Welcome to Wiser Now’s weekly email blast which reflects my eclectic interests and, I hope, yours. This week, my focus is on bagpipes. Today is Bagpipe Appreciation Day, not to be confused with International Bagpipe Day on March 10. People tend to love the sound of bagpipes or hate it. Few are neutral. But either way, there is much to appreciate about bagpipes, in spite of the fact that in 1899 a Chicago judge ruled that they were not a musical instrument.
I hope you find these offerings fun, and perhaps even useful, and welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com) And if you haven’t yet pressed the subscribe button so this newsletter doesn’t go to spam, please do so now.
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The Quirky Quote
I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equaled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig. ~ Alfred Hitchcock
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The Quirky Facts
I’m saving most of the facts about this gangly, multi-piped instrument (which has inspired jokes about octopus’s attraction to them) for the trivia quiz, but let me begin by explaining how bagpipes work.
Bagpipes have evolved over the centuries, but a modern set of bagpipes consists of:
- an air supply (created by blowing into a blowpipe)
- an airtight bag (usually made from the skin of livestock which both holds the air and regulates its flow according to how much pressure the piper applies with his arm) The Romans are credited with first adding a bag to their reed pipes to eliminate breath-related pauses in the music.
- a chanter (the flute-like melody pipe, played with one or both hands)
- and one or more drones with sliding parts that allow the pitch to be altered
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Surprisingly, no two bagpipes are quite alike, which makes playing them especially challenging. In addition, because the chanter is usually open-ended, there is no easy way for the player to stop the pipe from making one sound and change to another. The sound keeps droning on (Pun intended). Nor does everyone within hearing range appreciate those who practice this woodwind instrument, because that range has been estimated as high as 10 miles (16 kilometers). It’s not the piper’s fault. There is no volume control on bagpipes.
The Quirky Observations
I happen to love the mournful sound of bagpipes and the men in kilts who play them (sexist, but true), but others besides Alfred Hitchcock insist that the sound emitted is less than tuneful, calling it a public nuisance, likening the sound to a strangled goose, and similar insults.
Others suggest that all bagpipe melodies sound alike, in spite of the fact that bagpipes are played at such varied events as births, weddings, feasts, fairs, and funerals. It is true that “Scotland the Brave” is played by nearly every piper and is an unofficial Scottish anthem, but one can assume that is not the only melody they know.
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Bagpipes have a long history briefly explored in the trivia quiz, but one quirky possible fact I almost used, involves the cruel Emperor Nero who supposedly played the fiddle while watching Rome burn in CE 64. It can’t be true because the fiddle hadn’t been invented yet. But bagpipes had been, and they were supposedly a particular favorite of his. This article is one of several that notes Roman coinage of Nero’s era featured a likeness of him playing a bagpipe. I have found no illustrations of that coin. But did he play a bagpipe while Rome burned? Some historians have suggested the possibility. Certainly, more people would have heard him. (Shown here: I did find what appears to be a coin showing him playing a cithara, a stringed instrument that was a forerunner of the lute.)
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The Featured Product - NEW!!!
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This series of slides can serve both as a terrific staff training tool, and a source of downloadable, doable exercises. Although it was designed for activity professionals, any WNW reader is likely to find wisdom and delight in it. And, if you’d like to know more about my programs, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com.
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Please Spread the Word
WNW is now a 4-time award-winning publication used by activity professionals, teachers, aging adults and their grandkids, and lots of people in between. Please share it, and if you represent an organization that would like a customized version or that would consider becoming a sponsor, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com.
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Directions for Sharing
Each week, the links to the current and seven previous Wiser Now Wednesdays are provided in the archive (“WN Wed Archive” on the far right of the menu bar). Click on the issue you want to share, and when it appears, at the top of the screen you will see “Share” with an f for Facebook and a bird for Twitter. Click on them to share to your contacts or just copy the URL at the top of your screen and send it to them in an email. Thank you!
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The Questions
- Do you like bagpipe music? Where have you heard bagpipes played?
- Have you ever engaged one or more bagpipe players to perform at an event? Did it work well?
- Have you ever played the bagpipes or any other woodwind instrument?
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The Quiz – Bagpipe Battles
Perhaps nothing is a stronger symbol of Scotland than bagpipes, but they weren’t invented there, and arrived ”only” about 700 years ago. Bagpipes spread from the Middle East to Asia via the Silk Road and eventually to other continents. More than 200 varieties of this instrument exist now in countries throughout the world. Although there are no permanent bagpipe players in Antarctica as far as I know, there was at least one in outer space as you can see in this 2015 YouTube video of NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren playing ”Amazing Grace” at the International Space Station.
What do you know about this ancient instrument?
1. The earliest physical evidence for the existence of the bagpipes is an engraved rendering in Chaldean sculptures dating back to 3000 B.C. The oldest set of pipes was found in Panopolis, Egypt, by archaeologists who dated them to 1500 B.C.
True ___ False ___
2. Throughout history, high-decibel, mouth-blown pipes have always been associated with the waging of war. Among classical civilizations, the Greeks are the best-known advocates of using pipes in battle.
True ___ False ___
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3. Bagpipes have long been favored by generals because their shrill, aggressive, warlike sound can be heard at great distances, which means they are not easily drowned out by the sounds of battle.
True ___ False ___
4. During the Reformation, the Calvinists banned the playing of bagpipes (and other musical instruments) believing such frivolity was “steeped in sin.”
True ___ False ___
5. In the mid-1700s, the fierce Highland clans were defeated by British forces and virtually all things Scottish, including tartans, kilts, and bagpipes, were banned as instruments of war.
True ___ False ___
6. Nevertheless the “Great Pipes tradition” was kept alive in a few parts of Scotland, and even taken to new heights with the development of classical bagpipe music, called “piobaireachd.”
True ___ False ___
7. According to the MacCrimmons who operated an academy to which chiefs or lords from all parts of the country would send their pipers for instruction, to produce a competent piper, the student required not only 3 years of study, but also 3 generations of pipers preceding him.
True ___ False ___
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The Resources
Photo credits unless otherwise noted are purchased from iStock.
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Answers to the quiz
All true, except:
1. The Chaldean sculptures date back even further to 4000 B.C.
2. It was the Romans, not the Greeks
7. The MacCrimmins were sticklers, requiring not 3 years of study, but 7
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My multiple goals are to amuse and inspire you, to share what I and people whom I admire are doing, to stimulate your curiosity and spur you to action. I hope you enjoyed this offering. You can access previous issues here. I welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com)
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