The CD The Captain's Collection is a tribute to music collector Captain Simon Fraser of Knockie (1773 - 1852) whose book "Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles" is one of the most important music publications. Featuring Gaelic singing, piping and fiddling, the musicians "reunite the Gaelic words with the tunes, presenting the music in a range of styles in the hope that his [Fraser's] music can be played and enjoyed by others." For The Kilchatten Wedding they effectively arranged Fraser's fiddle setting, alongside a traditional pipe setting alternating between pipes and Puirt a Beul (vocals).

In 1999, the first performance of the play "The Captain’s Collection" opened in Captain Fraser’s homeland in Errogie, on a memorable night when a thick, ghostly fog drifted down from the Monadhliath and almost two hundred people packed into tiny Stratherrick Hall. Following up with a more extensive tour in April 2000, the play was described in The Scotsman as “fascinating and provocative music theatre”. Captain Fraser’s Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles was originally suggested by Blazin Fiddler Bruce MacGregor as the basis for a musical play as part of Highland Festival 1999. The play The Captain's Collection was written by Hamish MacDonald and directed by Alison Peebles.  It was developed into an award winning series for BBC Radio Scotland, produced by Bruce MacGregor. The Captain’s Collection CD featuring the musical repertoire of the play was produced by Jonny Hardie for the Greentrax label, and featured  Brian MacAlpine (piano, keyboards), Jonny Hardie (fiddle), Alyth McCormack (vocals), Rory Campbell (pipes, whistles, vocals), Aidan O'Rourke (fiddle) and Eilidh Martin (cello).

Check out the book The Simon Fraser Collection .  We also have a CD Music From the Simon Fraser Collection featuring  music from the book as  played by musicians from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia  in Canada where the Collection was re-published in 1982.