Gordon Duncan (14 May 1964 – 14 December 2005) was a Scottish bagpiper, low whistle player and composer, born in

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is derived fr ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Early life

Duncan was born in

Turriff, Aberdeenshire Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is derived fr ...

on 14 May 1964. His parents were tenant farmer and

bothy ballad Bothy ballads are songs sung by farm labourers in the northeast region of Scotland. Bothies are farm outbuildings, where unmarried labourers used to sleep, often in harsh conditions. In the evening, to entertain themselves, these bothy bands s ...

singer Jock Duncan and Frances Duncan. Jock Duncan joined the

North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (1943–1990) was founded to design, construct and manage hydroelectricity projects in the Highlands of Scotland. It is regarded as one of the major achievements of Scottish politician Thomas Johnston, w ...

shortly after Duncan's birth and the family moved to

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great ...

then to

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotla ...

. Initially taught by his father, Gordon began his piping career at the age of 10, winning many junior competitions under the tuition of Walter Drysdale, but started to lose interest in competition piping by the age of 18, at which point he was an apprentice

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

Career

He attracted attention from

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

bands, touring the US and Europe with the Tannahill Weavers,

Wolfstone Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...

and Ceolbeg and became associated with

Dougie MacLean Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as "one of Scotland's premier singer-songwriters", MacLean has performed both under his ow ...

, playing

low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Make ...

on his albums. He began composing soon afterwards, having travelled across Europe and been exposed to other traditions, especially

Breton music Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard- biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched ...

. He was a very influential piper who broke the boundaries of traditional piping music. He was a member of the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band and also performed with the

Atholl Highlanders The Atholl Highlanders is a Scottish ceremonial infantry regiment. They are the only remaining private army in Europe, and act as the personal bodyguard to the Duke of Atholl, chieftain of the Clan Murray, a family that has thrived in Perthshire ...

, as well as being signed by

Greentrax Greentrax Recordings are a Scottish record label that specialises in Scottish traditional music. History The label was founded in 1986 by former police inspector Ian Green, who played the bagpipes and was responsible for arranging folk music ...

as a solo artist. Duncan created a new style of

idiosyncratic An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk". Etymology The term "idiosyncra ...

bagpipe music. He also incorporated the bagpipes into a rendition of

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

's Thunderstruck. His work was heard at

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

Celtic Colours Celtic Colours International Festival is a Celtic music festival held annually in October in communities on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. First held in 1997, the festival has featured musicians from the Celtic world and attracted visi ...

in Canada, the Lorient festival in Brittany, where he was the two-time winner of the MacAllan Trophy and the

Fleadh Cheoil The Fleadh Cheoil (; meaning "festival of music") is an Irish music festival run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), a non-profit organisation. The festival includes live music events as well as competition. Each year a single town or city ...

in Ireland. He worked as a

refuse collector A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and r ...

and was known to scribble compositions on cigarette packets whilst at work.

Compositions

Duncan composed over one hundred tunes in his lifetime, with perhaps his most famous work, ''Andy Renwick's Ferret'', being performed and recorded internationally. He arranged music for the Vale of Atholl and

ScottishPower Scottish Power is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central and Southern Scotland, Merseyside, Nort ...

pipe bands.

Death

On 14 December 2005, Duncan was found dead at his home in Perthshire following a long struggle with alcoholism. His funeral was held at

Pitlochry Church of Scotland Pitlochry Church of Scotland is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian Church. The church building is located in Church Road, Pitlochry, in Perthshire, Scotland. The church today serves the tourist town of Pitlochry in the Tu ...

and was attended by hundreds of pipers. In 2007, ''A National Treasure'' concert was staged in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

by the ''Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust'', and for the following four years, with the BBC airing the 2011 concert. In January 2016, a gig was at the

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket v ...

as part of

Personal life

He had a wife, Mary, and a son, Gordon, two sisters, and his brother, Ian Duncan, is also a piper.

Discography

He recorded three solo albums, and a further album was compiled after his death from previously recorded material. *''Just for Seumas'' (1994) *''Circular Breath'' (1997) *''Thunderstruck'' (2003) *''Just for Gordon'' (2007)

References

External links

Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust
* (BBC Alba documentary on Gordon Duncan's life) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Gordon 1964 births 2005 deaths Scottish composers Great Highland bagpipe players The Tannahill Weavers members Wolfstone members People from Turriff Tin whistle players