Donald Shaw Ramsay

Donald Shaw Ramsay (4 August 1919– 14 July 1998) was a Scottish bagpiper. Qualified as a pipe major in the British Army, he led the Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band to victory at the World Championships twice and was also leader of the all-star Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band during its four years of existence.

Life Ramsay was born in the parish of Muiravonside, near Torphichen, on 4 August 1919, to parents Donald Ramsay and Elizabeth Eadie. He went to primary school at Drumbowie, near Avonbridge, and then went to Falkirk High School before taking an engineering apprenticeship in Bathgate. At the age of nineteen he became pipe major of a band near Falkirk, which would provide valuable experience about the qualities required to lead a pipe band.

Ramsay significantly improved the standard of the band, attracting several top players and taking the band to another Worlds title in 1954. He died on 14 July 1998 and was buried in Polmont.

He composed a number of tunes, among them the march Schiehallion, the marches Mrs. Lily Christie and Angus MacKinnon, the march Jimmy Young and the hornpipe Tam Bain's Lum. He also compiled the Edcath Collection, a series of two books published in 1953 and 1958 by Hugh MacPherson. Pipe Major Donald Shaw Ramsay of The Edinburgh Police Pipe Band (1950s)