PS 081- Sutherland’s March / The Bicker

      Cas air amhaich a Thighearna Chola!

      Màrsail nan Sutharlanach

      Port a’ Mheadair

Primary Sources

C1 Surtherland’s March C1.80: 178
D2 Marsal na Suherlanach / The Sutherlands March D2.26: 132
Dj Sutherland’s March Dj.27: 32
K1 Port a Mheadair / The Bicker K1.24: 65
MCM Mac Lean of Coll putting his foot on the neck of his Enemy / “Cas air amhaich, a Thighearna Chola” MCM: 22

Notes on Gaelic Titles

Cas air amhaich, a Thighearna Chola! “Cas air amhaich, a Thighearna Chola” / MacLean of Coll putting his foot on the neck of his enemy MCM. A foot on a neck, Laird of Coll! The inverted commas are printed in MCM (David Glen, The Music of the Clan MacLean. Edinburgh, [1900]). Presumably they emphasise that the Gaelic title is a spoken exclamation. Glen transcribed this tune from the playing of John Johnston of Coll, who is likely to be the source of this title.

Màrsail nan Sutharlanach Surtherland’s March C1; Marsal na Suherlanach / The Sutherlands March D2; Sutherland’s March Dj. The Sutherlands’ March. The writers who give the name only in English have it singular, i.e. ‘Sutherland’s March’. The singular form and the dropping of the second n in ‘nan’ (which reflects everyday pronunciation) are also found in the source spellings of Cruinneachadh nan Sutharlanach (PS 72).

Port a’ Mheadair Port a Mheadair / The Bicker K1.24; Port A Mheadair K1.106; The Bicker K1.106 index; Port A Mheadair KK; The Royal Bicker KK index; Port a Mheadair / The Bicker or Cogue KS. The tune of the bicker (or cogue– two Scots words for a wooden beaker or drinking vessel. In K1, Angus MacKay gives this title to two different tunes, PS 48 and PS 81.

Roderick Cannon (2009), rev. Barnaby Brown 2016

Archive Recordings

1953 Pipe Major Robert U Brown
1961 Pipe Major John D Burgess

Other Material

2012 William Donaldson: Set Tunes Notes

Leave a Reply