The Bagpipes

 

Scottish Bagpipes

An Ancient Tradition

 

The bagpipes are among the oldest of musical instruments – so old that their true age and origin are unknown. It is known that the Emperor Nero played them and many Scottish historians make a good case for their contention that Nero actually piped rather than fiddled while Rome burned.

 

Some form of bagpipes are used in France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Persia and Russia, but in Scotland they have become an integral part of the country’s culture.

 

The Great Highland Bagpipe comprises an air bag, usually made of sheepskin,

into which are bound five pipes: a bass drone, two tenor drones, the mouthpiece and the chanter on which the tune is played. The chanter is a short pipe with eight holes, one for the player’s thumb and eight for his fingers. The player can produce nine notes, from low G to high A.

 

To make the limited range of the pipes sound more attractive, the player introduces grace notes or trills which, with the wailing of the drones, makes the familiar “skirl” of the pipes.

 

Most of the written music for the bagpipe can be traced to the MacCrimmons, hereditary pipers to the MacLeods of Skye, and the greatest family of pipers ever known. They had a school at Dunvegan and believed firmly in the formula that it took seven generations of pipers and seven years of study to produce a good player.

 

In those days, each clan maintained its own piper who played a morning tune to awaken the family, piped for dancing and composed special selections on the birth or death of important clan figures. Better than any modern day alarm clock!