Lady Janes MacRae - the Scottish piper playing for the King on VE Day
Meet Lady Jane MacRae.She has a PhD in maths, is a former concert pianist and has an impressive golf handicap of just seven.With all those strings to her bow, you might be surprised to hear that in 2020 she decided to take up another hobby – the bagpipes.Fast forward four and a half years and the grandmother of four, who describes herself as a "jack of all trades, master of none", will be playing for the King at this year's VE Day (Victory in Europe) commemorations.She'll take on a key ceremonial role in the event marking 80 years since the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Lady MacRae will be playing a song that's been composed specifically for this event, named Celebratum.She'll provide the soundtrack as a flame is put to the Lamp Light of Peace, representing an end to the darkness of war.And I'm treated to a rendition of the song by the River Dee, after arriving at her 150-acre Aberdeenshire estate.
But after a while, with her playing fingers getting cold in the February chill, it's inside for a swift tour of Lady MacRae's stately home (which she calls her castle) before a chat in the Grand Hall.Conversation turns to the big day on the 8th of May. She concedes that she'll be "shaking in my boots" when she's playing to the audience – including the monarch.So how does a maths teacher (who's still working) find the time to learn the bagpipes?Lady MacRae explains that someone once told her that they didn't think she'd be able to master the instrument. "That was a red rag to a bull" she explains."If someone says I can't do something, then I do it."
This may have started out as a mission to prove a doubter wrong, but Lady MacRae admits that she's now "hooked" on the pipes. She regularly gets up at 5am to practice.Luckily, here in rural Aberdeenshire, she doesn't have any neighbours to upset with early-morning sessions.She insists that it's never too late to pick up a new skill, telling me "anyone can do anything that they want, they just have to set their mind to it".Both her parents served in World War Two, so there's a personal element to being asked to perform at the 80th commemoration of VE Day.This is likely to be the last significant event featuring veterans from the conflict – the Ministry of Defence estimates anyone who fought will now be at least 98 years old.Lady MacRae believes these commemorations are about more than simply acknowledging the past. She worries that younger generations aren't aware of the lessons of World War Two."We've got to keep talking about it", she says, expressing concern that all-out European war feels like a worrying prospect once again.And so she takes that message with her in the evenings when she's teaching her bagpipe class at the Banchory Royal British Legion Club.That's right. She's only been playing four years but is now already teaching others.
I sat in on a session where she was walking pupils aged between seven and 82 through the playing of Celebratum.But before the practice session on the chanter (a small part of the bagpipe) Lady MacRae explained the significance of VE Day.High-profile official events to mark the occasion may become rarer as time goes on, but she insists that it's a date that must continue to be acknowledged.The official road to 2025's commemoration starts today, and this offers Lady MacRae plenty of opportunity for practice.She'll be playing Celebratum at Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire to kick off an 80-day countdown to the main event.There will be piping sessions across Scotland every day until 8 May as part of this process. The Banchory Pipe Band – who she teaches - will be playing in the town centre at one of these events.Once the main commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral is out of the way, you'd be forgiven for thinking Lady MacRae might take a well-earned rest.But no, she's got her sights set on a new challenge. Learning the harp.How hard can it be?
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