Canada 150: the 15 Greatest Canadian Pipers & Drummers (deceased)
#11: William Barrie
William “Willie” Barrie had a massive impact on Canadian piping, particularly on the west coast Vancouver area. Up until his death in 2002, he was a tireless teacher of piobaireachd and one of the last direct links to the “Cameron” style of playing. A pupil of the great Robert Reid for many years, Barrie was only two generations of teaching removed from the famous Sandy Cameron, who taught John MacDougall Gillies, who in turn taught Reid. With his son, James, they produced Ancient Piobaireachd, two recordings of piobaireachd in the Cameron style that remain among the best examples of that approach to ceol mor.
Nice work! John Wilson published 3 collections of pipe music, the third being the Canadian Centenial collection…all three of which I continue to use and teach my students today…
Mike Baker
It is interesting that none of the excellent 15 selected musicians appear to be players who played predominantly for dancing. Today, we seem to be band players, solo competitors or piobaireachd pipers. Would there be any interest in a list of 150 ceilidh/dance pipers.
Where’s Bill Livingstone?
Definitely Bill Livingstone!
No Bill Livingstone? Bizarre.
Sorry, missed the date of the original article. That explains why the great Bill Livingston is absent!
This article is from 2017, as stated in the very first added line.
The final paragraph: “What do you think? Are there any Canadian pipers or drummers who have sadly passed away since we published this feature in 2017 who you feel should be added to the list? Use our Comments feature to share your suggestions.”
Thanks for reading.
The Captain (Ken Eller)
As someone very new to the world of bagpipes and it’s Canadian ‘builders’, I thank you for this very interesting article. Many of the names are familiar, but their stories were not, so it is good to know a little more than just a name; you’ve provided some context. One of the treasures of the piping world is hearing the stories about so and so writing a tune at the kitchen table (or, frequently, in a vehicle to or from a competition) and how they played a particular phrase or how the phrase evolved, or when someone relates, first hand, the background stories to how certain achievements unfolded. I do hope that you will add some more names to this list, it would seem that it has at least two gaping holes: Bill Livingston and Ken Eller. I enjoy and appreciate your thoughtfully written articles.
S. Ross