James Haddow McIntosh, M.B.E.
(1925-2021)
We join pipers worldwide in mourning the passing on February 8 of James H. McIntosh, M.B.E., or ‘wee Jimmy’ as he was affectionally called by his peers. However, other than his 5’ 4” height, there was nothing ‘wee’ about ”Wee Jimmy,”. He was one of Scotland’s top pipers who brought American piping to the attention of the piping community in Scotland, primarily by his teaching talented young North American pipers to win top prizes in Scotland as solo pipers. He did this during his summers in the USA and Canada, starting in the 1970’s and lasting until his recent passing early this year.
Jimmy was a native of Broughty Ferry, Scotland, a suburb of Dundee, and starting playing the pipes at eleven years of age. He was enlisted as a boy piper in the Cameron Highlanders at age 14 in 1939, and served in this most famous piping regiment to until 1949. During that time he was exposed and received tuition from the cream of Scottish regimental piping instructors: Willie Ross, Donald MacLeod, and others of that generation. Ultimately he became the loyal and most famous piping student of the ‘Bobs of Balmoral’, R.U. Brown MBE & R.B. Nicol, pipers and ‘ghillies’ to the Queen at her Balmoral estate in Deeside. They excelled in Piobaireachd, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe. The rest is history:
- 1950’s & 60’s – Taught piping in the Scottish public schools; : Introduced grading on ability rather than age, and instituted a class to prepare young pipers for an annual competition.
- 1961-70 – Studied exclusively with the Royal pipers at Balmoral, R.U. Brown and R.B. Nicol; Established a full-time bagpipe reed-making business.
- During this time he was a self-employed reedmaker, and developed the Naill chanter, which continues to be one of the favorite chanters of top Scottish competitors.
- 1968-78- won most of the top level Scottish piping competitions including the Gold Medal at the Northern meeting, Inverness, and the Argyllshire Gathering, Oban. Served on the BBC Music Committee. Was pipe major of the NCR Pipe Band, winning the Grade 2 world pipe band championship.
- 1978 – came to the USA for the first time as a person labelled by US Immigration as an ‘artist of distinguished merit and ability’ co-founding the Balmoral School of Piping, based in Pittsburgh. Published his solo album: Let the Pipe Speak.
- 1984 Emigrated to the USA and settled in Pittsburgh, marrying champion Highland dancer and award- winning piper Joyce MacFarland
- 1980’s and 90’s: Through the Balmoral Schools, Jim taught the only Americans to win the top solo competitions in Scotland: Mike Cusack, Mike Rogers, and Donald MacPhee, and taught many of the successful Scottish, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand players as well.
- 1985 appointed Director Piping at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, charged with reviving the defunct Carnegie Mellon pipe Band.
- 1989 instituted at CMU the first Bachelor of Performing Arts degree program for bagpipe music in the entire world
- 1990-94 Elected for two terms as President of the EUSPBA
- 1992 Developed an instructional video for learning piobaireachd.
- Commissioned by the Heinz Endowment of Pittsburgh to compose bagpipe music in honor of Andrew Carnegie
- 1994 Awarded the Member of the British Empire medal by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his contributions and services to traditional piping.
- 1998 retired from CMU
- 2002 was awarded the prestigious Balvenie Medal of Scotland for his services to piping.
- In 2003 founded the Balmoral Highlanders Pipe Band.
- In 2015, at the age of 90, he published Ceol Mor for the Great Highland Bagpipe Presented in the Balmoral Tradition, a 144-page book that paid homage to his work with the Bobs of Balmoral and his interpretation and analysis of more than 70 piobaireachds.
Beyond these distinguished career highlights, ‘Wee Jimmy’ has directly taught over 2000 Americans to improve their skills on the Great Highland Bagpipe. He has actively taught piping at the Balmoral School each year from 1978 to 2005, and his guidance was essential to the growth and development of the organization. It is not an exaggeration at all to say that he has had the profound impact on raising the standard of American piping both in the international competitive arena and domestically.
His high standards in reed making, bagpipe design, developing piping organizations, teaching, and performance have been an inspiration to many, many pipers throughout the world. From Scotland to the USA, to Canada, Brittany, Australia, & New Zealand, Jim McIntosh’s name has been synonymous with excellence in piping throughout his entire playing lifetime, 80 years of piping!
We send our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Joyce, their son Cameron, and to the many people, pipers and non-pipers alike, whose lives have been touched by this extraordinary man.
– Geoge Balderose, Director, The Balmoral School of Highland Piping