The Hobart Highland Pipe Band
A Short
History from 1946
The Hobart Highland Band began, like many organisations, on the impulse of one or two people. “Barney” Donovan and Kevin Lowe, were, in the year 1946, two of a mere handful of pipers in Hobart. They used to practise up on the Domain. One evening they decided that Hobart needed a Pipe Band. In 1946, if you wanted a full Band for a parade in Hobart, you contacted one of the Bands in the North or on the Coast. St Andrews Pipe Band, in particular, made a number of trips ‘south’ to provide Highland music. Whilst there is some evidence to suggest that a small Pipe Band existed in the late 1920’s, recollections of its activities seem to be hazy, at best. The common wisdom is that it consisted of some ex-Military Band types who decided to ‘diversify’
Barney
Donovan enlisted the support of a drummer, George Storrey, who had been a
Military Band drummer. Meeting were held at a house in North Hobart. One of the
founding members, Vern McTye, recalls that there were plenty of recruits, but
not much in the way of experience “Most of us wouldn’t have known the
difference between a set of bagpipes, and a bag of spuds”. But there was plenty
of enthusiasm. The war was over and people wanted to get on with their lives.
Indeed, many of the early recruits were ex-servicemen.
Photo: Marching down Macquarie Street, Hobart, 1951. Photo courtesy of Mary Excell.
By early 1947, it became obvious that the Band would need an organisational structure to ensure that uniforms, instruments and music could be obtained. A public meeting was held at the Hobart Town Hall on 15th May,1947. John McCarrey, who was the Honorary Organising Secretary, recorded that there were 27 potential pipers and 10 drummers at that stage. It was estimated that it would cost sixty one pounds to equip one bandmember. At the time, the average wage was four pounds eighteen shillings. The task was clearly huge. The Mercury reported (Undated) one of the early performances given in the Hobart Town Hall for a monthly meeting of the Caledonian Society. Four pipers and a drum major featured. One of the tunes performed was “Major Knox, M.C.”
Lady Binney, the wife of the Governor, accepted the role of being Patroness, and Mr Henry Dunn, a Scot, became the President. By June, 1947, total substitutions from the public totalled two hundred and seventy pounds, including one gift of sixty one pounds. Several pipers funded their own equipment. Henry Dunn funded a considerable amount for the purchase of equipment as an interest-free loan. A gift of five guineas from a Sydney devotee was accompanied by a letter which stated (in part)
“There are quite legitimate grounds for a division of opinion as to the
musical merits of the bagpipes, but whatever side one takes, there can be no
question but that the Scots owe much of their pugnacity and capacity for taking
punishment to their national musical instrument”
I understand that the Committee took the money, anyway.
By July, funds had swelled to five hundred and thirty pounds, and moves were made to have a major debut in the New Year. Norm Duffy has recorded photographs of practices and the actual first performance at the Hobart Showgrounds.
From there, the Band went from strength to strength. The Band was flooded with requests for performances. Vern McTye reports that there were, in fact, too many parades. Getting five to ten pounds per performance wasn’t too difficult. Vern also reports that in the early days there were only two tunes that the Band could play well. They were “Highland Laddie” and “The Barren Rock of Aden”. Vern reports that city marches could be tricky ; you had to make sure that no city block was more than “two tunes long”.
The favourite watering hole of the HHPB in the early days was ‘Ma Dwyers Pub’ on the waterfront. According to unnamed sources, the bandsmen were a great attraction to other patrons, especially young members of the opposite sex. The licencee was aware of the problem, and her watchful presence no doubt ensured that the virtue of the younger players was protected from these predatory amazons.
Practices were held on the TCA Ground, the Rgatta Rowing Club, and later, the Albuera St Public School. Photographs of the early performances confirm that the Band was always well presented at parades. A strong organising Committee had been formed. This Committee was formed substantially from non players.In the early days, this proved to be an advantage, as it allowed the new bandmembers to spend their time learning new tunes. This was the era before Competitions, which appeared in the 1950’s.
An article in the Mercury, (July 19th,1948) gave account of a social held in Launceston by the St Andrew’s Caledonian Pipe Band. Henry Dunn attended on behalf of the HHPB. The article stated that there were 34 pipe bands in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, representing more than 1,000 players. It added that the postwar trade in bagpipes from Scotland was reviving, “... (but) sets that cost sixteen pounds and sixteen shillings before the war now cost forty two pounds”. Setting up a pipe band has always been an expensive business! The Band had been approached by the Army in 1950 to be formed into a Military Pipe Band. This would have brought many benefits instrument allowances, uniforms,etc. But the Band decided to keep its own identity, and in the final analysis, the players had largely been ex-servicemen, and had had enough of the military forces.
The Band has an unbroken history now of 54 years. Like any organisation, it has had its share of ups and downs. Competing in the 1985 Australian Championships in Adelaide was obviously one of the highlights. In the period from 1995 to 1997, the Band lost many of its experienced players. In 1995 and early 1996, it was down to 4 regular pipers. This has significantly increased to 8, with several promising leaners soon to be incorporated in the Band. The Band has gained two tenor drummers. The Bandmembers decided in 1995 that they would rebuild the Band and maintain the tradition.
The Band’s previous Pipe Major, Richard McLaughlin, deserved much of the credit. Without Richard’s leadership and musical skills, the Band would have had difficulties in surviving at all. Richard left in 1997 when he moved to Victoria. Richard's role of Pipe Major was taken by the present pipe major, Peter Gayton.