[1] He received all of his tuition from his father Iain, who was an army piper during the First World War, and had been taught by John MacDougall Gillies.
He entered his first solo competition at the age of 15, at the Cowal Highland Gathering, where he won both the Under 15 March, Strathspey and Reel and the Under 18 Piobaireachd.
[5] After leaving school he was an apprentice at the West of Scotland Engineering Company, but volunteered for the Royal Air Force when the Second World War broke out.
Shortly before returning from training in Naples he was seriously injured in a vehicle crash, and never regained full mobility in his left arm.
[6] In 1971 he took up a permanent post at the College of Piping in Glasgow, where he was responsible for testing goods for sale and developing the programme of lessons and courses.
[5] He retired from competitive playing after winning the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering at the age of 68, but continued to teach and adjudicate.