Robbie Shepherd writes....

"For a lad born into pipe music, learning the chanter at the age of five and the complexities of the pibroch on the full-blown pipes by the time he was twelve, the reference to the dance steps is refreshing but not surprising if you knew the man.

Here was a piper who transmitted, in his own inimitable way, the fingering of the bagpipes to the keyboard of the accordion and the bellows control bringing such an exciting sound to the 78 era of the wind-up gramaphone. Yes, the added bonus of the dancing steps was to put the icing on the cake and give an individual touch that shines through these recordings. This was Bobby MacLeod.

Take from it what you like, but I close my eyes as I press the button for a 2/4 march, say "John MacDonald of Glencoe", and I see this proud man in the yellow tartan jacket of his clan, the back erect, the concentration intense yet delivered in such a relaxed manner.

Flicking through the tracks i started being biased towards my favourite Phillips "yellow labels" but was also irresistibly drawn to the earlier Beltona recordings.

This is volume one and who could resist a twenty track CD starting with the classic 78 "To the Games" with "Kitchener's Army" then the B side of "After the Games" - the aftermath with the plaintive "Mist Covered Mountains of Home" as the weary wanderer makes his way home after a great day. It's early evening and from every window in the street he hears the Saturday night Scottish Dance Muusic coming from the wireless, hence the reviving "Hills of Glenorchy" and ready now for the ceilidh with the reel "John Morrison of Assynt House".

Oh, the memories, and oh the inspiring music!

Congratulations to the MacLeod family for sharing those memories with us."

Veteran broadcaster Robbie Shepherd has been at the helm of BBC Radio Scotland's ever popular Saturday evening's Scottish dance music programme of Take the Floor for the past twenty years whilst presenting Sunday morning's Reel Blend for about the same time.