Hail that quintessential Scottish instrument – bagpipes.

It’s Bagpipe Appreciation Day!

The Bagpipes

bagpipes

There’s nothing like the skirl of the bagpipes to make a person a bit weepy. For me, I love the sound – others don’t share my feelings. Go figure. Some liken the sound to a cat having its tail rocked on.

When at war, the pipers went ahead of the troops. Were they trying to take advantage of their enemies whilst they were incapacitated by the music coming from the bagpipes? Who wouldn’t be intimidated by the sight of an army marching towards them playing songs to motivate their troops?

Still, watching the massed bands at the Highland Games or the pipe bands in the local parades makes me yearn for Scotland and brings a tear to my eye.

Traditional pipe music? Alternative pipe music? How about the Red Hot Chilli Pipers? Yes, that’s correct. It’s not a typo. Here they are playing We Will Rock You.

And how about a little Smoke on the Water and Thunderstruck to really get you into the spirit of Bagpipe Appreciation Day. Sorry about the advert at the beginning of this one…

Check out this link to McCallum Bagpipes.

Or watch this video on YouTube to see how bagpipes are made.

Bagpipes – love ’em or hate ’em? Leave a comment for or against this musical instrument.

6 thoughts on “Hail that quintessential Scottish instrument – bagpipes.”

  1. One of the funnier stand-up routines I ever heard included the following: (delivered with what seemed to be an authentic Scottish accent) “Aye, laddie. Let’s invent some sort of musical instrument. Something that will really piss people off.”

    It seems to have worked though, for as funny as this struck me, I love the sounds of bagpipes and drums. No other ensemble, except possible a real pipe organ, should ever be used to play “Amazing Grace”.

  2. We will rock you!! Love it! Red Hot… I could go for those bagpipes, definitely. Love those dancers, too! Thanks for sharing, Melanie. Made me tap my wee tootsies. 🙂

  3. Jack, that stand-up routine sounds a lot like a Robin Williams’ one or perhaps a born and bred Scotsman, Billy Connolly. He’s hilarious. If you’ve never heard Robin’s take on golf, you should look it up. Too funny.

    I agree that Amazing Grace should only be played on the bagpipes but a proper pipe organ would work, too.

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