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BAND SETS

(page last revised 19 October 2009)

Note: by clicking on the highlighted links below, the music in .bmw format will be available to print or save. If you have Bagpipe Player (click on link to download)
on your computer, you will be able to play the saved tunes on your computer, but for some reason known only to Bill Gates, the tune will not play directly from this page.
It is the intention that the most recent versions of each set (see V# in lower left of page) will be found on this page.

List of Band Sets

BASIC PARADE SETS	ADVANCED BAND SETS	SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL TUNES	TUNES UNDER STUDY	EXERCISES
1. Blue Bells set 4/4 Blue Bells of Scotland No Awa’ tae Bide Awa’ Will ye no come back again	5. Teribus Teribus 2/4 Mairi’s Wedding 2/4 Barren Rocks of Aden 2/4	Highland Cathedral 4/4 (often followed by Green Hills)	Canadian Set Maple Leaf Forever Farewell to Nova Scotia Four Strong Winds I's the B'y	Exercises
2. Green Hills set (Retreats) 3/4 Green Hills of Tyrol When the Battle’s O’er	6. The Children set 4/4 The Children Jimmy Findlater	Amazing Grace 3/4		Scots Wha Hae
3. Scotland the Brave set 4/4 Scotland the Brave Rowan Tree 76th Police Tattoo	7. Slow Marches 6/8 Skye Boat Song Mist Covered Mountains	Flowers of the Forest 2/4	Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy)
4. High Road set 2/4 High Road to Gairloch Highland Laddie Brown Haired Maiden	8. Cock o' the North 6/8 Cock o’ the North Atholl Highlanders Bonnie Dundee
	10. Hot Punch set Hot Punch 6/8 Steamboat 6/8
FOR U.S.A. PARADES		MEDLEY	MEDLEY
9. American set 4/4 Yankee Doodle Dandy West Point Army Song Marine Hymn	11. Waterloo set Battle of Waterloo 4/4 Cabar Feidh 4/4	Wings, Rose of Alandale 4/4 Longueval 6/8 (page 1) Braes of Mar 4/4 Jennie's Bawbee 2/4 Glasgow Police Pipers 6/8 (page 2)	Heights of Dargai 9/8 Mac an Irish c Calliope House 6/8 Keel Row c and 2/2

Performance music suggestions
Head table entrances, walks, parades: 4/4 and 2/4 march sets from the first two categories except 5 and 7.
Funerals: Flowers of the Forest for veterans in particular, Amazing Grace and set 7 are often used.
Weddings: Processional: Highland Cathedral is dignified and majestic. Recessional can be a lively march, such as Mairi's Wedding.

ABOUT OUR MUSIC

Most of our tunes have a story behind them. (Some notes copied from Lethbridge Legion Pipe Band website).

1. BLUE BELLS SET: these are well known Scottish songs, converted to pipe tunes. Blue Bells is often sung with the words "oh where and oh where is my Highland Laddie gone...." Will ye no come back again refers to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the end of the Stuart cause in Scotland.

2. GREEN HILLS SET: this is a very common massed band set, played by pipe bands around the world. 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] 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.

3. SCOTLAND THE BRAVE SET: Scotland the Brave is perhaps the best known pipe tune of all time and was nominated to be the Scottish National Anthem. Rowan Tree refers to the popular Mountain Ash as it is called in North America. 1976 Police Tatoo

4. HIGH ROAD SET: Highland Laddie (or sometimes "Heilan' 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]

5. TERIBUS SET:
Teribus is a Borders Riding tune (i.e. saddle up your horse and ride over the Border into Northern England and ravage and pillage). Mairi's Wedding is a popular dancing tune.
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]

6. THE CHILDREN SET: The Children Jimmy Findlater

7. SLOW MARCHES: Skye Boat Song Mist Covered Mountains

8. COCK O' THE NORTH SET:
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]

9. AMERICAN SET: we play this set on our annual band trip to Havre, Montana.

10. HOT PUNCH SET:

11. WATERLOO SET: Battle of Waterloo commemorates the famous Napoleonic era batlle that led to the end of that period of conflict. Cabar Feidh means Antlers of the Stag in Gaelic and refers to the symbol of Clan Mackenzie for whom it is a war march. Also played in other settings.

HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL: composed in the 1980's by two Austrians, it has become a very popular tune for its majestic strains.

AMAZING GRACE: based on the hymn. It may be the most popular pipe tune of all time.

FLOWERS OF THE FOREST: the traditional lament, played at funerals and Remembrance Day.

MEDLEY: WINGS

MEDLEY: DARGAI

CANADIAN SET: we have developed a medley composed of some well known Canadian tunes that have been adapted for the pipes. The Maple Leaf Forever was popular in years gone by and sung as an opener for Maple Leafs hockey games, as a march past for the Royal Canadian Legion. Farewell to Nova Scotia is a traditional tune in the East. Four Strong Winds is a tune composed by Ian Tyson and has particular appeal in Alberta. I'se the B'y is a traditional Newfoundland sea shanty.

LONDONDERRY AIR: also known as "Danny Boy".

SCOTS WHA HAE: refers to Burns' poem Bruce's Address at Bannockburn and at one time a possible Scottish National Anthem. It was based on a tune from an earlier period entitled "Hey Tattie Tuttie" (Source: Green Tutor)

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