CHARACTERS

ATHOLL McLEOD "HELL PIPER"

Atholl McLeod "Hell Piper". Inverness, Highlands, november 1, 1784.

When "Hell Piper" was a child he lived in an orphanage. When he leaved out of orphanage he played his bagpipes every day because he needed to be able to pay for the hundreds of bottles of beer and whiskey he drinked. To protect himself, hid his jacobite family origin. He never talked about this. Nobody knew his real name. His real name was Atholl MacLeod. People thought that the musician had lost his mind because of a loving disappointment. He was known for everybody by this nickname: 'Hell Piper'. He played his bagpipes in many pubs, streets and especially, every day, in the afternoon, he was playing near the cliffs, near the wild waves of the North Sea. People say that he wanted to find a boat that would take him to America or Scandinavian lands as well, and others, that someday he would jump off the cliff to end the suffering of poverty. One day, he was arrested for stealing a round loaf in a bakery. Then he was jailed in prison for one year. After this time, the authorities offered him freedom in exchange for work as soldier in the 79th Cameron Highlanders regiment where they needed bagpipers like him. Since then, 'Hell Piper' is a Cameron Highlanders Musician.

LADY CAILLEACH McKENZIE AND

PRIVATE DAVID McKELLAR

Lady Cailleach McKenzie
Daughter of Anton and Marinen McKenzie, was born on September 23th, 1774 in Applecross. Her family had a long history of heroic combatants against the British troops. Later they mounted a printing press and her daughter moved to Edinburgh to work as a herbalist. There, she would meet his future husband David McKellar.

Private David McKellar
He was born on October 15th, 1775 in Inverness. Son of cow breeders with origins in Skye Island and Lairg, at the age of 17, emigrated to Canada. Once there, after a year of survival, he enlisted in a frigate in the port of Halifax. He served 7 years at the Royal Navy and returned to Edinburgh where he would meet his future wife, Cailleach. Later, he will be forced to return to serve the country by joining the 79th Cameron.

PIONEER DAVID LOGAN

"THE BARBER OF EDINGBURGH"

Birthplace: Cork, Ireland.
Birthdate: March 5th, 1783.

Born in a family of barbers in Ireland, at age 12 he went to live with relatives of Edinburgh. He soon begins to work in a tavern to get the money and open his own barber shop in the Scottish city. After having succeeded, one day, he is involved in a fight, in the barber shop, where he ends up killing an English officer. After being tried and found guilty, the court, gives him to choose, enlist or be hanged...... Of course, he enlists in 79th Cameron.

CORPORAL AILBHE "Jr" ST.GUINNESS

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland.
Birthdate: January 29th, 1791.

Son of a noble Dubliner family and with a long military tradition, was sent to the Irish Cavalry Academy, where he was expelled four years later, for fermenting cider under his bed clandestinely. In order not to dishonor his family he pretended his death before being expelled, and fled to Lochaber, Scotland, where he enlisted, at age 17, in the 79th, embracing Scottish nationalism that ran through the regiment.

Before completing the training, thanks to the education received and his skill, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. During the first combats of the peninsular campaign, being drunk, he volunteered to lead the main attack during the sieges of Astorga, an act that made him ascend to Corporal.