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Given his talent as a performer, composer, and teacher, William Lawrie’s (1881 - 1916) premature death in 1916 at 35 years old remains one of piping’s greatest untimely losses. William Lawrie’s primary legacy is the few compositional gems that he gave the piping world. Due to his premature death, his output was small – only about 21 tunes with some debatably attributed; however, nearly all of his works are of high quality and demonstrate great promise as a composer. He had a gift for tuneful and inventive melody and wrote both insightfully idiomatic as well as creatively forward-thinking music for the bagpipes. Despite his small output, some of his compositions are still widely played and well-known among bagpipers today; such famous tunes include the 9/8 retreat march The Battle of the Somme (popular as the tune to accompany the highland dance ‘The Lilt”), the competition 2/4 march Captain Carswell, and the competition 4-parted strathspey Inveraray Castle.