Mr Ian F MacLaren (Schoolhouse 1939)

From 1912 to 1942 the Piping Instructor at Fettes was Pipe Major Jimmy Sutherland – a legendary figure about whom there are innumerable stories. His daughter Margaret married Pipe Major George Stoddart and their son Gavin was commissioned and became Director of Army Bagpipe Music. Jimmy Sutherland was a great friend of my parents and my Mother always used to say that she knew of no one who cut a smarter figure in the kilt than he did. He was never in the first rank of great competitive pipers but he was an excellent teacher and in his heyday he was undoubtedly the finest Highland Dancer in Scotland.

Jimmy Sutherland was succeeded at Fettes by Pipe Major J O Duff – a formidable character and a pretty rough diamond but an absolutely first class Band Instructor. I am proud to have been a member of the Fettes Band of 1943 – 1944 which won the schools competition playing what in those days was regarded as a very ambitious set: The Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest, Arniston Castle and The Grey Bob. We won hands down and our triumph was very largely due to J O Duff’s efforts.

I think that about three-quarters of the really bad language that I know I learned from J O Duff and I shudder to think of what the Headmaster, Dr A H Ashcroft would have said if he had ever eavesdropped upon the Pipe Band teaching sessions.

J O Duff as Pipe-Major of the 1st Battalion Royal Scots had won the Army Heavyweight Boxing Championship in India and even in his 50s he would still have been a formidable opponent in the ring.

Our Drumming Instructor in my time was the famous “Porky” West who had been J O Duff’s leading drummer in the Royal Scots. He was another amazing character with an inexhaustible fund of stories which would have horrified our parents but which gave joy to several generations of Fettes pipers and drummers.