Canada 150: the 15 Greatest Canadian Pipers & Drummers (deceased)

#7: Scott MacAulay

Scott MacAulay made a big mark on Canadian piping and drumming in his relatively short life. Struck down by cancer at the age of 52, MacAulay’s vision helped create the College of Piping & Celtic Performing Arts in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, which continues today under his successor, James MacHattie. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, and with Hebridean roots, Scott MacAulay emerged as a young upstart solo piper and bandsman, first with the Grade 1 Erskine Pipe Band under his first teacher, Pipe-Major Sandy Keith, and then as a front-rank member of the Grade 1 Clan MacFarlane under Pipe-Major Ken Eller. He went on to be pipe-major of the Grade 1 Dunvegan Pipe Band in Ottawa. MacAulay was a larger-than-life character and a true raconteur, able to command an audience and take over a room with his outsized personality and innate charm. He discovered piobaireachd later in his career, but within a few years won the Silver Medal at the Northern Meeting. He taught and influenced numerous players, and his legacy continues through a collection of pipe music featuring many of his original compositions and, of course, the College of Piping in Summerside.

+ Scott MacAulay, 1956-2008