Hew Morrison Collection > Piobaireachd

20 Piobaireachd : its Origin and Construction
canntaireachd notation ? It seems to us that they did not. The MacCrimmons,
who were the originators of canntaireachd, must have perfected this system of
syllabic notation, and also the rules which guided them in its formation. In this
we have proof and good reason to believe that canntaireachd was a secret to the
MacCrimmons alone. The various teachers who succeeded the MacArthurs did
not seem to have used the verbal notation to a great extent, or at least we have no
definite record of it. Many pipers are fully aware that in our time teachers of
piobaireachd, as a rule, sing or chant the tunes to their pupils while they are being
taught, but they have the tune before them in the staff notation at the same time.
The staff notation is now universal. Some pipers say that piobaireachd would be
enhanced if the old system of verbal notation were brought back to use. On the
other hand, our present-day teachers maintain that the verbal notation can never
take the place of the staff notation for accuracy in writing and teaching piobaireachd.
The staff notation gives the time and everything pertaining to music in minute
detail, and is most accurate ; whereas the verbal notation does not give the time
clearly, nor is the duration of the notes as clear to the eye as in staff notation. The
pupil took the duration of the notes from the chanter, or chanting of the teacher,
and not from the tune written in the sol-fa notation before him. Although those
who have a love for the old verbal notation would be inclined to study and bring it
back to use, it would be almost needless to do so if the great majority of pipers were
to condemn its appearance. Nowadays, as a rule, the piper has to pay for his own
tuition, and no one can compel him to use any system of notation other than that
selected by himself.
As far as we can trace back to the olden days, the " verbal notation " seems to
be the first system of musical notation used in recording piobaireachd. There is
no scale or vestige of this notation to be found in print, or MS. written by the
hand of a MacCrimmon. The Boreraig verbal notation is entirely dead, for no man
Uving can prove that he understands it. No one can produce the actual MacCrimmon
scale or key, or say that they have even seen it. Captain Neil MacLeod of
Gesto published a small book in the year 1828, containing some twenty-one tunes.
He says it is an example of the MacCrimmon canntaireachd. This booklet is known
as the " Gesto Collection of Canntaireachd." It is quite obvious that Captain
MacLeod was not a piper, as is proved by the statements of men who lived in his time.
Such being the case, it is not to be wondered at that he did not thoroughly understand
the mysteries of the MacCrimmon verbal notation, because the tunes pubhshed in
the Gesto collection are void of uniformity. That is to say, the same note is not