A member of the Alford Fiddlers has been researching the life and music of PM James MacHardy.

An interesting man, born in 1863, he was recruited as a junior piper to Queen Victoria at the age of 14 and played for her when she stayed at Balmoral. He helped tend to John Brown when he was ill but later fell out with the Queen's faithful servant and left with the shortest testimony ever penned: "James McHardy left. Gave no offence".

Having been a champion piper and renowned fiddler and fiddle maker/repairer nearly all his life, at his passing in 1938, PM MacHardy left a legacy of unpublished pipe and fiddle tunes, all hand written. He had been a major figure in the traditional music of Scotland and had been one of the first to broadcast pipe music on the BBC, as well as being a factor, farmer and bus driver in Aberdeen at various times in his life.

It is hoped to make PM MacHardy's music available to the public ear once more and that the Alford Fiddlers will be amongst the first to play some of his tunes after a period of nearly seventy years.