A Highland Games expert has helped solve the mystery of a 181-year-old silver plaid brooch owned by a US resident, revealing it was a prize for bagpipe music awarded in 1845.
Bruce Cameron Williams, 77, from New York state, was given the brooch by a distant relative during a visit to Inverness in 1983. The front is engraved with thistles, the initials “D.C.H.F.S.” and the date “1845”, while the other side bears the words “To Jas. McPherson” and “for Pibrochs.” Pibroch means music played on the bagpipes, and the relative, who knew Mr Williams plays the pipes, said she was happy to pass it on to keep it in the family and in the hands of a piper.
Initials decoded by association expert
Mr Williams displayed the brooch for more than four decades but spent years trying to work out what the initials stood for. The enigma was finally solved when he contacted the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association (RSHGA). Alasdair MacDonald at the association quickly identified the initials as standing for the Dunkeld Caledonian Highland Friendly Society, the awarding body.
An association spokesman said MacDonald also pointed to a press article from the Perthshire Advertiser of July 10 1845, which reported that at the society’s meeting a “handsome silver brooch” was presented for “Pibroch to J. McPherson, Fonab”. In a twist, it was also reported that McPherson was judged the “best attired Highlander” and awarded “a silver-mounted Snuff-Mull”. Further research revealed Jas McPherson was one of the pipers to Lord Glenlyon of Blair Atholl.
Owner thrilled after decades of searching
Mr Williams said: “I have displayed the silver Pibroch prize brooch for over 40 years, always wondering what the initials were trying to tell me. I wrote to everyone I could think of for information, and in later years Googled again and again, but was never successful. Then one recent day, I located online the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, sent an email requesting help, and in less than 24 hours had the most remarkable response from one of their members, Alasdair MacDonald.”
He said he had been convinced the brooch must have been a prize awarded at a Highland Games, as it was clearly not regimental, and said he is “thrilled” to finally know its origins. He added: “I have always treasured this brooch because of what it is, and the way it was given to me from the most distant of Inverness relatives on that exceedingly moving Remembrance Day Sunday along the banks of the River Ness. Now, over 40 years later, I am enjoying it all the more thanks to the helpful people at the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, and in particular to their scholarly, professional and friendly expert, Alasdair MacDonald. To say that I am grateful is inadequate: I am thrilled with the information, and overwhelmed by the responsiveness of Mr MacDonald and the RSHGA.”
Return to Scotland planned
Mr Williams is interested in eventually returning the brooch to Scotland and hopes an appropriate place can be found where it could be displayed. Mr MacDonald said he was happy to help identify the inscription. “As soon as I saw it, within a minute I had the results because I knew what it stood for,” he said. “I’ve got the history of 1,616 different Highland Games so anybody who wants to know the history of Highland Games, I can spit it out instantly because I’ve got all the history.”
Iain Watt, director of the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, said: “It’s nice to be able to help people out with these queries which reach back to another time – times change but the Highland Games carry on.”
