242 A HUNDKED YEAKS 



Iain Dall fell eight yards, but alighted on the soles of his 

 feet and suffered no material injury. The place is still 

 called Leum an Doill (the Leap of the Blind). 



The completion of Macrimmon's tune brought great 

 fame to Iain Dall, and gave rise to the well-known Gaelic 

 proverb which, being translated, says : " The apprentice 

 outwits the master.'* Iain Dall made a number of 

 celebrated Gaelic songs and poems. One of them, called 

 Coire an easain, was composed on the death of Mackay, 

 Lord Reay. It is said not to be surpassed in the Gaelic 

 language. Another fine poem of his was in the praise 

 of Lady Janet Mackenzie of Scatwell on her becoming 

 the wife of Sir Alexander, the ninth laird of Gairloch. 

 His fame as a bard and poet seems to have almost 

 equalled his reputation as a piper. Several of his songs 

 and poems appear in that excellent collection The 

 Beauties of Gaelic Poetry. 



Angus, the only son of Iain Dall, succeeded his 

 illustrious father as piper to the lairds of Gairloch. He 

 was born about 1725. He was piper to Sir Alexander 

 Mackenzie, tenth laird of Gairloch, and when Sir 

 Alexander visited France as a young man he left Angus 

 in Edinburgh for tuition. We know little of him beyond 

 that he was a handsome man, and that he at least 

 equalled his ancestors in musical attainments. He 

 attended a competition in pipe music whilst in Edinburgh. 

 The other competing pipers, jealous of his superior 

 talents, made a plot to destroy his chance. The day 

 before the competition they got possession of his pipes 

 and pierced the bag in several places, so that when he 

 began to practise he could not keep the wind in the pipes. 



