Piping down the sun atop the Kincardine Lighthouse July 10th 2023
I was lucky to be allowed the privilege of being the phantom piper this past July. A tradition the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band has continued since 1996.
According to the legend, back in 1856, on a cold October day, a small vessel left the Port of Goderich carrying a family from the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It became lost in a storm as it neared Kincardine (then called Penetangore). Aboard the boat, Donald Sinclair, fearing for his family, fetched his pipes and began playing a lament. The sound carried across to land where another piper heard and played another lament in return. The captain of the boat, hearing the drone of the pipes, headed for shore and the vessel arrived safely.
In memory of Sinclair, the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band decided to play at dusk atop the lighthouse on sunny summer evenings throughout July and August (with the exception of Saturday evenings when the band parades through downtown Kincardine).
Since it began, July 1, 1996, the Phantom Piper has become a popular tradition, with people gathering along Walker's Look-out, on the Huron Terrace bridge below the lighthouse, to listen to the pipes and watch the sunset.
Credit: Liz Davidson of the Kincardine Record, August 17th, 2016
Tunes are:
Sobieski's Salute: Piobaireachd ground
Duncan Johnstone - trad
Dr. MacInnes’s Fancy - Donald MacLeod
The Seagull - Donald MacLeod
Margaret’s Wedding - Duncan Johnstone
Patrick’s Revelations - Alex Gandy
Black Donald's March: Piobaireachd ground and var 1 singling/doubling
The Piobaireachd of Donald Dubh - trad
The Dark Island - Iain McLachlan