Stuart Liddell performs the piobaireachd, 'Lament For The Iolaire', at The 2019 Donald Macleod MBE Memorial Competition, held by The Lewis & Harris Piping Society in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Stuart plays this so very plaintively. I recently learned this piobaireachd for my solos. Knowing the story of the Iolaire, sometimes it feels like my heart will rip out of my chest when I hear or play the tune. All I can do is respect those men and their families and lives lost and acknowledge the tragedy through music.
Such an incredibly moving tune as it remembers the lives of the sailors that died. I think it was New Year's Day and WWI, but I could have that wrong. Such a beautiful tune.
The story of the Iolaire is such a sad one. I wish that I had been able to make it out to the memorial when I visited Stornoway, but only being there for a few hours and having to catch a ferry to Ullapool, it wasn't in the cards.
@@johnbockman6078 The Iolaire sank on 01 JAN 1919 as it was sailing into Stornoway harbour. It struck rocks just outside the harbour, and went down in sight of the town. 205 lives were lost, many of them men returning home after WWI.
along with the casualties from the war, it had a devastating impact on the life and economy of the Island. It led directly to mass emigration from the Island in the 1920s on the SS Metagama to Canada. Could be argued that we never recovered from it.@@pipertripp
That's such a great way of describing it! Donald MacLeod's brother, Angus, was my tutor when I was young. I own a set of pipes that once belonged to Donald.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Admiralty-yacht-HMS-Iolaire-ship-Amalthaea-1908.jpg As Amalthaea in 1908 History RN EnsignUnited Kingdom Name Iolaire Namesake Eagle (in Scottish Gaelic) Owner Royal Navy Launched 1881 Fate Wrecked, 1 January 1919 General characteristics Class and type Yacht HMY Iolaire was an Admiralty Yacht that sank at the entrance to Stornoway harbour on 1 January 1919, with the loss of at least 201 men out of the 283 on board. The overcrowded vessel was trying to negotiate a difficult route under exceptionally bad weather conditions. The disaster cost the Isle of Lewis almost the whole of its young male population
