Tune of the Day: The Moss Road
Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. About the title, he writes:
This road is in North Connel, near Oban, where we spent many a happy day. The name derives from the nearby Moss of Achnacree, on which stand the ruins of what archaeologists believe is an old prehistoric broch.
A broch is a spectacular type of Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found throughout Atlantic Scotland. Dating from over 2000 years ago, brochs were originally believed to be defensive structures, places of refuge for the community and their livestock. This theory fell from favor in the 1980s, due to a lack of supporting evidence. Scottish archaeologists suggested defensibility was never a major concern in the siting of a broch, and argued that they may have been the “stately homes” of their time, objects of prestige and very visible demonstrations of superiority for important families.