallace, commemorates an important Battle Honour of the Gordon Highlanders, from Oct 20th, 1897, on the northwest frontier of India.Pipers were prominent at Dargai marching the advancing troops across open ground. Two pipers of note are connected with this tune.

  Playing "The Haughs of Cromdale," the Regimental "onset," at the front of the charge Piper George Findlater was twice shot, and his pipes were partially shot away also. But he continued playing until losing consciousness.

  Reports of this event created a sensation in Britain and when he was invalided back to Britain Queen Victoria herself personally awarded Findlater the Victoria Cross.

  Another piper, Lance-Corporal Patrick Milne, was also wounded displaying similar bravery and received the military cross medal personally from Queen Victoria for his bravery at the battle.

  As a result of his leg injuries Findlater was unfit for further service, but such was his celebrity after his decoration that he was able to command considerable fees by playing his pipes in popular music halls.

  "Profiting" from a military decoration was frowned on by the authorities, and in the ensuing controversy pressure was brought to bear on the music hall operators. But the affair focused the public’s attention on the plight of soldiers whose bravery had deprived them of any livelihood, and the Government was forced to substantially increase the pensions given to soldiers decorated for bravery.