Bagpipe Legends, Fairy Tales, and Folklore

Silent Film Actor Ben Turpin "Plays" the Bagpipes

2011-07-12T21:43:00.001-07:00

Bagpiper at the Conrad Hilton, Chicago, 1955

2010-12-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

Roderick MacDonald (background) performing a Highland Fling dance while Jean MacGregor plays the bagpipes during the Feast of Haggis celebration, November 26, 1955 at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

Image available for purchase (at time of writing) from here: Bagpiper and Dancer at the Conrad Hilton

Medieval Reproduction of Wood-Carved Bagpiper

2010-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

This item is available for purchase (at time of posting) from here: Medieval Piper

Bagpiping Santa Christmas Ornament

2010-12-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Available, at time of posting, from here: Santa Bagpiper

Bagpiper and Drummer at Opening of Carson Pirie Scott Store, Chicago, 1963

2010-11-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

Original image available (at time of posting) from here: Bagpipe Player and Drummer at Carson's

John Martin's Book Magazine Cover, 1927, with Bagpiper

2010-09-30T16:58:00.001-07:00

Thanks to a reader for this one!

The April 1927 issue of John Martin's Book featuring a bagpiper.

Recipes of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland: A Classic Scottish Cookbook by An Comunn Gaidhealach

2010-09-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

My day job (well, one of them, anyway) is as editor of the Folklore and Mythology Archive, which brings old folklore collections and cookbooks back into print. Fans of Scottish culture might be interested in this most recent title, a facsimile edition of Recipes of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Here's a brief description: "Originally published by the Highland Association as The Feill Cookery Book in 1907, Recipes of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is a delectable collection of Gaelic recipes passed down through generations of Scottish families—most are even identified with the name of the original contributor. From soup to nuts, you’ll be sure to find a new favorite recipe within these pages."

Who Needs Guitar Hero When You Have Bagpipe Hero?

2010-09-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

I would so buy this, if it really existed...

Scottish Bagpipers at Carson Pirie Scott Department Store in Chicago, 1960

2010-08-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

Customers listen to Scottish bagpipe players as they shop at Carson Pirie Scott & Company in Chicago on November 3, 1960. Original image and high-quality reproductions available here: Bagpipe Band at Carson's

Carson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is a chain of traditional department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper. The majority of the stores are located in the Chicago metropolitan area, with more than 30 stores under the nameplate.

The Carson Pirie Scott name is strongly associated with the historic Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building designed by Louis Sullivan, built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger & Mayer, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904. The building, located on State Street in Chicago's Loop, housed the chain's flagship store for more than a century before closing for good on February 21, 2007.

Cape Breton Tartan, with Bagpiper and Poem

2010-07-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Cape Breton Tartan; image available at auction.

Cape Breton Island is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Although physically separated from the Nova Scotia peninsula by the Strait of Canso, it is artificially connected to mainland Nova Scotia by the Canso Causeway. In 1631, Charles I granted Cape Breton Island to Robert Gordon of Lochinvar and his son Robert. Some of the first British-sanctioned settlers to the island were Irish, although upon settlement, they merged with local French communities to form a culture rich in both music and tradition. The first permanently settled Scottish community on Cape Breton Island was Judique, settled in 1775 by Michael Mor MacDonald. He spent his first winter using his upside-down boat for shelter, which is reflected in the architecture of the village's Community Centre. He composed a song about the area called "O's alainn an t-aite", or "Fair is the Place."

Schnauzer Playing the Bagpipes

2010-07-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is entirely too cute, a painting of a schnauzer playing the pipes. Click the links below for a larger image, and to see more offerings by this artist.

SCHNAUZER PLAYING THE BAGPIPES

1969 Eric Olsen Decanter, Scottish Man with Bagpipes

2010-07-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

Bagpiper Decanter

This vintage, figural decanter depicts a Scottish man with a kilt and bagpipes. It measures 12½" tall and is marked Design by Eric Olsen 1969. It is available for purchase here: Bagpiper Decanter

Bagpiper as Part of Mural in Evanston, Illinois

2010-07-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

A bagpiper is part of a mural underneath the train tracks in Evanston, Illinois.

Irish War Pipes

2010-07-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

A Homeless Man's Funeral with Bagpipes

2010-07-12T13:22:00.001-07:00

Passed along to me via an e-mail. Original source unknown.

A Homeless Man's Funeral

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man. And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full. As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently I'm still lost....

Old Irish Bagpipes

2010-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Old Irish Bagpipes

Original caption:

The Irish bagpipe is a much more complete instrument than the Scotch, although it is steadily dying out. In the latter, only one of the pipes has notes. This one is termed the ‘Chanter,’ the other pipes (known as ‘Drones’) having only one fixed sound, and causing the curious droning sound which accompanies the melody, whether lament or merry dance, played on the ‘chanter.’ In the Irish form, the drone-pipes also have notes, ensuring much more variety; indeed, this instrument is capable, in good hands, of great sweetness and delicacy of tone. It is blown by bellows instead of the mouth, which probably prevents jerkiness and makes the sound steadier.

Source: Chatterbox, 1906, Edited by J. Erskine Clarkeg

Published: 1906

Irish Pipes, from an 1827 illustrations

2010-06-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Irish Pipes

Source: The Table Book, of Daily Recreation and Information Concerning Remarkable Men, Manners, Times, Seasons, Solemnities, Merry-Makings, Antiquities and Novelties, forming a Complete History of the Year. By William Hone.

Published: 1827

Talbot and Gaynor: The Irish Pipers

2010-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rory O. of Chicago for sending this in!

"Talbot and Gaynor: The Irish Pipers"

by William Carleton

Those who minister to amusement are every where popular characters, and fully as much so in Ireland as in other countries. Here, amongst the people at large, no sort of person is more kindly regarded than the wandering fiddler or piper, two classes of artists who may be said to have the whole business of keeping Paddy in good humour upon their shoulders. The piper is especially a favourite in the primitive provinces of Munster and Connaught. In Leinster they are not so common, and in the North may be described as rare, though I am not sure but that, for this very reason, they are as welcome in Ulster as in the other provinces, their notes producing an impression which is agreeable in proportion to its novelty.

Of course it is but natural that there should exist a striking resemblance between the respective habits and modes of life that characterize the fiddler and the piper; and of the latter, as well as the former, it may be observed, that, although most of his associations are drawn from the habits of the people, in contradistinction to those of the higher classes, yet it is unquestionably true that he is strongly imbued with the lingering remains of that old feudal spirit which has now nearly departed from the country. Even although generally neglected by the gentry, and almost utterly overlooked by the nobility, yet it is a melancholy but beautiful trait of "the old feeling" which prompts him always to speak of them with respect and deference.. He will admit, indeed, that there is a degeneration; that ''the good ould stock is gone" and that "the big house is not what it used to be, whin the square's father would bring him into the parlour before all the quality, an' make him play his two favourite tunes of the Fox-Hunther's Jig and the Hair in the Corn. Instead of that, the sorra ha'porth now will sarve them but a kind of musical coffin, that they call a piana thirty, or forty, or something that way, that to hear it 'ud make a dog sthrike his father, if he didn't behave himself."

This is the utmost length to which he carries his censure, and even this is uttered "more in sorrow than in anger" On the contrary, nothing can be more amusing than the simple and complacent pride with which he informs his hearers that "as he passed the big house, the young square brought him in—an' it's himself that knows what the good ould smack of the pipes is, an' more betoken, So he ought—an' kind father for him to do so—it's the ould square himself that had the true Irish relish for them. I played him all his father's favourites, both in the light way and in the sorrowful. Whin I was done, he slipped five shillings into my hand. 'Take this,' sis he, 'for the sake o' thim that's gone, an' of the ould times.' He spoke low an' in a hurry, as if his heart was in what he said; an' somehow I felt a tear on my cheek at the time; for it is a sorrowful thing to think how the blessed ould airs of our counthry—the only ones that go to the heart—are now so little known and thought of, that a fashionable lady of the present day would feel ashamed to acknowledge them, or play them in company. Farcer gair! it's a bad sign of the times, any how—may God mend them!"

The Irish piper, from the necessary monotony of his life, is generally a man of much simplicity of character—not, however, without a cast of humour, which is at once single-minded and shrewd. His little jealousies and heart-burnings—and he has his share—form the serious evil of his life; but it is remarkable that scarcely in a single instance are these indulged in at the expense of the agreeable fiddler, who is by no means looked upon as a rival. Not so his brother piper; for, in truth, the nigh and doughty spirit of competition by which they are animated, never passes out of their own class, but burns with heroic rage amongst themselves. The lengths to which this spirit has been frequently carried, are ludicrous almost beyond belief. The moment a piper's reputation is established on his beat, that moment commences his misery. Those from the neighbouring beats assail him by challenges, that contain any thing but principles of harmony. Sometimes, it is true, they are cunning enough to come disguised to hear him; and if they imagine that a trial of skill is not likely to redound to their credit, they slink off without allowing any one, unless some particular confidant, to become cognisant of their secret.

These comical contests were, about forty or fifty years ago, much more frequent than they have been of late. In the good old times, however, when the farmers of Ireland brewed their own beer, and had whiskey for a shilling a quart, the challenges, defeats, escapes, and pursuits, which took place between persons of this class, were rich in dramatic effect, and afforded great amusement to both the gentry and the people. I remember hearing the history of a chase, in which a piper named Sullivan pursued a rival for eighteen months through the whole province of Munster before he caught him, and all in order to ascertain, by a trial of skill, whether his antagonist was more entitled to have the epithet "great" prefixed to his name than he himself. It appears that the friends and admirers of the former were in the habit of calling him "the Great Piper Reillaghan," a circumstance which so completely roused the aspiring soul of his opponent, that he declared he would never rest, night or day, until he stripped him of the epithet "great" and transferred it to his own name. He was beaten however and that by a manoeuvre of an extraordinary kind. Reillaghan offered to play against him while drunk—Sullivan to remain sober.

Sullivan, thrown off his guard, and anxious under any circumstance to be able to boast of a victory over such an antagonist, agreed, and was consequently overcome; the truth being, that his opponent, like Carolan, when composing on the harp, was never able properly to distinguish himself as a performer unless when under the inspiration of whiskey.

Sullivan, not at all aware of the trick that the other had played upon him, of course took it for granted that, as he had stood no chance with Reillaghan when drunk, he must have a still less one in his sobriety; and the consequence was, that the next morning it was found he had taken leave in the course of the night.

There was, some years ago, playing in the taverns of Dublin, a blind piper named Talbot, whose performance was singularly powerful and beautiful. This man, though blind from his infancy, possessed mechanical genius of a higher order, and surprisingly delicate and exact manipulation, not merely as a musician but as a mechanic. He used to perform in Ladly's tavern in Capel-street, where he arrived every night about eight o'clock, and played till twelve, or, as the case might be one. He was very social, and, when drawn out, possessed much genuine Irish humour, and rich conversational powers. Sometimes, at a late period of the night, he was prevailed upon to attach himself to a particular party of pleasant fellows who remained after the house was closed, to enjoy themselves at full swing. Then it was that Talbot shone, not merely as a companion but as a performer. The change in his style and manner of playing was extraordinary: the spirit, the power, humour, and pathos which he infused into his execution, were observed by every one; and when asked to account for so remarkable a change, his reply was, "My Irish heart is warmed; I'm not now playing for money, but to please myself."

"But could you not play as well during the evening, Talbot, if you wished, as you do now?"

"No, if you were to hang me. My heart must get warmed, and Irish—I must be as I am this minute"

This, indeed, was very significant, and strongly indicative of the same genius which distinguished Neil Gow, Carolan, and other eminent musicians.

Talbot, though blind, used to employ his leisure hours in tuning and stringing organs and pianos, and mending almost every description of musical instrument that could be named. His own pipes, which he called the "grand pipes," were at least eight feet long; and for beauty of appearance, richness and delicacy of workmanship, surpassed any thing of the kind that could be witnessed; and when considered as the production of his own hands, were indeed entitled to be ranked as an extraordinary natural curiosity. Talbot played before George IV., and appeared at most of the London theatres, where his performances were received with the most enthusiastic applause. In person, Talbot was a large portly-looking man, red faced, and good-looking, though strongly marked by traces of the small-pox. He always wore a blue coat, fully made, with gilt buttons, and had altogether the look of what we call in Ireland a well-dressed badagh, or half-sir, which means a kind of gentleman-farmer.

His pipes, indeed, were a very wonderful instrument, or rather combination of instruments, being so complicated that no one could play upon them but himself. The tones which he brought out of them might be imagined to proceed from almost every instrument in an orchestra—now resembling the sweetest and most attenuated notes of the finest Cremona viohn, and again the deep and solemn diapason of the organ. Like every Irish performer of talent that we have met with, he always preferred the rich old songs and airs of Ireland to every other description of music; and when lit up into the enthusiasm of his profession and his love of country, he has often deplored, with tears in his sightless eyee, the inroads which modern fashion had made, and was making, upon the good old spirit of the by-gone times. Nearly the last words I ever heard from his lips were highly touching, and characteristic of the man as well as the musician: "If we forget our own old music," said he, "what is there to remember in its place?"—words alas I which are equally fraught with melancholy and truth.

The man, however, who ought to sit as the true type and representative of the Irish piper, is he whose whole life is passed among the peasantry, with the exception of an occasional elevation to the lord's hall or the squire's parlour—who is equally conversant with the Irish and English languages—has neither wife nor child, house nor home, but circulates from one village or farm-house to another, carrying mirth, amusement, and a warm welcome with him, wherever he goes, and filling the hearts of the young with happiness and delight. The true Irish piper must wear a frieze coat, corduroy breeches, grey woollen stockings, smoke tobacco, drink whiskey, and take snuff; for it is absolutely necessary, from his peculiar position among the people, that he should be a walking encyclopaedia of Irish social usages. And so he generally is; for to the practice and cultivation of these the simple tenor of his inoffensive life is devoted.

The most .perfect specimen of this class we ever were acquainted with, was a blind man known by the name of "Piper Gaynor." His beat extended through the county of Louth, and occasionally through those of Meath and Monaghan. Gaynor was precisely such a man as I have just described, both as to dress, a knowledge of English and Irish, and a thorough feeling of all those mellow old tints, which an incipient change in the spirit of Irish society threatened even then to obliterate. I have said he was blind, but, unlike Talbot's, his face was smooth; and his pale placid features, while playing on his pipes, were absolutely radiant with enthusiasm and genius. He was a widower, and had won one of the fairest and most modest girls in the rich agricultural county of Louth, in spite of the competition and rivalry of many wealthy and independent suitors. But no wonder; for who could hear his magic performances without at once surrendering the whole heart and feelings to the almost preternatural influence of thia miraculous enchanter? Talbot?—no, no!—after hearing Gaynor, the very remembrance of the music which proceeded from the "grand pipes" was absolutely indifferent. And yet the pipes on which he played were the meanest in appearance you could imagine, and in point of size the smallest I ever saw. It is singular, however, but no less true, that we can scarcely name a celebrated Irish piper whose pipes were not known to be small, old-looking, greasy, and markeo by the stains and dinges which indicate an indulgence in the habits of convivial life.

Many a distinguished piper have we heard, but never at all any whom we could thmk for a moment of comparing with Gaynor. Unlike Talbot, it mattered not when or where he played; his ravishing notes were still the same, for he possessed the power of utterly abstracting his whole spirit into his music, and any body who looked upon his pale and intellectual countenance, could perceive the shadows and lights of the Irish heart flit over it, with a change and rapidity which nothing but the soul of genius could command.

Gaynor, though comparatively unknown to any kind of fame but a local one, was yet not unknown to himself. In truth, though modest, humble, and unassuming in his manners, he possessed the true pride of genius. For instance, though willing to play in a respectable farmer's house for the amusement of the family, he never could be prevailed on to play nt a common dance ; and his reasons, which I have often heard him urge, were such as exhibit the spirit and intellect of the man. "My music," said he, "isn't for the feet or the floor, but for the ear an' the heart; you'll get plinty of foot pipers but I'm none of thim"

I will now give a brief sketch of the last evening I ever spent in his society; and as some of his observations bore slightly upon Scotch music, they may probably be perused with the more interest by Caledonian readers.

He was seated when I entered at the spacious hearth of a wealthy farmer in the neighbourhood, surrounded by large chests, clean settles, and an ample dresser, whose well-scoured pewter reflected the dancing blaze of a huge turf fire. The ruddy farmer and his comely wife were placed opposite him, their family of sons and daughters in a wide circle at a due distance, whilst behind, on the settles, were the servant men and maids, with several of the neighbours, young and old, some sitting on chairs, and others leaning against the dresser, the tables, and the meal-chests. Within the chimney-brace depended large sides and flitches of fat bacon, and dark smoke dried junks of hung beef, presenting altogether that agreeable manifestation of abundance which gives such a cheerful sense of solid comfort to the interior of a substantial farmer's house.

When I made my appearance in the kitchen, he was putting a tobacco-pipe into his mouth, but held it back for a moment, and exclaimed, "I ought to know that foot!'' after which he extended his hand, and asked me by name how I did. He then eat a while in silence—for such was his habit—and having "sucked his dooden" as they say, he began to blow his bellows, and played Scots wha hae. When he had finished it, "Well," I observed, "what a fine piece of martial music that is!"

"No, no,''he replied, shaking his head, "there's more tears than blood in it. It's too sorrowful for war: play it as you will, it's not the thing to rise the heart but to sink it.''

"But what do you think, Gaynor, of the Scotch music ic general?"

"Would you have me to spake ill of my own?" he replied with a smile; "sure they had it fromuz."

"Well, even so; they've not made a bad use of it."

"God knows they haven't," he replied; "the Scotch airs —many o' them—is the very breath of the heart itself.''

Even then I was much struck with the force of this expression; but I was too young fully to perceive either its truth or beauty. The conversation then became general, and he addressed himself with great naivete to the youngsters, who began to banter him on the subject of a second wife.

"How can dark men choose a wife, Mr. Gaynor?"

"God, avourneen, makes up in one sense what they want in another. 'Tis the ear, 'tis the ear," continued he with apparent emotion; "that's what will never desave you. It did not desave me, an' it never will desave any body—no, indeed!"

"Why, how do you prove that, Ned?'

"It isn't the song," continued Ned; "no, nor the laugh; for I knewn them that could sing like angels, and, to all appearance, were merry enough too, an' God forgive them, there was little but bittherness in them after all; but it's the every-day voice, aisy and natural; if there's sweetness in that, you may depind there's music in the heart it comes from; so that, as I said, childre, it's the ear that judges."

This coming from a man who had not his sight, was, indeed, very characteristic; and we certainly believe that the observation contains a great deal of moral truth—at least Shakspeare was certainly of the same opinion.

"Now, childre," said he, "hadn't we betther have a dance, and afther that I'll play all your favourites. So now, trim your heels for a dance. What's the world good for, if we don't take it aisy?"

After playing the old bard's exquisite air, the youngsters, myself among the rest, joined in the dance. The punch being then introduced, a happy night was spent in chat, music, ricli old legends and traditions, principally furnished by Gaynor himself; who, in addition to his many social and amusing qualities, possessed in a high degree the free and fluent powers peculiar to the old Irish senachie.

Such is a very feeble and imperfect sketch of the Irish piper, a character whom his countrymen love and respect, and in every instance treat with the kindness and cordiality due to a relation. Indeed, the musicians of Ireland are as harmless and inoffensive a class of persons as ever existed, and there can be no greater proof of this than the very striking fact, that, in the criminal statistics of the country, the name of an Irish piper or fiddler, &c., has scarcely, if ever, been known to appear.

Bagpipe Legends Now on Facebook

2010-03-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

I've added a page on Facebook for Folklore, Legends, and Fairy Tales of the bagpipes. Not sure what the page will morph into yet, but you're welcome to "Fan" it and share your stories.

Bagpiper at a Wedding

2010-03-01T22:20:00.001-08:00

Bagpiper as Map of Scotland

2010-03-01T22:18:00.001-08:00

Bulgarian Piper, Circa WWI

2010-03-01T22:16:00.001-08:00

Bagpiper at a Macedonian Wedding

2010-03-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Bagpipers of the 1st Scots Guards

2009-10-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

Bagpipers of the 1st Scots Guards

Framed Art Print

Check here for current availability.

9th Xhosa War (Kaffir Wars; Cape Frontier Wars) Royal Scots Fusiliers with Piper

2009-10-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

1879 engraving of the 9th Xhosa War: Evening promenade

with the Royal Scots Fusiliers at Landman's Drift

According to Wikipedia: The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Kaffir Wars or Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the amaXhosa people and European settlers from 1779 to 1879 in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The wars were responsible for the amaXhosa people's loss of most of their land, and the incorporation of its people. This 9th [and last] war was a feeble attempt by the amaXhosa returning from diamond fields to regain control of their land. All amaXhosa territory then became part of the Cape Colony.

Purcel the Piper in Just-Published Irish Folklore Collection"

2009-09-16T23:55:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is the link for the Irish folklore collection, Turf Fire Stories and Fairy Tales of Ireland:

The book features many rare Irish tales, including Purcel the Piper.

Musicians, One a Piper

2009-09-14T19:42:00.001-07:00

French Bagpiper in the Street

2009-09-14T19:41:00.002-07:00

Cock of the North

2009-09-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

A sweet vintage postcard image.

Turf Fire Stories and Fairy Tales of Ireland

2009-09-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

"Purcel the Piper," one of the bagpipe legends in The Piper Came to Our Town, is from the collection Turf Fire Stories and Fairy Tales of Ireland by Barry O'Connor and edited by yours truly. This book will be available soon, and I'll post the details as soon as I have them!

Music, Dancing, and Drunkeness -- A Piper's Tale

2009-08-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Music, Dancing, and Drunkenness

There was a consecration-festival held in the neighborhood, and the music and dancing continued far into the night. But when the stars, brightly sparkling, and the moon high in heaven warned the revellers that it was time to break up, the inhabitants of the different villages joined company, and took their way homewards.

The village lasses wore pewter rings on their fingers, which their friends had given them at the fair, and the jovial village lads went on before, singing at the top of their voices. But their merriment was at its greatest height when Leonard was one of the party.

Leonard was the merriest and the most famous piper in that part of the world; he never knew what it was to be out of spirits, he played up at every dance, and he was always the most pleased of the whole party. Whenever there was a dance or a wedding he always came down from the mountains with his bagpipe, and he would play the livelong night.

He was never tired of playing, but he was also never tired of drinking; and if it had not been for the sake of his music, people would not always have been so glad to see him, for when he had drank a great deal, according to his usual custom, he became insufferable, for he did nothing but rave and swear.

At these times he would swear by all that was dear that he would remain a merry bagpiper till his end, and if he ever felt that he was going to die, he would drink deep, as long as he could, and mock death with the last wail of his bagpipe.

He had gone on with his usual recklessness on this occasion, or, if possible, he had been even wilder and more jovial than ever.Warning and persuasion were of no avail. “Leonard, beware for your own sake,” his friends cried, in vain. He cursed and swore high and dry that he would die drunk, and in the midst of music and dancing, and not otherwise.

This time he preceded the homeward-bound troop. His bagpipe squeaked and whistled all the way, and the lads sang in their Swiss fashion, and the white dresses of the lasses glimmered in the moonlight.

When they came to the cross-way, where the roads parted, the bagpiper took the right-hand road, which led up to the heights.

The maidens stopped short and shrieked out, “Where are you going, piper? Here, the left-hand road, that goes round through the valley!”

Leonard pointed to the right, where the tower of the village church could be seen in the moonlight.

“Shall we not go this way?” he asked. “I thought it was nearer over the heath; why should we go so much out of our way?”

The maidens replied, “It is not safe to go over the heath, bagpiper; the dwarfs haunt the place in the night, and it is very seldom anyone passes over the heath in the night-time without getting into trouble.”

Leonard burst into a hearty laugh. “Pray, what harm can the dwarfs do to anybody?”
“They force you to dance, and they can do you great harm.”

“Ha! ha!” laughed Leonard again. “I have wandered about alone many a night, over mountain and valley, over cross-ways and even by the gallows, but nothing has ever happened to me yet. I should like right well to meet with the little people, for they are said to own a great deal of silver and gold, and it would be no bad thing if I filled my knapsack full. Where is the way to the dwarfs?”

“Leonard! Leonard!” cried the maidens, “be not so foolhardy; he who plunges headlong into danger only rushes upon his fate. If you go to the dwarfs, you’ll have to dance till your breath is wholly gone.”

“Dance?” replied Leonard. “That’s just what I should like. Pray, have the little people any musicians to play for them?”

“They have the wind that whistles over the heath for their piper, and the night-birds join their songs by way of accompaniment.”

“They cannot dance very well to such music as that; the little people ought to know for once how well one can dance by a bagpipe. Farewell, if you will not go with me. I’m going over the heath.”

With these words he seized his bagpipe, played up a merry tune, and strode boldly up the heights which led to the heath.

The maidens and their companions raised a loud, lamenting cry, and hastened away.
Leonard strode fearlessly on through the moonlight, playing all the time on his bagpipe; the farther he went the more jolly he grew, and the squeaking tones of his bagpipe screamed shrill through the night air. When he had got to the middle of the heath, he saw huge blocks of stone that rose up in the pale moonlight, and not far from these were the dwellings of the dwarfs.

Leonard kept on playing louder and louder, till all at once he perceived a sound, at first like the soft murmur of a brook, then louder like the rushing of a torrent, and at last deep and fearful like the roar of the breakers. He could hear low, tittering laughs, suppressed whispers, and at length shuffling steps through the sand.

The piper held his breath. He thought all this very strange. He looked anxiously to the right and the left: the whole heath was alive and stirring, and moving in every direction with something, he could not see what, for the moon was just then covered by a cloud.
All at once the moon shone out, and Leonard cried out aloud with terror. On the right and on the left, before him and behind him, everywhere, as far as his eye could reach, the heath was covered with dwarfs, and all were rushing towards him.

Leonard turned back, and would have taken to his heels, but the dwarfs everywhere blocked up his way, and called out with their grasshopper-like voices: “This is the jolly piper, Leonard, who is come to play for us to dance.”

Leonard struck about him, and tried to keep off the dwarfs, but they cried out, “You belong to us, and now you shall see come to pass what you have always declared should happen. Play up and dance with us.”

All resistance was vain, an invisible power constrained him; he put the mouth-piece of the bagpipe to his lips, and began to play and to dance in spite of himself. The dwarfs whirled with him in a circle, and every time he tried to stop, they shouted, “Play away, jolly piper! Play and dance as we do!”

So it went on the whole night. But the paler grew the stars, the weaker grew the tones of the bagpipe, and Leonard could scarcely lift his feet from the ground; but when the day dawned and the cocks began to crow, the dwarfs vanished and all became still.

The jolly mountain piper fell breathless to the ground. The bagpipe dropped from his mouth, his hands fell powerless at his side, and his head sunk heavily upon his breast. All around him in the air resounded a kind of whispered song:

“Sleep, jolly piper, sleep! What you have so often sworn should happen, has come to pass. Your last moment was spent in music, dancing, and drunkenness.”

When the people came in the morning to look for the piper, they found him lying dead on the heath. The meeting with the dwarfs had been his destruction.

—Emile Souvestre.

If you'd like to read more stories of pipers, check out the new book The Piper Came to Our Town.

Silver Bagpipes

2009-08-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

There is a rath in the Queen's County, only four yards in diameter, but held so sacred as the fairies' dancing ground that no one dared to remove a handful of earth from the mound; and at night, the sweetest low music may be heard floating round the hill, as if played by silver bagpipes.

—From Ancient Legends by Lady Jane Wilde, 1888.

McFadden's Picnic, a Piper Named McGorrisk

2009-08-24T07:50:00.001-07:00

By the pipes of McGorrisk they danced and they sung,
Like divils, wid mad possessed;
And Father O'Toole, in the widow's embrace,
was shaking his foot with the best!

—From McFadden's Picnic

Angel Assists Boy Playing Bagpipes

2009-08-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is adorable. It is currently on eBay. The seller's description:

Juan Ferrandiz ANRI Hand Carved & Painted Bagpipe Figures Angel. It measures 6-inches tall. ANRI is no longer manufacturing the Ferrandiz figures. This particular figurine shows a small Boy playing the Bagpipes while a small Angel assists. It has an original paper tag on the bottom: “Genuine Wood Carving by ANRI© Italy”, and is signed by the artist on the base in the back: “Fernandiz”. It is in good condition (condition commensurate with age) with light normal use with no damage.

To learn more about the availability of this item, go to ANRI Bagpipe Figure.

To learn more about the ANRI company, go to their Web site; for information on Juan Ferràndiz, go here.

French Bagpiper

2009-08-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Image circa 1910.

Bagpipes...to Wake the Burning Soul

2009-08-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

I have power, high power for freedom,
To wake the burning soul;
I have sonnets that through the ancient hills,
Like a torrent's voice might roll;
I have pealing notes of victory,
That might welcome kings from war;
I have rich deep tones to send the wail,
for a hero's death afar.

—From The Highland Bagpipe, William Manson, 1901.

If you'd like to read more stories of pipers, check out the new book The Piper Came to Our Town.

La Cornamusa, Figurine of a Bagpiper

2009-08-20T15:15:00.001-07:00

Now available on eBay. For more information, see La Cornamusa.

Scottish Games, Griffus Field, Syracuse NY, 12 Aug 1950

2009-08-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

These images are now available on eBay. For more information, see Griffus Field. Click images to enlarge.

The Paddington Pipers

2009-08-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

The Paddington Pipers Entertaining Children During Tea Party

Click here for current availability of poster.

Bagpiper Wall Mural

2009-08-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Piper, Edinburgh, Scotland
Click here for current availability

The Pipers Art Print

2009-08-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Pipers
Nardini, Sandro
Buy at AllPosters.com

Rare Signed Photo of Piper Bill Millin, D-Day at Normandy

2009-08-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

A rare signed photo of Bill Millin, who played his pipes at Normandy on D-Day.

The description of the eBay listing reads: Bill Millin who was the Piper of the 1st Special Service Commando Brigade, and was amongst the more noticeable men to land on the Normandy Beaches on the 6th June as he played the Brigade ashore with his bagpipes under enemy fire. Millin piped the commandos ashore to the tune of Highland Laddie and then at Lord Lovat’s request marched up and down the beach playing Road to the Isles. Later that day he led the brigade across Pegasus Bridge and crossed Ranville Bridge playing Blue Bonnets over the Border. Piper Millin’s story appears in the film The Longest Day and numerous articles online. AUTHENTIC HAND AUTOGRAPHED 8x10 photograph.

To see it, go here.

Ireland Forever Postcard with Bagpipes

2009-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Now on eBay. Click here for description.

Nicanor Piñole, Portrait of a Bagpiper

2009-08-06T20:16:00.001-07:00

Nicanor Piñole
Originally uploaded by Von Aisaider

Another fine image by Nicanor Piñole.

For more of this Spanish artist's work, see: Piñole.

The Night Before St. Patrick's Day

2009-08-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

A bagpiper appears in Natasha Wing's book The Night Before St. Patrick's Day.

It’s the night before St. Patrick’s Day, and Tim and Maureen are wide awake setting traps to catch a leprechaun! When they wake the next morning to the sound of their dad playing the bagpipes and the smell of their mom cooking green eggs, they’re shocked to find that they’ve actually caught a leprechaun. But will they be able to find his pot of gold? Natasha Wing’s latest title is once again told in verse to the same meter of Clement Moore’s classic.

Duda / Bagpipe from Budapest

2009-08-01T21:22:00.001-07:00

Duda (musée d'ethnographie/Budapest)
Originally uploaded by dalbera

Bagpipe and miscellaneous chanters, Budapest, Hungary.

Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, Sir Walter Scott

2009-07-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

[This is a very ancient pibroch belonging to Clan MacDonald. The words of the set, theme, or melody, to which the pipe variations are applied, run thus in Gaelic and English:
Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil;
Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil;
Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil;
Piob agus bratach air faiche Inverlochi.
The pipe-summons of Donald the Black,
The pipe-summons of Donald the Black,
The war-pipe and the pennon are on the gathering-place
at Inverlochy.]

Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,
Pibroch of Donuil,
Wake thy wild voice anew,
Summon Clan Conuil.
Come away, come away,
Hark to the summons!
Come in your war array,
Gentles and commons.

Come from deep glen, and
From mountain so rocky,
The war-pipe and pennon
Are at Inverlochy.
Come every hill-plaid, and
True heart that wears one,
Come every steel blade, and
Strong hand that bears one.

Leave untended the herd,
The flock without shelter;
Leave the corpse uninterr'd,
The bride at the altar;
Leave the deer, leave the steer,
Leave nets and barges:
Come with your fighting gear,
Broadswords and targes.

Come as the winds come, when
Forests are rended;
Come as the waves come, when
Navies are stranded:
Faster come, faster come,
Faster and faster,
Chief, vassal, page and groom,
Tenant and master.

Fast they come, fast they come;
See how they gather!
Wide waves the eagle plume,
Blended with heather.
Cast your plaids, draw your blades,
Forward each man set!
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,
Knell for the onset!

If you'd like to read more stories of pipers, check out the new book The Piper Came to Our Town.

Bagpiper at the Cabo da Roca Lighthouse, Portugal

2009-07-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Lone Bagpiper Plays Beneath the Cabo Da Roca Lighthouse, Sintra, Estremadura, Portugal

Available as a reproduction art print

The Bagpiper by Jan Hemessen, Flemish

2009-07-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Bagpiper

Jan Hemessen

Available as a reproduction art print from here

Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500 – c. 1566) was a Flemish Northern Renaissance painter. He was born in Hemiksem, then called Hemessen or Heymissen. Following studies in Italy, in 1524 he settled in Antwerp. A mannerist, his images focused on human failings such as greed and vanity. Like his daughter, Catarina van Hemessen, he also painted portraits.

(Info courtesy Wikipedia.)

Rosenthal Ceramic Figurine of Bagpiper, circa 1931

2009-07-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

As seen on eBay. Go here for additional information from seller.

To learn more about the history of the world-famous Rosenthal pottery of Germany, visit the company's site.

Shakespeare on the Bagpipes

2009-07-26T18:27:00.001-07:00

Some men there are love not a gaping pig, some that are mad if they behold a cat, and others when the bagpipe sings i' the nose cannot contain their urine.

—From "The Merchant of Venice"

Vintage Robetsons Golly Badge of Bagpiper

2009-07-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Vintage Golly badge of bagpiper on eBay; click here for availability.

The "Golliwogg" (later "Golliwog") is a character of children's literature created by Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century, inspired by a blackface minstrel doll which Upton found as a child in her aunt's attic in Hampstead, North London. The character, depicted in the books as a type of rag doll, was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children's toy. The toy was known as a "golliwog", and had great popularity in North America, Britain, Europe and Australasia, into the 1960s. The word "golliwog" has from the 1950s onward been used as a term of racial abuse directed at black people. This has reduced the popularity and sale of golliwogs as toys.

To learn more about the history and iconography of the Golliwog, go here. Or visit the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University for another look.

St. Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire. Cats as Bagpipes

2009-07-26T12:20:00.001-07:00

Boston, St. Botolph's church, misericord
Originally uploaded by groenling

Misericord at St. Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire. Seat #55 ; 2 cavorting jesters squeeze cats while biting the cats' tails, representing the music of bagpipes

St. Botolph's Church is one of the largest parish churches in England, and it has the fourteenth highest church tower in England. The church tower is popularly known as The Stump or The Boston Stump. St. Botolph's has an amazing collection of sixty two misericords beneath the choir stalls dating from 1390. Subject matter includes mythology, heraldry, and some everyday scenes.

Read more about St. Botolph's Church here.

Click image for more detailed view, and to see additional uploads by groenling.

Spanish Bagpiper and Drummer

2009-07-26T12:11:00.001-07:00

Cartel de la película Mieres del camino. Autor desconocido
Originally uploaded by Von Aisaider

Click image for larger view or to see more uploads by Von Aisaider.

20% off Coupon for Barnes and Noble

2009-07-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

For online use only. Use code P3N9L8M at checkout and save 20% at Barnes and Noble; pick up your copy of The Piper Came to Our Town : Bagpipe Folklore, Legends, and Fairy Tales. Coupon expires July 27th.

Complete details can be found at Barnes and Noble.

Buxheim, Bavaria, Bagpiper

2009-07-23T20:36:00.001-07:00

Buxheim, église, adoration des bergers
Originally uploaded by gerfaut.d

Click image for larger view, or to see more image uploads from gerfaut.d.

Bagpipe Banshee of Beinn Nibheis

2009-07-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

For complete poem, visit Angeliad of Surazeus.

Cold wind howls over mountain slopes
where wild-haired woman in leather kilt
emerges from a cave holding round bag
of thick goat skin with long hollow pipes
then she puffs and squeezes bag tight
and wails of heart-aching sorrow swirl
over cold-rock hills and sharp silver lakes
my bagpipe banshee on Beinn Nibheis...

The Piper on Horseback

2009-07-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

Piper Sandy

2009-07-22T18:12:00.001-07:00

PIPER SANDY

Sandy's cheeks are like the roses
And his eyes are like the sloes;
He's a proper Hieland laddie,
Piping aye where'er he goes.
"O'er the hills and far awa'"
Is the tune that he will blaw;
Hirdum, dirdum, dirdum dee,
Sandy is the lad for me!

—From Alfred Moffet's 50 Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes, 1933.

The Piper, Abba

2009-07-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

They came from the hills
And they came from the valleys and the plains
They struggled in the cold
In the heat and the snow and in the rain
Came to hear him play
Play their minds away

We're all following a strange melody
We're all summoned by a tune
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon for him
And we dance beneath the moon...

Editor's Note: Complete lyrics can be found here.
Download the mp3 here.

Bagpiper Door Stop

2009-07-22T18:00:00.001-07:00

For a cool $800, this nifty vintage door stop can be yours.
To check out eBay listing, click here: Bagpiper Doorstop

Bagpiper on a Stein

2009-07-22T00:32:00.001-07:00

At time of writing, this stein is available for purchase from here.

Medieval Bagpiping Pig

2009-07-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

A reproduction of a Medieval carving of a bagpipe-playing pig is available from here.

A Piper and His Lady

2009-07-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a reader for sending this one in! A Staffordshire figurine of a couple sitting on a clock.

If you have an image or a story about pipers that you'd like to share, please e-mail me at blog(a)compassrose.com. I'll be sure to include it!

Bulgarian Bagpipe Music

2009-07-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Amazon has a number of mp3 samples of bagpipes from around the world. Click on the link below for a sampling of what a Bulgarian Bagpipe sounds like (there is no need to buy).

Gaida (Bagpipe) Player from Macedonia

2009-07-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Click labels link below for additional photos of the gaida.

Gaida / Gajda Bagpipe Player in Greece

2009-07-16T15:19:00.001-07:00

DSCN1572_1
Originally uploaded by sofronass

Gaida (Gajda) Bagpipe Player in Greece. Click on image for a larger view.

Information on the gaida from Wikipedia:
The gaida is a bagpipe from South Eastern Europe (the Balkans). It originates from the territory of present-day Bulgaria and was first used by Thracian tribes. Variations of this instrument are found throughout the Balkans in Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.

Bag
The bag is the reservoir that supplies the pipes with air. It is an airtight sack made out of goat or sheep hide. When this bag is squeezed under the player's arm, air is forced through the reeds of the pipes, creating sound. Different regions have different ways of treating the hide. The simplest methods involve just the use of salt, while more complex treatments involve milk, flour, and the removal of fur. In the Macedonian regions, the hide is normally turned inside out so that the fur is on the inside of the bag, as this helps with moisture buildup within the bag. The stocks into which the chanters and blowpipe and drone fit are called "glavini" in Bulgarian. These can be made out of Cornel wood (дрян) or animal horn.

Blow pipe
This is a short, conical wooden or bone tube in which the player blows to refill the bag. At the end of the blow pipe that is within the bag, there is a small check valve of leather or felt that allows air into the bag via the blow pipe but not back out.

Chanters
These are the pipes that play the melody.

Reeds (lemellas, Piska)
Each chanter is fitted with a reed made from reed (arundo donax), bamboo, or elder. The reed is fitted into the end of the chanter that goes into the bag. The reed itself is a round tube plugged at one end with cork, wax or the natural walls of the reed. The other end is open and a tongue is cut that vibrates when air is passed through. The end of the reed is wrapped in string (usually Hemp) to create an airtight seal when inserted into the chanter. The length of the reed that protrudes from the chanter determines the chanter's tuning, and can be adjusted by sliding it in or out. The wrapping is traditionally lubricated with suet, although the same cork grease used for clarinets also works well. If the reeds do not sound properly, the notch cut in the open end of the reed can be tightened by using a rubber band to squeeze the tube.

Melody chanter (gaidunitza, gaidanitsa, Zurle)
This is a smaller tube (chanter) with a conical bore (in Bulgaria), cylindrical bore (in Macedonia and other regions), made from boxwood (shimshir) cornel wood, plum wood or other fruit wood. It has 8 holes in it: the top four are covered by the thumb and first three fingers of the left hand, then the four fingers of the right hand cover the remaining four holes. An important feature of the gaida's chanter (which it shares with a number of other Eastern European bagpipes) is the "flea-hole" (also known as a mumbler or voicer) which is covered by the index finger of the left hand. The flea-hole is smaller than the rest and usually consists of a small tube that is made out of metal or a chicken or duck feather. Uncovering the flea-hole raises any note played by a half step, and it is used in creating the musical ornamentation that gives Balkan music its unique character.

Drone (ison)
This pipe is a long, three-piece tube. It has no fingerholes, unlike the melody chanter, since it only plays one note, a drone. This note is normally lower than those played by the melody chanter, as it is longer and its reed is twice as big.

Gaida (bagpipe) player in Tirana, Albania

2009-07-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

Gaida (bagpipe) player in Tirana, Albania
Originally uploaded by lassi.kurkijarvi

From the original caption: While walking around town we met this man playing a Gaida, an Albanian bagpipe. It's interesting how you can still see the animal shape in the leather.

Click image for larger view, and more photos by lassi.kukijarvi. Image courtesy of Flickr.

Kincardine Ontario Canada Bagpipe Band

2009-07-15T13:41:00.001-07:00

Vintage postcard of a bagpipe band marching through Kincardine, Ontario, Canada.

At time of writing, this image was available for sale from here.

A Piping Contest

2009-07-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

From A Tour in Tartan Land by Cuthbert Bede, 1863.

Captain Burt tells us of the piper of a regiment at Stirling who was highly indignant at a drummer being placed beside him, and said, "Shall a little rascal, that beats upon a sheep-skin, tak the right haund of me, that am a musician!"

It is said that all the best pipers are indeed musicians, and have a style of their own...and that each chief could tell the sound of his own piper out of a thousand. The exception, however, proves the rule; and I was told by a Highland laird, who had assisted at a bagpipe contest, as one of the judges, that, as another of the judges had boasted so highly of the merits of his own piper (who was one of the competitors) that it was very evident that he would award the prize to him; it was accordingly proposed for the judges to sit behind a curtain, and hear without being seen. This was done, the judge in question observing that it would not make the slightest difference, for that he should know his piper out of the crowd. Accordingly, when all the pipers played in their turn, this wise judge nodded his head at a certain performance, and said, "That's my piper!" Other pipers followed, but the judge in question voted that the prize should be given to "my piper." It so happened that the other judges agreed that this particular performer was the best, so that they had no hesitation in deciding to give him the prize. He was ordered in, and, alas! the laird's ears had been mistaken, for, instead of the winner being his piper, he was the piper of his particular foe, between whom and whose clan there had been a perpetual feud since the days of—well, let us say—Ossian.

Bagpipe Sonnet

2009-07-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

BAGPIPE

A NATION mourning for a fallen King;
The tears of women over Flodden Field :
The doom of Scotland by a compact sealed;
A group of Highlanders who faithful cling
To their young Chevalier, and wildly sing
The clansmen's war songs, soon again to wield
The claymore at Culloden, ne'er to yield
While Cumberland has forces left to wring
The life blood from those Scots whom none can bind.
The pibroch's notes no more thro' mountain wind,
But far away in solitary glen,
List to the sob of broken-hearted men!
'Tis changed—now minstrelsy and dance enthrall.
All these the bagpipe's wild weird strains recall.

—From A Score of Sonnets by William Burt Harlow, 1906

Treat Your Piper With Respect!

2009-07-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

From The Celtic Magazine, 1884.

At a dinner given by a Mr Thomas Grant at Cork, several years ago, MacDonell, the famous North of Ireland piper, was sent for to entertain the company. Although MacDonell was quite entitled to a place at the dinner-table, the master of the house had a table and chair placed for him on the landing, outside the room. A bottle of claret and a glass were put on the table, and a servant stood behind the chair. MacDonell arrived, looked at the refreshment set apart for him, filled up a glass of claret, stepped to the door of the room where the company were assembled, said, "Mr Grant, your health and company!" and drank it off. He then threw half-a-crown upon the little table, saying to the servant, "There, my lad, is two shillings for my bottle of wine, and sixpence for yourself," and he immediately ran down stairs, mounted his horse, and rode off, followed by his groom.

Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son -- A Father's Method of Punishment

2009-07-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

From "A Tour in Tartan Land" by Cuthbert Bede, 1863.

We all know that "music hath charms" and the way in which bagpipe music may be made effectual "to soothe the savage breast" is told in the anecdote of "Tom, Tom, the piper's son."

Tom was the son of the Dalkeith piper of the Duke of Buccleuch, and when Tom misbehaved, his father tied him in a chair, and then blew up bis pipes in a wild skirl, the drone being placed at the lad's ear. In a few minutes Tom would become quiet, and perhaps senseless. This was an original, but somewhat harsh method of correction, and a neighbour remonstrated with the father, and told him that it would be much better if he would give his son a beating with a stick. "A stick!" exclaimed the piper, "ye little ken him. Ye might break a' the hazels in the Duke's woods over him, and he'll no be a bit the better. But the pipes mak the callant as quiet as a pussy, and dings the music into his head, and I hae hopes that he'll one day make a grand piper, for, by this way, he has amaist learnt a' the tunes already!"

Indian Puppet of Man Playing Bagpipes

2009-07-13T19:09:00.001-07:00

060425 Indian piper profile
Originally uploaded by xjyxjy

Click image for larger view.

The Cow That Ate the Piper

2009-07-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: This rather gruesome tale comes from Irish Come-All-Ye's by Manus O'Conor, 1901.

THE COW THAT ATE THE PIPER.

In the year '98, when our troubles were great,
And it was treason to be a Milesian,
That black-whiskered set we will never forget,
Though history tells us they were Hessian.
In this troublesome time, oh! 'twas a great crime,
And murder never was riper,
At the side of Glenshee, not an acre from me,
There lived one Denny Byrne, a piper.

Neither wedding or wake would be worth a shake,
Where Denny was not first invited,
At squeezing the bags and emptying the kegs,
He astonished as well as delighted.
In these times poor Denny could not earn one penny,
Martial law had him stung like a viper;
They kept him within till the bones and the skin
Were grinning thro' the rags of the piper.

One evening in June, as he was going home,
After the fair of Rathnagan,
What should be see from the branch of a tree,
But the corpse of a Hessian there hanging.
Says Denny: "Those rogues have boots, I've brogues,"
On the boots then he laid such a griper,
He pulled with such might, and the boots were to tight,
That legs and boots came away with the piper.

Then Denny did run, for fear of being hung,
Till he came to Tim Kennedy's cabin;
Says Tim from within: "I can't let you in.
You'll be shot if you're caught there a-rapping."
He went to the shed, where the cow was in bed,
With a wisp he began to wipe her;
They lay down together on a seven-foot feather;
And the cow fell a-hugging the piper.

Then Denny did yawn, as the day it did dawn,
And he streel'd off the boots of the Hessian;
The legs—by the law, he left on the straw
And he gave them leg-bail for his mission.
When the breakfast was done, Tim sent out his son,
To make Denny jump up like a lamplighter;
When the legs there he saw, he roar'd like a jackdaw,
"Oh, daddy! the cow's ate the piper! "

"Musha bad luck on the beast—she'd a musical taste,
For to eat such a beautiful chanter;
Arrah! Patrick nvir, take a lump of a stick,
Drive her oft to Glenhealy—we'll cant her."
Mrs. Kennedy bawl'd, and the neighbors were call'd,
They began for to humbug and gibe her;
To the churchyard Tim walked, with the legs in a box.
And the cow will be hung for the piper.

The cow she was drove a mile or two off,
To the fair at the side of Glenhealy,
And there she was sold for four guineas in gold,
To clerk of the parish, Tim Daly.
They went to a tent, the luck-penny was spent.
The clerk being a jolly old swiper,
Who d'ye think was there, playing the "Rakes of Kildare,"
But poor Denny Byrne, the piper!

Then Tim gave a bolt, like a half-drunken colt,
At the piper he gazed like a gommack,
He said: "By the powers! I thought these eight hours
You were playing in driman dhu's stomach!"
Then Denny observed how the Hessian was served.
And they all wish'd Nick's cure to the griper;
For grandeur they met, their whistles they wet,
And like fairies they danced round the piper.

If you'd like to read more stories of pipers, check out the new book The Piper Came to Our Town.

A Bagpipe Rebellion

2009-07-13T18:48:00.001-07:00

Twelve clansmen and one bagpipe make a rebellion.
—Sir Walter Scott

O'Donovan's Daughter

2009-07-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

One Midsummer's Eve, when the Bel-Fires were lighted,
And the bagpiper's tone call'd the maidens delighted,
I joined a gay group by the Araglin water,
And danced till the dawn with O'Donovan's daughter.

—From "O'Donovan's Daughter" by Edward Walsh, as found in Irish Come All Ye's: A Repository of Ancient Irish Songs, Manus O'Connor, 1901.

If you'd like to read more stories of pipers, check out the new book The Piper Came to Our Town.

Sea Nymph Surrounded by Sea Creatures with Man Playing Bagpipes

2009-07-13T01:37:00.001-07:00

Sea-Lady Surrounded by Sea Creatures and a Young Man Playing Bagpipes

This would have made a lovely cover image for the bagpipe book, as it fits one of the tales beautifully. Ah well, maybe for the next edition.

Check here for pricing and availability of framed print

Henry Justice Forward, who painted this image, is best known as the illustrator of Andrew Lang's Fairy Tale Series. More of his art can be found at SurLaLune.

Altar Painting with Shepherds, Bagpiper

2009-07-13T01:33:00.001-07:00

shepherds
Originally uploaded by groenling

Altar painting by Berruguete in the church of St. Eulalia in Paredes de Nava, Tierra de Campos, Spain.

Click image for larger view, and to see more images from groenling.

Bagpiper Plaque

2009-07-13T01:31:00.001-07:00

Gaita con ronquín
Originally uploaded by Von Aisaider

A Roda, Tapia de Casariego, circa 1800

Tapia de Casariego is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by the Cantabrian Sea, on the east by El Franco, on the south and west by Castropol. Tapia is also the name of one of the parishes inside the municipality. Its capital is Tapia.

16th Century Nativity with Bagpiper

2009-07-13T01:27:00.001-07:00

nativity with shepherds
Originally uploaded by groenling

Wood nativity carved from walnut. Southern Netherlands, Antwerp, late 16th century. Click image for larger view.

17th Century Image of Dwarf Playing Bagpipes, Jacques Callot

2009-07-11T10:56:00.001-07:00

From a group of 17th century's etchings by or after Jacques Callot, the great Lorrain master.

This is an etching from the series: The Gobbi (Grotesque Dwarfs), a series of 21 etchings done by Callot ca. 1622 (title dated 1616)

An original is available here.

Bedouin Bagpiper, 1898

2009-07-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Bedouin piper. The photograph was taken in 1898 by an American cultural survey team in or around Palestine. At time of writing, this image was available for sale here.

Irish Pottery Figurine of Man Playing Uilleann Pipes

2009-07-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Figurine of a piper by Heron Ceramics. At time of writing, it is available for sale from here.

Heron Ceramics Belleek is based in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and is engaged in the manufacture of ceramic household and ornamental articles.

A Bagpipe-Playing Angel and Alice and Wonderland

2009-07-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Angel carving at St. Michaels and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England.

About Lyndhurst:

Lyndhurst is the largest village within the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It is often called the "Capital of the New Forest" and is a popular tourist location with many shops, cafés, pubs and hotels. Lyndhurst is also home to the New Forest Museum. The nearest city is Southampton located around nine miles to the north-east. In 2001 Lyndhurst had a population of 2,973 people.

Alice Liddell, also known as Alice Hargreaves, the inspiration for Alice in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, lived in and around Lyndhurst after her marriage to Reginald Hargreaves, and is buried in the graveyard of the church of St. Michael & All Angels.

The church itself is a major landmark, being built of many different colours of brick, on one of the highest points in the village. The church was built in the 1860s, and contains an important fresco by Lord Leighton and stained-glass by Charles Kempe, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and others. Other major landmarks include Bolton's Bench, a picturesque hill to the east of the village; and a row of much photographed thatched cottages on the road to the neighbouring hamlet of Emery Down.

(Info courtesy Wikipedia.)

Salute to Bagpipe Legend Bill Millin

2009-07-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

From The Sun: Click link at end of snippet for complete article.

LEGENDARY piper Bill Millin yesterday returned to Normandy — and was reunited with the bagpipes he played to lift morale on D-Day. Brave Bill, 86, piped stirring tunes as he landed on Sword Beach under heavy fire in 1944. He had looked set to miss the commemoration when the Government refused to meet travel costs — but The Sun stepped in and paid for him. Yesterday he was handed his old bagpipes, which are kept in a museum at Pegasus Bridge...

Click here to read more.

Bagpipe CD with Over 30 Kinds of Old-World Pipes

2009-07-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

At present, it appears this CD is only available from the producer. Visit the Web site for some audio clips. From the back cover of the CD:

"During the past 2,000 years an untold variety of bagpipes with a wide and wonderful range of sounds appeared throughout the Old World. From the British Isles to Eastern Europe and from North Africa to Scandinavia, bagpipes were often the most-heard musical instruments. However, in recent centuries as music moved indoors and as other powerful instruments evolved, bagpipes began to vanish from many cultures. By the mid-twentieth century a large part of Old World musical heritage was in danger of being forever lost. Among the few who realized this was musician and music historian Sean Folsom, who began nearly thirty years ago to research, collect, restore and play traditional bagpipes. Today, the combination of Sean's collection, his expertise and his musicianship is unique and is an ongoing part of a now well-established revival of these marvelous instruments. is privileged to present here an array of thirty bagpipes - a number never before even approached on one album - all owned by Sean and played by him in a professional studio for this recording. From the sonorous thunder of a huge Italian Zampogna to the light airs of a tiny English Northumbrian Smallpipe, from the noble incantations of a Bohemian Bock to the sparkling trills of a Turkish Tulum, the pipes heard on this high-quality CD create a vibrant pathway to a nearly forgotten world of musical magic for musicians, music scholars, collectors, instrument makers and those of us who are simply enchanted by bagpipes."

Legendary Canadian Bagpipes

2009-07-08T21:47:00.001-07:00

Editor's Note: This was originally posted on CBSNews.ca in 2006. The link to the complete article is below this snippet.

"A set of bagpipes played by a First World War Canadian soldier during a legendary battle arrived at the British Columbia legislature on Wednesday after 90 years in Europe. Chilliwack soldier James Richardson, 20, died in the battle of Somme in France in 1916, but not before his playing exhorted his regiment onto victory. Unprotected, he played while fellow soldiers were able to tear through a barbed wire enclosure. 'Piper Richardson strode up and down outside the wire, playing his pipes with the greatest coolness,' said Premier Gordon Campbell..."

Complete article can be found here.

The Kirk of Killiechrist — Mackenzie, Glengarry, and Macdonald

2009-07-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Editor's note: This poem is found in "Ballads and Poems" by William Martin, 1879.

THE KIRK OF KILLIECHRIST

"In the early part of the 17th century, a party of Glengarry's men surprised a numerous body of the Mackenzies, while assembled at prayer within the wall of Killiechrist Chapel on a Sunday morning—shut them up within the building, and then set fire to it; whilst the piper of the Macdonalds marched round the church, playing a pibroch, until the shrieks of the miserable victims were hushed in death." — Gazetteer of Scotland. The tune, so played, was adopted afterwards as the war march of Glengarry.

The kirk was filled on Sunday morn,
The kirk of Killiechrist,
When down the glen Glengarry's men
Came swarming through the mist,
And rent the air with joyful yell
To find the foeman snared so well,
And drowned the psalm with savage din,
And mocked the wail that rose within.

With dirk and sword they hacked the boughs,
And heaped the heather round,
They lit the fire, and fanned it higher
With scarf and plaid unbound,
And laughed with hellish glee, to hear
The prisoned wail of woe and fear,
And gashed the writhing hands that tore
At window-chink, and guarded door.

"The piper, ho!" Macdonald cried,
And forth the piper sprang,
And hitched and hove and strained and strove
Till drone and chanter sang.
"Now," said the chief, with wicked glance,
"We'll give them music to their dance,
And you shall earn a silver crown,
When you have played the dancers down"

The piper marched around the kirk,
The kirk of Killiechrist—
High rose in air the smoke and glare,
The faggots cracked and hissed;
The fierce flames shot with hungry roar
Through crackling roof and crumbling door,
And licked with red and ravening tongue
The shuddering prey on which they sprung.

But round and round the piper marched
With puffed and purple face,
And tuned his drones to chiming tones,
And timed his stately pace.
And now the death-shriek louder wailed,
And now the screaming pipe prevailed,
Now bag-pipe lilt and wild lament
In one infernal chorus blent.

Down sank the roof, and upwards shot
From out the crumbling crust,
A fiery stream, a bloody steam,
A whirl of smoke and dust;
The smouldering rafters piled the floor,
Where shriek and moan were heard no more,
And, rent with many a yawning crack,
The ghastly walls stood bare and black.

The piper marched around the kirk,
The kirk of Killiechrist,
And tuned his drones to louder tones
With many a turn and twist.
And from his pipe a blast he blew
Of yelling triumph wild and new,
The pibroch destined long to fan
The warfire of Glengarry's clan.

An Irish Piper

2009-07-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

Note the brace on his leg to help him play while he's standing. At time of writing, this image was available for sale from here.

Dagenham Girl Pipers

2009-07-07T23:17:00.001-07:00

NS Cape Breton Pipers, Gaelic College of Celtic Folk Arts

2009-07-07T23:13:00.001-07:00

Peasants Dancing with Piper, 17th Century Etching

2009-07-07T23:06:00.001-07:00

I came across this fabulous etching today on eBay, but sadly, I've run out of wall space in my office. The listin g:

Etching, c 1660, by an unknown Flemish artist after David Teniers the Younger. 142 x 252mm / 5.59 x 9.92 inches (plate) with margins on fine laid paper. Very good lifetime impression. Traces of use, closed tears at the edges, a small repaired loss. Rare!

Quimper Cathedral, Brittany, Bagpiper in Stained Glass

2009-07-06T17:02:00.001-07:00

Quimper cathédrale vitrail
Originally uploaded by gerfaut.d

You'll have to click on the image for a larger view, but look closely. In the second panel from the left, behind the man in the red shirt, you'll spot the bagpiper.

Quimper Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Corentin de Quimper) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and national monument of Brittany (France), located in the town of Quimper. It is the seat of the [Bishops of Quimper (now Bishops of Quimper-Leon), to the first of whom, Saint Corentin, it is dedicated.

The cathedral is notable in that unlike other Gothic cathedrals it slightly bends in the middle to match the contours of its location, and avoid an area that was swampy at the time of the construction. (Info courtesy Wikipedia.)

1950s postcard of Stonehaven, Scotland, with Piper

2009-07-06T15:49:00.001-07:00

Stonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 9,577 in 2001 census.

At time of writing, this image is available for sale from here.

Forever 1, Man with Bagpipes

2009-07-06T15:31:00.001-07:00

Forever 1
Originally uploaded by Enno de Kroon

The uploader of this image had this to say:

This ritual series depict the on-going painter in an achetypical sense that presumes past painted history. The painter in this is like a warrior with strange armoury like a piper in the Brittish army. The piper comes fysically first in the frontline of war. Mr. Forever closed his eyes for the world, in order to enable himself to see his own image to be the personification of avantgarde in a painterly tradition again.
While concentrating on his medium, he fuses with the painters materials as well as with the image, his surroundings, wherever he might find himself... He’s on his way.., he is like me...

Click image for larger view.

Bulgarian Bagpiper, Artist H. B. Murkvichka

2009-07-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

A Bulgarian piper, as painted by H. B. Mukvichka.

91st Highlanders, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, WWI Recruitment Poster

2009-07-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

1917 Scottish Canadian World War I recruitment poster for the 91^st Highlanders from Hamilton, Ontario Canada. A reproduction is available here at time of writing.

The regiment is now known as the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's). During the First World War, "the Regiment acted as a training unit, providing 145 officers and 5,207 other ranks for service in the numbered battalions of the C.E.F., especially the 16th, 19th, and the 173rd Highlanders...The 91st gave the 19th all four of its commanding officers and its Pipe Major, Charles Davidson Dunbar, DCM, a Pipe Major of international renown. As part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division, the 19th went from the mud and misery of Salisbury Plain, England, to the mud and blood of Flanders. The Battalion saw its first action at Saint-Eloi in April 1916 and went on to serve on the Somme, at Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Drocourt-Quéant, and the Pursuit to Mons. In December 1918, its pipe band played a victorious Canadian Corps across the Rhine and into Germany. The 19th has had no official history published."

Information courtesy of Wikipedia. Learn more here.

The Bagpiper, the Cover Image Used on "The Piper Came to Our Town," Available as a Framed Print

2009-07-05T14:29:00.001-07:00

If you like the cover image used on the folktale collection The Piper Came to Our Town, it is available as a framed print: The Bagpiper, 1514

Check here for current availability and pricing.

Life-Sized Cardboard Cutout of Man Playing Scottish Bagpipes

2009-07-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Bagpiper

How fun is this? The cardboard cutout measures 29 in. x 72 in.

Check here for current availability and pricing.