Moment in history for funeral’s last piper

The last surv iv ing regimental piper to have played in the 1963 funeral procession died in 2017.

Grandfather and greatgrandfather Bruce Cowie from Kirriemuir continued to play the pipes until close to his passing, at the age of 77.

In 2013, he took to the stage with internationallyrenowned tenor Alfie Boe in a 50 th anniversar y commemoration of the day of the Dallas tragedy.

Born in Dundee, where he met his wife, Anne, while they we r e both working in the city’s Dura Stree t mill, Mr Cowie served nine years with The Black Watch, learning to play the bagpipes after joining the regiment.

Mr Cowie later recalled the “surreal” situation in which he found himself as a 24-year-old piper proud to wear the Red Hackle.

He said: “When we were leaving the White House on the bus, JFK came on with his Secretary of State Dean Rusk to thank us personally. It was a real personal touch.”

Days later, as the world was left reeling by the killing of the president, the letter came through from Jackie Kennedy requesting that the band and their pipe major play at the funeral.

The 51st Highland Division and the Old Rustic Bridge were among the tunes they performed, and as the president’s coffin was taken up the steps of the White Ho u s e the bagpipers peeled off from the procession, playing the Green Hills of Tyrol and After Battle.

“It was a hard thing to explain how I felt at the time, and it was only afterwards that there was a realisation that you were part of history,” Mr Cowie said.

Alfie Boe: shared tribute.