Service Band Drum Scores

The Bells of Dunblane: History of the Tune

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On 13 March 1996, an unemployed former shopkeeper walked into the Dunblane (Scotland) Primary School armed with several revolvers. He fired his weapons 109 times, killing sixteen children and one adult. Then he fired one shot, killing himself instantly. 

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The bells of Dunblane cathedral rang a long tribute to the victims. The Pipe Major Robert Mathieson of the Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band composed a slow air for the Highland Bagpipes in memoriam of the event. He entitled it "The Bells of Dunblane" because the silence of the people and the sound of the cathedral bells seemed much stronger than any spoken word.

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On the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, President Clinton, and other officials dedicated a national memorial to the victims on the site of their death. Several current Oklahoma Fire Pipes & Drums members (including myself) were present that day with another band and offered their music as tributes to the victims. President Clinton said the memorial would offer solace to victims' families long into the future. During the dedication ceremony, the cathedral bells rang out, one chime for each victim, in much the same way as Robert Mathieson described, carrying a sound more profound than words could ever articulate. 27 years later the Oklahoma Fire Pipes & Drums paid homage to that tragic day with their performance of the Bells of Dunblane, in honor of the senseless loss of life so many years ago.