Introduction To the Project

The Piping Centre is located on McPhater Street, Glasgow. It was originally a church which had for many years been in a derelict condition.
It has been transformed into the remarkable building that it now is by the Piping Trust who also commissioned me to make the windows.
The Architects firm were McGurn, Logan Duncan and Opfer.
The main architect responsible for the building was Gerry Grams. Now of Bonar + Grams. The building houses the Museum of Bagpiping, a school of Bagpiping and the auditorium. I first became involved as the building was in the last six months of completion. The frames of the windows, which I was subsequently to design for, were already in place and the form and structure of them could not be altered.
It was an intruiging project to work on. To be involved in a very unique part of Scottish Culture and to interpret one art form into another. A musical form into a visual form.
Bagpipe Music was a subject I had only the slightest experience of. Since working on this project I have begun to both respect and love the music.
What has probably given me the greartest pleasure is the very positive reaction I have had from all concerned and most importantly, from the pipers themselves.

The building was formally opened by HRH Prince Charles in January 1998.

The Commission

This work was commissioned in 1996 by the Founders of the Piping Centre to accentuate their commitment to the classical form of bagpipe music called Pibroch or Piobaireachd also known as Ceòl-Mór which is unique to Scotland. The windows are based specifically on the oral form of Pibroch called Canntaireachd which was used before the music was written down as a way of preserving and passing on both the melody and fingering of the tunes. It is made up of vocables which have no meaning as words but when sung express the music. There are standardised forms of Canntaireachd one of which is used here but pipers often have their own system.

The Concept

The intention of these windows is to give an indication of the formal yet poetic nature of Pibroch and to illustrate the complexity and multi-layered quality of this music.
The three windows describe three different Pibrochs. The design for the windows is based on a proportional grid. Into this grid is written part of a Canntaireachd starting from the beginning. The windows give only glimpses of forms as in the music only a glimpse of the theme can be attained. The use of the continuous base colour of blue from which the themes seem to materialize and then fade is reminiscent of the melody of the chanter arising from the background sound created by the drones.

The windows interpret in the imagery used the different types of Pibroch;
the Strathspey, Lament and March. Also included are elements which are suggested by the titles of the music and also elements which have a particular resonance in Scottish history.

Pibroch - Glengarry's March

The window contains, in the lower left panel, a reference to a favourite short tune, the "Flowers of the Forest" in this instance represented by bluebells. In other sections there are oak leaves and acorns, alder leaves, apple blossom, leaves and fruits, rowan leaves, flowers and berries, all of which have a special place in Scottish history and folklore. There is also the reflective quality of still water which carries a sense of Lament.

Pibroch - The Battle at Waternish

This window refers to the military use of the bagpipe. The symbolism of the lower two sections of the window concerns the struggle of the Jacobites against the Union. This is illustrated by; the Jacobite Flag, a claymore and thistles, the first Union Flag, a broadsword and a rose.
In the upper sections there is the "fiery cross" which was used as a signal to
summon the clans. There is also a reference to the Saltire as a cloud formation seen
after a battle. The sunset coloration is relevant both symbolically and historically as the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion marked the end of the period in which the clan system with its direct patronage of pipers. It was during this period that many of the historical Pibrochs were composed. It also marked the beginning of the period during which the playing of the bagpipe and the wearing of tartan was forbidden.

Pibroch - The Sound of the Waves Against the Castle at Duntroon

Based on the above Pibroch, this window alludes also to the relative closeness to water and the sea which one has throughout Scotland.

The inspiration for this window and indeed the series of windows began after hearing this Pibroch played against the background sound of waves meeting the shore. This Pibroch was heard in the context of John Purser's remarkable radio series ' Scotland's Music'. This window also contains allusions to fishing, seabirds and glimpses of Scottish landscape.

Techniques

I like to have a certain purify in the methods I employ to create windows. I like permanence in the works I make and therefore use methods that are appropriate.

All of the coloured windows will be made using mouth blown flashed glass.
This glass has 2 layers, a thin coloured layer on top of a thicker base glass, usually transparent.
The coloured layer can be removed using an acid either in part or completely, creating a wide range of tone within one piece of glass. This is known as etching.
Once the etching is completed, the glass will be painted. Paint refers to traditional black glass paint which creates lines and half tones and which, after painting, the glass must be fired to make the paint adhere to the surface of the glass. This is one of the ancient techniques going back 1000 years.
The final method within the traditional technique is silver-staining. This is again painted on but this time on the reverse side of the glass and when fired, the painted areas become yellow. This ranges in tone from a pale straw colour through bright clear yellow to a deep amber depending upon application and firing.
The windows in the main part of the will be leaded again using the traditional techniques.