Interview of James Barrie

22 March 2005 James Allan Barrie (Vancouver, Canada, 28 March, 1941). James is the oldest of three children, his two sisters are Elaine and Jean. Although he was born in Vancouver, he lived in New Zealand for 27 years. His father started to teach him piping around the age of five. At the age of seven he got his first set of Macdougall pipes – a set that was owned by King Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales. The story goes that a man named Campbell, who was Queen Victoria's piper, was given these pipes by Edward VII when he left the Royal family. He emigrated to Vancouver and, for whatever reason, the pipes ended up in pawn shop in Vancouver. James' father saw them and bought them for $100. James played these for a while before giving them to a shop in Wellington for display when the Queen came to visit, in return, he got a brand new set of Henderson pipes. They were later auctioned in London for £1750. He went to Waitaki Boys School, Omaru, and played drums for the Brass Band. After school, he worked for the telegraph department in order to learn telegraphy and morse code because he wanted to work at sea. He formed a rock band at eighteen ("The Tornadoes" and "Jay Bee Combo"). He took up the pipes again and started competing in New Zealand. He then moved to Wanganui, became a policeman, and played for the Wanganui Police Pipe Band, he stayed in this employment for seven years. They would be called on to play at the police graduation ceremonies in Wellington. After this he became a traffic-policeman for three years. Although he'd left the Pipe Band, he continued playing himself. He was asked to be a guest piper for Innes Tartan on their world tour, he learnt their tunes and went on the road with them. He was married in New Zealand to a woman named Janice, they had children together, but later divorced. He remarried in Scotland to a woman named Cecil. His son, Glenn, also plays the pipes, although his other son, Cameron, had no interest in the pipes. It was after his traffic job that he emigrated to Canada in the mid 1970s, he was urged by his Dad to go there instead of Scotland because there were more opportunities. One of his Dad's Piobaireachd songs was played by SFU pipe band (doesn't specify which one). He carried on teaching pipes into retirement and became a recording engineer. When he first went to Scotland 1972, he had a feeling of connection, especially towards the traditional Scottish music (accordion and fiddle) and also due to the fact that his dad was from there. In fact, he says that he "felt that he was coming home". He remembers meeting the musician Blair Douglas in a pub in Skye in the early 2000s and he was urged to play the pipes alongside a young "tinker" accordion player, it is obviously one of his fondest memories of Scotland. He says he wishes he'd gone to Scotland earlier, lived there, and taken a more competitive stance in the world of piping. He's even thought about going to live in Scotland over the past few years. The lifestyle appeals to him and so does the idea of living in Skye. James plays "John Mackenzie's Fancy" at the end of the tape. John Mackenzie was from Inverness. He was a friend of his. He played in the Waitaki Police Pipe Band with him. John "fancied" the tune James played, so James dedicated it to him and called it "John Mackenzie's Fancy". He also plays one of his dad's tunes called "Palmerston North Square". This song came to his dad when he was walking around Palmerston Square, New Zealand, one evening. His father was William MacLellen Barrie (Rothsey, Isle of Bute, December 1, 1910). He was a middle-child in a family of 8. As a child in Scotland, he was taught the pipes by a man called MacDougall Gillies, his father wanted him to learn from the best. When Gillies died, he carried on with a man named Robert Reid. He wrote some music, "A Lament for Robert Reid", when Robert passed away. He also boxed professionally in Scotland for at least two years when he was eighteen. He also worked as a piper and exhibition boxer on the boats between Southampton and New York in the late 1920s/early 30s. He represented Scotland as a piper in World Fair in San Francisco in 1939, and that's how he came to Canada. The story goes that he met some Highlanders from Canada at the Fair and went up to Powell River with them and played in the Powell River band for 30 years. He married his wife, who he met in Vancouver, in 1940. He joined the Canadian army as a drill instructor and Pipe Major at Vernon. He then went to work as a butcher in Vancouver. In the mid 1950s he and his family moved to New Zealand where he was to teach the pipes and train butchers. James was twelve when they emigrated. His father spoke a little Gaelic. He was always humming pipe tunes and was a great walker. His grandfather on his father's side (Feb 13 late 1870s?) was in the butcher business. He might have been the first-cousin of the writer, James Barrie. He was also a piper, but played only for his own amusement. His mother was Elsie Lillian Allan (Macrorie, Saskatchewan, Nov 19, 1917). Her father, James' grandfather, John Urquhart Allan (Aberdeen), came from Scotland and settled in Saskatchewan as was the town's undertaker, sheriff, as well as general-store owner. They travelled by wagon from the East Coast. They came out to Vancouver (around 1936). Keywords: New Zealand, bagpipes