In 1891, Claude Debussy, young and hungry, accepted an odd commission. A Scottish general named Meredith Reid, a descendant of the lords of Ross, asked him to write a march using a traditional melody associated with the Ross clan. Debussy complied with a piece for piano four-hands, and thought enough of it to orchestrate it in 1908. The result is hardly an ordinary march; the main melody fits that description, but Debussy subjects it to constant transformation. Even the opening is not the expected brash announcement, but a mysterious coalescence of the basic musical materials. The keyboard version is kaleidoscopic enough in its changing moods, but Debussy further subverts any possible continuity in the orchestral version by constantly shifting from one combination of instruments to another within very few bars. Midway through, there comes what seems to be a B section, but this is actually just a pastoral variation on the main theme, assigned in the orchestral version to oboe and flute. The music very gradually reassembles and builds intensity, leading to a rousing conclusion—probably the only part of the composition that met General Reid's expectations.

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