Sunday 12 November 2023
Tune of the Day: Black Donald the Piper
Traditional Scottish jig
This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. The tune is probably Scottish in origin, as the title clearly refers to the early-16th-century Scottish nobleman Black Donald (Domhnall Dubh in Gaelic), chief of Clan Donald and claimant to the Lordship of the Isles. He was captured by the Earl of Argyll while still a child and imprisoned in Innischonnel Castle in Loch Awe, where he remained in captivity for 37 years.