Set Tunes Series 2026: “The Sister’s Lament”

Next in our exclusive 2026 Set Tunes Series by Willie Donaldson is “The Sister’s Lament,” a relatively popular tune among more seasoned piobaireachd competitors.

About “The Sister’s Lament,” Willie Donaldson writes: “It is unusual that the tune should appear in so many manuscripts after being published by Donald MacDonald, which could indicate, perhaps, that it was not so widely played and existed in people’s secondary repertories rather than the front line of playing tradition.”

As with all of the nearly 200 piobaireachds in our Set Tunes Series, which began in 2001, Dr. Donaldson provides all known published settings of “The Sister’s Lament,” along with an audio file of his interpretation.

The author of the seminal work, The Highland Pipe & Scottish Society,  Willie Donaldson explores manuscripts inaccessible to most pipers, comparing and contrasting every published setting of these great tunes in the Set Tunes Series.

What began a quarter-century ago quickly became and remains the greatest free collective piobaireachd resource for pipers worldwide.

Willie Donaldson received more than eight years of ongoing instruction in ceol mor from the great Robert Bell Nicol of Balmoral, Scotland, and we are grateful to him for his work with us over the last 26 years and for his prodigious lifetime of service to pipers and the art.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for each new installment in Dr. William Donaldson’s Set Tunes Series.