Lochanside is a three part march, however, instead of being set in the more common march meter of 2/4 or ¢ time, it is in 3/4 meter. 3/4 time is an odd meter which is commonly found in musical styles such as minuets, some jigs (which can be in 3/4 or 6/8) and waltzes. It is common for songs in this meter to have a strong down beat (beat one) and two ligher or "weak" beats (2 & 3) however, this tune manages to stray from that formula in a good way. The melody is well crafted and there is a smooth wonderful rhythmic flow and feel that's totally sets it apart from those other styles. Instead the emphais tends to be on beat two and beat one of every 'odd' bar feels more like an anacrusis (pickup) than a down beat. For a musician in general this piece is worth learning and studying just for the experience of understanding and feeling how the rhythm flows in this piece.
Another thing that makes this piece unique is that although it's in the public domain (nobody owns copyright) we know that his tune was composed by Pipe Major John McLellan DCM (a title he earned during a battle of Magersfontein where he rallied troops by playing even after being wounded in the ankle and would later write a retreat march inspired by this event).
McLellan, who was born to Neil and Mary (Darroch) McClellan on August 5, 1875 was an acomplished piper, composer as well as lyricist, poet and even a painter from a town in Argyll region of Scotland called Dunoon. He had a brother named Neil was also a piper although I don't know if he had any other siblings at the time of this writing. Anyway, It is said that the inspiration for this tune may have come from McLellan's time spent along the secluded shores of Loch Loskin, located on Dunloskin Farm -- just a short walk's north-west of Dunoon's town center and the Cowan Game's Park. McLellan also penned a tune called Dunloskin and both tunes were originally published in the now out of print Cowal Collection.
McLellan wrote many tunes during his lifetime, many contained lyrics and he had a knack for creating catchy memorable melodies. This particular tune is a favourite amongst pipers and is apart of the repertoire of just about anyone who has ever endevored to study the Great Highland Bagpipe as it's commonly performed in solo competitions and is a common tune used as part of the standard repertoire for many massed band gatherings. I also learned that this tune is often played by pipe bands that perform before some of the football (soccer) matches in and around Scotland as well.
Today there is a memorial plaque located near the waterfront in Dunoon in honor of their native son's achievements.
While looking for information about the Cowal Collection (for which I haven't found any as of the construction of this page on August 16, 2004), I discovered a link to the Cowal Highland Gathering. According to the website says is one of the largest games in the world which has taken place every August near Dunoon since the first games on August 11, 1894. For information about that event (which I believe some of which takes place in the Cowan Games Park not far from Loch Loskin) visit: http://www.cowalgathering.co.uk
For a GIF version adapted to fiddle and mandolin click here...