Piper John Wallace and the boys of the CTS (Clyde Training Ship) Empress.
By Jeannie Campbell
The CTS Empress was a training ship for delinquent boys and was moored for a long time in the Gareloch in the Firth of Clyde. The boys may have been delinquents but to me they look like little angels in their sailor suits, with their bare feet and half, or reel, size pipes. Archie McNeill, the blind piper, recalled that Duncan Fraser of Greenock made pipes for many customers in the area. Donald MacDougall, the piper at Ardencaple Castle, Rhu, had a reel size set made by Fraser and told Archie McNeill that Fraser had made 40 similar sets full mounted with ivory and had sold them at £4 per set to sailors who came to Greenock. Fraser is known to have supplied pipes to the Dunbartonshire Volunteers so may have supplied the pipes for the boys on the Training Ship.
John Wallace
Archie McNeill was born in 1879 but due to the lack of an instructor locally he did not begin piping until some time after he left school. Eventually he was able to get his first lessons from Roderick Fraser, the piper at Ardencaple Castle. When Archie had been on the pipes for about three years John Wallace came to take up employment on the CTS Empress where, within six months, he had turned out a very fine juvenile band. Wallace’s arrival must therefore have been in about 1898-99. Archie’s memories seem to indicate that this was the beginning of the pipe band, as had there been a band prior to that time, Archie would have been aware of it and would not have said in his memoires that there were no pipers in the area. The band continued for some time and a notice from 1913 shows they were available to play at functions locally.
According to Archie McNeill, Wallace had a house in the village where he stayed when not on duty. This is confirmed by his entry in the 1901 census. Archie had heard about Wallace before his arrival in the village as Wallace had played in a competition in Clydebank and a newspaper report had described him as the “amateur champion piper of Scotland”. Archie described Wallace as a man in the prime of his life. He was dark haired and had a slight stoop and what Archie’s brother described as a piper’s nose, sort of semi-Roman. Wallace had been a pupil of John McNeill of Edinburgh for Highland dancing and Archie had dancing lessons from him, learning the Highland Fling, Sword Dance and other dances.
Wallace told Archie he was a native of Stirling and the Notices of Pipers say the same – but this is not so. The Census taken in 1901 shows that he was living at Lochview cottage in Rhu, or Row as it was then called. The cottage had three rooms with windows. Wallace was aged 36, was born in Edinburgh and was employed as an instructor on CTS Empress. He had a wife Mary aged 26 and a son William aged 10 months and born in Row. Wallace may have moved from Edinburgh to Stirling where he is said to have had his first tuition from a Donald Blue. He then joined the Argylls and came under the tuition of P/M Robert Meldrum. Later he became a pupil of John MacDonald Gillies. During his time in Row he was a regular prize winner at the Highland Games around the Helensburgh and Luss area. Like many army pipers of the time he was a Highland dancer but rather more unusually he could play the guitar. Unfortunately we do not have a picture of him as he was with the band in the early 1900s he is unlikely to be any of the adults in the pictures of the boys.
The Census shows three other officers from the CTS Empress were living in the village with their families. They were the Drill Instructor, the Bandmaster and the Master at Arms and Clerk. Living nearly was Archie McNeill then ages 22 with his mother and brothers. The 1901 Census also covers the Industrial School on the ship. Living on board on the evening of the Census was the Superintendent with his wife, sister, daughter and their two female domestic servants. On board too were eight other officers, three of them retired Naval Officers. The others were a Schoolmaster, a tailor, a cook, a carpenter and a boatswain. Some were married so they too may have had families living in the village. Perhaps the officers lived on board for their periods of duty and returned to their families on shore for their off duty days.
Archie McNeill was born in 1879 but due to the lack of an instructor locally he did not begin piping until some time after he left school. Eventually he was able to get his first lessons from Roderick Fraser, the piper at Ardencaple Castle. When Archie had been on the pipes for about three years John Wallace came to take up employment on the CTS Empress where, within six months, he had turned out a very fine juvenile band. Wallace’s arrival must therefore have been in about 1898-99. Archie’s memories seem to indicate that this was the beginning of the pipe band, as had there been a band prior to that time, Archie would have been aware of it and would not have said in his memoires that there were no pipers in the area. The band continued for some time and a notice from 1913 shows they were available to play at functions locally.
According to Archie McNeill, Wallace had a house in the village where he stayed when not on duty. This is confirmed by his entry in the 1901 census. Archie had heard about Wallace before his arrival in the village as Wallace had played in a competition in Clydebank and a newspaper report had described him as the “amateur champion piper of Scotland”. Archie described Wallace as a man in the prime of his life. He was dark haired and had a slight stoop and what Archie’s brother described as a piper’s nose, sort of semi-Roman. Wallace had been a pupil of John McNeill of Edinburgh for Highland dancing and Archie had dancing lessons from him, learning the Highland Fling, Sword Dance and other dances.
Wallace told Archie he was a native of Stirling and the Notices of Pipers say the same – but this is not so. The Census taken in 1901 shows that he was living at Lochview cottage in Rhu, or Row as it was then called. The cottage had three rooms with windows. Wallace was aged 36, was born in Edinburgh and was employed as an instructor on CTS Empress. He had a wife Mary aged 26 and a son William aged 10 months and born in Row. Wallace may have moved from Edinburgh to Stirling where he is said to have had his first tuition from a Donald Blue. He then joined the Argylls and came under the tuition of P/M Robert Meldrum. Later he became a pupil of John MacDonald Gillies. During his time in Row he was a regular prize winner at the Highland Games around the Helensburgh and Luss area. Like many army pipers of the time he was a Highland dancer but rather more unusually he could play the guitar. Unfortunately we do not have a picture of him as he was with the band in the early 1900s he is unlikely to be any of the adults in the pictures of the boys.
The Census shows three other officers from the CTS Empress were living in the village with their families. They were the Drill Instructor, the Bandmaster and the Master at Arms and Clerk. Living nearly was Archie McNeill then ages 22 with his mother and brothers. The 1901 Census also covers the Industrial School on the ship. Living on board on the evening of the Census was the Superintendent with his wife, sister, daughter and their two female domestic servants. On board too were eight other officers, three of them retired Naval Officers. The others were a Schoolmaster, a tailor, a cook, a carpenter and a boatswain. Some were married so they too may have had families living in the village. Perhaps the officers lived on board for their periods of duty and returned to their families on shore for their off duty days.
Boys Under Detention
In addition to the staff members there were 381 “Boys Under Detention”. All their names were listed, with their ages and places of birth. The youngest boys were eleven and the oldest fifteen. Many were from Glasgow and the surrounding towns but there were others from all over Scotland, two or three from Ireland and England and one each from New Zealand and Australia. Life on board must have been hard for these young boys. There were no other staff apart from the officers so the boys must have done all the cooking, cleaning, sewing and mending under the supervision of the officers. With lessons and drill plus the two bands their time would have been fully occupied. One wonders where they went after the age of fifteen. Perhaps they were encouraged to join the Navy or the Army.
In 1901 john Wallace played at the Argyllshire Gathering with considerable success and won a prize in every event. In the Open Piobaireachd there was a tie for first place between John MacColl, Oban, and P/M John MacDougall Gillies, Glasgow, with P/M John Wallace, CTS Empress, in third place. In the Gold Medal Piobaireachd P/M John Wallace CTS Empress was first, William MacLean, Benbecula, was second and James A. Centre, Edinburgh, third. In the Marches P/M John Wallace was first, A. R. MacColl, Ballachulich, was second and P/M G. Ross third. Finally, in the Strathspey and Reel P/M Murdo MacKenzie, Inverness, was first, with P/M G. Ross and P/M John Wallace joint second. This seems to be the only time his name appeared in the Prize Lists for the Gathering.
In addition to the staff members there were 381 “Boys Under Detention”. All their names were listed, with their ages and places of birth. The youngest boys were eleven and the oldest fifteen. Many were from Glasgow and the surrounding towns but there were others from all over Scotland, two or three from Ireland and England and one each from New Zealand and Australia. Life on board must have been hard for these young boys. There were no other staff apart from the officers so the boys must have done all the cooking, cleaning, sewing and mending under the supervision of the officers. With lessons and drill plus the two bands their time would have been fully occupied. One wonders where they went after the age of fifteen. Perhaps they were encouraged to join the Navy or the Army.
In 1901 john Wallace played at the Argyllshire Gathering with considerable success and won a prize in every event. In the Open Piobaireachd there was a tie for first place between John MacColl, Oban, and P/M John MacDougall Gillies, Glasgow, with P/M John Wallace, CTS Empress, in third place. In the Gold Medal Piobaireachd P/M John Wallace CTS Empress was first, William MacLean, Benbecula, was second and James A. Centre, Edinburgh, third. In the Marches P/M John Wallace was first, A. R. MacColl, Ballachulich, was second and P/M G. Ross third. Finally, in the Strathspey and Reel P/M Murdo MacKenzie, Inverness, was first, with P/M G. Ross and P/M John Wallace joint second. This seems to be the only time his name appeared in the Prize Lists for the Gathering.
The Hornpipe
The hornpipe ‘CTS Empress’ by John Wallace appeared first in the Cowal Collection of Modern Compositions published in 1905. It appeared again in Donald MacLeod’s Book 5 and again in John MacKenzie’s Collection with two additional parts added by John.
Prior to his time at the Gareloch, Wallace had been the Pipe Major and instructor at Dr Guthrie’s Industrial School at Liberton, Edinburgh. The tune ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ was attributed to Wallace by some sources but the confusion may have arisen as there is another tune, a 2/4 march by John Wallace entitled ‘The Liberton Boys’ published in Henderson’s Tutor of 1901.
The first two parts of the tune now known as ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ or ‘Liberton Polka’ or ‘I have a Caubeen Trimmed with Blue’ or many other names, first appeared in Henderson’s Tutor of 1900 under the name ‘Miss Campbell’s Polka’ but with no composer given. On the same page we see another tune ‘Stirling Castle Polka’ by J. Wallace. The third and fourth parts of the ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ were composed by P/M Meldrum of the 93rd in 1883 and appeared in Logan’s Book 5 under the name ‘Kilberry Ball’. It is not known for certain how the two tunes became combined but given Wallace’s army association with Meldrum and his involvement with the Henderson collection, it is likely that he knew both the tunes.
It could be that he was the man who put the two tunes together for the Liberton boys to play and their name became associated with the combined tune. Other tunes by John Wallace in the Henderson’s tutor are ‘The Henderson March’, a 6/8 ‘The Heights of Dargai’, ‘The Circassian Circle’, ‘The Dancing of the Fingers’, a setting of ‘The British Grenadiers’, seconds for the 6/8 Lonach Highlanders March’ by ‘John Wallace, Liberton’, seconds for ‘Lord Lovat’s March’, seconds for ‘The Bugle Horn’ and seconds for ‘My Faithful Fair One’.
Wallace was only a few years on the CTS Empress and Archie McNeill was of the opinion he lost his employment through absence at the Highland Games. After this he went to London where he got employment at the Caledonian School. Two years later he came back on a visit to Helensburgh and Archie met him again. According to the Notices of Pipers, Wallace died at Slough in 1912 but there is no death listed for that year or the year following. There was a John Wallace who died at Whitechapel in London early in 1911 aged 44 and this may be the correct entry.
This article is from the Piping Times Vol 62 No 5 (Feb 2010) and is reproduced by kind permission of Robert Wallace, Principal of the College of Piping, Otago Street, Glasgow and Editor of the Piping Times – www.college-of-piping.co.uk Click here to view the sheet music for the hornpipe
CTS Empress (PDF)
The hornpipe ‘CTS Empress’ by John Wallace appeared first in the Cowal Collection of Modern Compositions published in 1905. It appeared again in Donald MacLeod’s Book 5 and again in John MacKenzie’s Collection with two additional parts added by John.
Prior to his time at the Gareloch, Wallace had been the Pipe Major and instructor at Dr Guthrie’s Industrial School at Liberton, Edinburgh. The tune ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ was attributed to Wallace by some sources but the confusion may have arisen as there is another tune, a 2/4 march by John Wallace entitled ‘The Liberton Boys’ published in Henderson’s Tutor of 1901.
The first two parts of the tune now known as ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ or ‘Liberton Polka’ or ‘I have a Caubeen Trimmed with Blue’ or many other names, first appeared in Henderson’s Tutor of 1900 under the name ‘Miss Campbell’s Polka’ but with no composer given. On the same page we see another tune ‘Stirling Castle Polka’ by J. Wallace. The third and fourth parts of the ‘Liberton Pipe Band’ were composed by P/M Meldrum of the 93rd in 1883 and appeared in Logan’s Book 5 under the name ‘Kilberry Ball’. It is not known for certain how the two tunes became combined but given Wallace’s army association with Meldrum and his involvement with the Henderson collection, it is likely that he knew both the tunes.
It could be that he was the man who put the two tunes together for the Liberton boys to play and their name became associated with the combined tune. Other tunes by John Wallace in the Henderson’s tutor are ‘The Henderson March’, a 6/8 ‘The Heights of Dargai’, ‘The Circassian Circle’, ‘The Dancing of the Fingers’, a setting of ‘The British Grenadiers’, seconds for the 6/8 Lonach Highlanders March’ by ‘John Wallace, Liberton’, seconds for ‘Lord Lovat’s March’, seconds for ‘The Bugle Horn’ and seconds for ‘My Faithful Fair One’.
Wallace was only a few years on the CTS Empress and Archie McNeill was of the opinion he lost his employment through absence at the Highland Games. After this he went to London where he got employment at the Caledonian School. Two years later he came back on a visit to Helensburgh and Archie met him again. According to the Notices of Pipers, Wallace died at Slough in 1912 but there is no death listed for that year or the year following. There was a John Wallace who died at Whitechapel in London early in 1911 aged 44 and this may be the correct entry.
This article is from the Piping Times Vol 62 No 5 (Feb 2010) and is reproduced by kind permission of Robert Wallace, Principal of the College of Piping, Otago Street, Glasgow and Editor of the Piping Times – www.college-of-piping.co.uk Click here to view the sheet music for the hornpipe
CTS Empress (PDF)