Where did the bagpipe come from?
The simple idea of using a bag as an air reservoir to obtain a continuous sound from a wind instrument has been around for thousands of years. One of the earliest literary references is a 2400-year-old Greek text describing a dog-hide bag attached to a bone whistle. The three-drone Highland bagpipes you see our band playing were developed in Scotland around 1650 and haven’t changed much since. Brave pipers used them to lead troops into battle right into this century; in fact, it’s estimated that 3000 pipers were killed in action during World War I. Are there different kinds of bagpipes? Yes. The most common is the loud, bold Highland bagpipe, but many versions of smaller chamber pipes exist. These include the Uillean pipes heard in films like ‘Braveheart,’ ‘Rob Roy’ and ‘Titanic.’ One of the best known bagpipe/Scottish movies of all times, “Tunes of Glory”, starring Alec Guiness and John Mills; is available at video stores and occasionally is shown on TV on the PBS channels. How do the
