Piper to the Laird of Grant

Piper to the Laird of Grant

ID: PC_GLENGARRY_COSTUME2_01 DESCRIPTION: The piper William Cumming (approximate dates 1687 – 1723) was painted by Richard Waitt in 1714. Cumming belonged to a family of Strathspey musicians who served the Lairds of Grant for about 170 years, through at least seven generations. Members of the Cumming family compiled collections of pipe and fiddle tunes, many from the Strathspey area, which they published in the 18th and 19th centuries. As an important part of the clan chieftain's traditional retinue, Cumming is symbolically clad in a uniform of livery, tartan and the bratach or heraldic banner, with Castle Grant, the chieftain's residence, in the background. A version of the tartan Cumming is wearing is registered under the name ‘Piper to the Laird of Grant’. Richard Waitt (died 1732) specialised in portraiture, but in his early career he painted still lifes. He married into a family with Jacobite sympathies and possibly left the country for a time after the 1715 Jacobite Rising. Returning to the country and specialising in portrait painting, by 1722 he was working for Clan Grant based in Castle Grant, Strathspey, and produced a number of striking clan portraits at a time when such images were rare. DATE OF IMAGE: 1714 PERIOD: 1710s SOURCE: Glengarry Heritage Centre COLLECTION: Glengarry Heritage Centre Asset ID: 49178 KEYWORDS: