In the Pass of Maya (1813), a body of 2,600 British soldiers held off 11,000 of Napoleon's best infantry for nine hours. "So dreadful was the slaughter, especially of the 92nd, that it is said the advancing enemy were actually stopped by the heaped mass of dead and dying." As the battle ground towards its close, the 92nd's Pipe Major, thinking some music would appeal to the Regiment, stuck up a tune. Instantly, the tired soldiers looked to the general for orders to charge forward and sweep the French from the area. Instead, the piper was told to stop playing as the regiment was in no condition to advance. As the general assembled the forces for a final charge, the Pipe Major struck up again, this time playing the Regimental Charge. This time there was no stopping him or the 92nd; though badly mauled and tired, they sprang forward and drove the French from the field.

* Turn on your sound, and click the links below ....
Pipe music - Heights of Dargai
Pipe Music - Hey Johnny Cope
Pipe music - The Battle of Waterloo

http://www.wspd.wellington.net.nz/pipebands/pipebands.htm


In 1897, the 1st Btn was part of the Chitral expedition, sent into the Northwest Territory of India. On arriving near the hill-top village of Dargai, the commanding general realized that the rocky slopes leading up to the village would have to be climbed and the town cleared of enemy forces. The hill leading to the town was only part of its natural strength; there was also a wide strip of ground at the bottom of the hill which afforded no cover for advancing soldiers and gave the defenders an uninterrupted field of fire. During the morning, two English regiments tried to ascend the hill, but neither of them were able to cross the deadly "fire zone" in sufficient numbers to complete the attack. The commander called for the Gordon Highlanders. The battalion's officer, Lt-Col Mathias, called out, "The General says this hill must be taken at all costs. The Gordon Highlanders will take it." The battalion surged forward through the fire zone. While crossing, Piper George Findlater was shot through both ankles, making it impossible for him to make his way through. Propping himself up against a small rock in the middle of intense enemy fire, Findlater struck up his pipes and played on to encourage the Gordons on to victory. In the space of 40 minutes, the hill was taken and Piper Findlater had earned the Victoria Cross.

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Piper Harry Lunan, who piped the Gordons through the Great War,
and survived to be the oldest surviving piper from that war.


After the devastation of The Great War, pipers were no longer permitted to lead troops into battle; the Regiment had lost 16 of 18 pipers in just the first two weeks in France doing precisely that. In subsequent years, then, the Drums & Pipes confirmed their place as valuable operational soldiers as well as central to military morale. The Ds & Ps performed the role of a machine gun squad in addition to their normal duties.

http://www.bydand.com/dandp.htm

As a piper, I can very easily say, it's all true! Don't know whether it's something in the chords of the pipes, but it strikes up emotions in everyone's hearts - be it fear, loathing, joy, or valor! Thanks for posting this stuff, Thomas!

Cool post.

There sure is something about the pipes. They can make the Blood Boil and the tears flow.....Truely the greatest instrument of all time IMHO.

Thanks for the links Tomas...will have to look at them more closely later. BTW have you heard of the Scottish Rogues? I just love their CDs and always look forward to seeing them at the Bristol Renn. Faire here in Wisconsin.

And the musicians shall lead them.........

Cool post, Mac.

Thanks guys !

The pipes, & the men that make them sing, are truely amazing !

Here's a good read .....

Pìobaireachd and War

An Explanation of the Regimental Association
of Highland Bagpipe Music

By Stuart Willis

Among the symbols associated with Scotland and the Scottish Highlanders, Scotland’s national music, pìobaireachd or highland bagpipe music, is seen very prominently. Upon entering the realm in which pìobaireachd (pronounced “pee-brock”) is most often played and heard, one may notice that the majority of those who play the pipes have some affiliation with a military-related organization, such as a highland regiment, police force, or fire brigade, or they do so in a pipes and drums band (the forming of bands having regimental origins). This is interesting because historically the bagpipe was an instrument of peace, most often played in the village for dancing and ceremony (MacLean 1995), so the association of bagpipes and military functions is one warranting further explanation.

Classically, horns and the trumpet were the characteristic instruments of war throughout Europe. In Scotland, however, the harp and bard were the musical voices most often heard in association with battle. The harp and bard were characteristically found in the village and religious functions as well as battle, Gaelic history and myth having been primarily oral. The ancient Celtic priesthood has historically been famed for its musical abilities with the harp. The local bard was especially important because in the absence of books he became the repository of the clan’s or village’s history. (MacLean 1995) The bard’s duties as an orator were also important prior to and after a battle (note not during). Bards characteristically traveled through the villages and local lands summoning men for battle and later encouraged them to courage and strength on the battlefield, known as giving the brosnachadh. Bards exhorted the men to emulate their forefathers and hold their lives cheap in the defense of their clan’s honor, thereby producing a profound effect. After the battle, the bard sang of the bravery of those who had fallen and of the valiant deeds of those who still lived. (Manson 1977)

As I alluded to, the bard was rather useless during battle for two primary reasons. One, as the battle progressed in fervor and volume, the bard became increasingly difficult to hear. Additionally, even before the battle a man’s voice and the sound of a harp only carry a short distance. Second, bards valued their own worth as a bard above that as a soldier, and so they very uncommonly participated in the actual fighting. (Manson 1977) One story of a very well-known bard, Ian Lom the Lochaber bard, was recorded at the Battle of Inverlochy. Having been asked to join the battle, Ian Lom politely declined, quipping “If I go along with you to-day, Sir Alasdair, and fall in battle, who will sing thy victory tomorrow?” Nevertheless, Ian Lom is known to have been a brave man. (Cannon 1988)

Enter the bagpipes. Already known in peaceful circles, the bagpipe produces a piercing sound that carries long distances (originally the bagpipe had only one drone, making the sound even more shrill and distinctive than the bagpipes today), a quality the bards and harp do not possess. The use of war pipes (known as the pìob mhór) is said to have replaced the use of the bard and harp initially in the early fifteenth century and accelerated throughout the clan wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The pipes came to perform those duties the bard previously had been obligated to, such as the calling to battle, the brosnachadh, and laments for the fallen. (Collison 1975)

Needless to say the bards were not always thrilled about being supplanted by a noisy, seemingly clumsy “bag of sticks.” The last bard known to have acted officially in battle, Mac Mhuirich of the Clan Ranald was disgusted at the clamor (and popularity) of the pipes and wrote a set of verses describing the bagpipe and its delineation, which Manson describes as “more graphic, humorous, and forcible than elegant or gentlemanly.” (1977) Reports exist of another bard, Duncan Ban Mac Intyre of Glenorchy, who composed a poem called “Hugh the Piper.” Hugh, having somehow insulted the bard, is compared to a wicked dog barking at the passers-by, intent on biting their heels, and his musical efforts are compared to the cries of ducks, geese, and pigs. (Gibson 1998)

It is interesting to note that even after the hey day of the bards, Gaelic/Highland music retained much of its oral tradition. Pìobaireachd, which is said to resemble Gaelic words, is taught through a vocable system known as canntaireachd. Each vocable corresponds to a pitch in the bagpipes range. It is said the MacCrimmons (see below) of Glenelg developed this system in order to teach their pupils, but the full system has never been revealed. In this way, pìobaireachd music was recorded and related, and was even able to be transcribed and recorded in canntaireachd form without knowledge of Western musical notation. (Collinson 1975)

Historically, bagpipes were most important in battle to excite Highland clansman to courage for battle, as the bards had done before. It is said that ancient Celtic warriors who fought hand to hand endured a specific series of emotions prior to the battle. The first was a nervous excitement known as the crith-gaisge, quoted by Manson as “quiverings of valour”. This was reported to be followed by an overpowering feeling of exhilaration and delight, or the “joyous frenzy of battle” called the mir-cath. (Manson 1977) It was this mir-cath that the pipes played the greatest role in producing by way of a brosnachadh, and sustaining through the battle (where the bards had been lacking). The mir-cath has been reportedly seen in Highland soldiers of recent centuries, but only when they have had the chance to charge with bayonets.

A transition in the use of the pipes took place in the eighteenth century at the time of the Jacobite rebellions. To set the stage, after the union of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, the governments of both countries were ruled singly from London. This created tremendous turmoil between the government (monarchy and patron Scottish parliament) and the people of Scotland, particularly the Highlanders. As the monarchs subsequent to the union spent more time among their English patrons and became increasingly “anglicized,” they became more estranged from their Scottish people and heritage (the crown of England fell to King James VI of Scotland, a Stewart). With the exile of James VII and crowning of William the Orange from the Netherlands, the government of Britain became solidly Protestant, to the dismay of the wholeheartedly Catholic Scottish Highlanders (who several hundred years before had had to endure the abolition of their Celtic Catholicism, yet stayed their course). The Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 ending in the defeat at Culloden moor were an attempt to restore the Scottish and Catholic Stewart kings (James Edward and his son Bonnie Prince Charlie) to the throne. They were unsuccessful, and the Hanoverian (German) kings of England, beginning with George Lewis of Hanover (George I) in 1714 began their uninterrupted rule of the country of Britain. (Fry and Fry 1982)

Because the Jacobite rebellions were primarily supported by the Celtic Highlands, the pipes featured prominently in the highland armies. It is said that Bonnie Prince Charlie took his meals to the sound of pipe music, and after the victory at Prestonpans, that he rode into Edinburgh preceded by no fewer than 100 pipers. (Manson 1977)

Bagpipes and pipers were important in almost every Jacobite regiment, helping nationally to perform those functions it had performed for several hundred years on a local level. However, pipers did not serve only on the Jacobite side, as Scottish history has never been free of those who play the politics, and pipers are loyal to their clan chief’s affiliations. Donald Bain MacCrimmon, who served with the Hanoverian army, was captured at the Battle of Inverurie. Upon learning of his capture, the pipers in the Jacobite army, many of whom had been MacCrimmon’s pupils, put down their pipes and informed their officers that the sound of the pipes would be heard no more until he was released. He was subsequently released, and, unfortunately, was later the only casualty at the Rout of Moy. MacCrimmon, having had a premonition of his own death, was reportedly inspired to write the lament “Cha Till Mac Cruimein” (“MacCrimmon Will Never Return”). (Manson 1977)

Another story concerns the Duke of Cumberland, who, while preparing to meet Prince Charlie’s army at Culloden, noticed the pipers of the clans supporting him (the Royalist cause) tuning up their instruments. He is said to have remarked to an aide “What are these men to do with such bundles of sticks? I can get far better implements of war than these,” whereby the aide remarked “Your Royal Highness cannot get them better weapons. They are the bagpipes, the Highlanders’ music in peace and war. Without these all other instruments are of no avail, and the Highland soldiers need not advance another step, for they will be of no service.” (MacLean 1995)

After the ’45 and the defeat at Culloden, the British government began the process of depopulation of the Highlands with the Disarming Act of 1747. Wearing the kilt and playing the bagpipes were outlawed, considered treasonous and punishable by death. One report concerns a poor piper who played for the Jacobite army and was subsequently captured by the Hanoverian army at Carlisle. He plead that he did not bear arms but was only a piper. The court’s judgement was that “No regiment ever marched without musical instruments such as drums, trumpets and the like” and that “a Highland regiment never marched without a piper,” and “therefore his bagpipe, in the eye of the law, is an instrument of war.” Despite the decision of the jury (his local peers) to release him, he was executed on November 30 1746. (Collison 1975)

Countless other pipers and ‘Highland brigands’ received a not so different fate, being transported as slaves to the West Indies. Others, fleeing harsh economic and religious conditions, traveled to America and Canada where new opportunities existed. Without the clansmen, the age-old system of clan affiliation and the hereditary power of the chiefs was forever disrupted. (Fry and Fry 1995).

Following the Disarming Act and the pacification of the Highlands, Scotland began to join the mainstream of British culture. As had been gently pursued since the union of the crown (such as the formation of the Black Watch, Highland men commissioned to “watch” the Highlands by Charles II in 1677), Scottish men were enlisted into the regular army, forming multiple Highland regiments. Several of these regiments still exist today in Scotland. These regiments, well supplied with pipers, quickly distinguished themselves in foreign service as the British colonial empire began to grow. These Highland regiments were among the only people in Scotland allowed to wear the tartan, and their pipers the only ones exempt from the ban of the Disarming Act. Collinson mentions that “even if the only opportunity of playing the pipes had lain within the ranks of these new Highland regiments of the regular army, it was sufficient to save the ancient art of pìobaireachd from fading out and perishing of disuse.” (1975)

Outside of the military proper, one other organization was allowed to use the bagpipes and wear the tartan when on duty. This was the Fencibles, later known as the Volunteers or Territorial Army. This was a civilian group, a kind of regional police force or national guard embodied for defense during the American War of Independence. Their music, like that of the Highland regiments, was pìobaireachd. (Collinson 1975)

The responsibilities of the regimental piper are few but important. As in the past, the piper still plays the pipes prior to battles to instill courage in the men. Pipers also remain on the battlefield to ensure organization throughout the regiment during the fray. Many stories are told of battles going amok and being saved by a piper who begins to play a familiar martial tune or jig, resulting in the Highland regiments recovering and seizing the day. (Collison 1975)(Manson 1977)(Gibson 1998)

During the battle, the pipers do not actually move alongside the regiment into the battle but remain behind. In line formation prior to advancing, the pipes and drum corps form in the center behind the reserves. When the command “Prepare to Charge” is given, the pipers strike up the charge in marching time, and all anxiously await the advance. When the order “Charge” is given, the pipes and drums instantly change to double time. With cheers and shouts the Highlands advance, quickly covering the field, being some forty or fifty yards from the enemy. After the initial push of battle, much confusion ensues. The pipers then give the “assembly,” which signals the troops to regroup and reform on their markers, returning under the control of their officers. (Manson 1977) After the battle, if the piper is no longer piping, he assists in tending to his wounded comrades.

As well as giving direct instruction and assistance during the battle, the piper is also seen as a model men should follow and be given courage. Many stories of heroic pipers are told. One of the oldest stories come from a clan battle of North Inch of Perth between the Clan Chattan and Clan Quhele in 1396. As the battle wore on, and neither side seemed the lesser, those who should have remained outside the fray gradually began to enlist in the fight. Most prominently the standard bearers, later followed by the pipers themselves engaged in battle. It is said the pipers charged each other, daggers (dirks) drawn, each being more intent upon dispatching his foe than protecting himself, and the piper of Clan Quhele was instantly slain and the piper of Clan Chattan mortally wounded. Nevertheless, the piper again grasped his instrument and poured his expiring breath into his piobaireachd. The chanter to this instrument is said to survive, being known as the Federan Dhu (feadan dubh) or Black Chanter. (Scott 1925)

Another such story involves a piper at the Battle of the Haughs of Comdate, the engagement which ended the civil war in Scotland in 1690. In the battle the Jacobites were suddenly attacked by the Royalists, and in the rout, one of the Jacobite pipers was badly injured. Nevertheless, he managed to crawl on top of a large boulder and play tune after tune until falling dead off the stone. This stone is today known as Clach-a-phiobair (Piper’s Stone). (Collinson 1975)

Another notable story was at the Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo during the (Iberian) Peninsular War with France (in defense of Spain). John Mac Lachlan, piper to the 74th, was playing during the battle when a bullet pierced the bag of his pipes. Being a brave man, he sat down in situ and repaired the damage, and was soon up and playing his comrades to victory. (Manson 1977)

One last descriptive story should be related. At the Battle of Candahar, while playing to his fighting regiment, a piper suddenly stopped playing and went to the ground to mend his pipes. His comrades thought he was dead, but the piper replied to them “Na, na. I’m worth twa dead men yet,” and got up and played for all his worth. After the battle, it was discovered that not only had his pipes been damaged, but a bullet had gone through his kilt, another knocked the brass of his helmet, another knocked a button from his coat, another gone through his canteen, another through his haversack, and another struck the heel of his boot, whereas he himself has escaped without a scratch. (Manson 1977)

The duties of a regimental piper do not occur strictly during war times. It is a piper’s duty to play the characteristic songs of the regiment as well as institutional songs such as Reveille and the Tattoo. Pipers also often play around the officers’ mess, starting at some distance from the building and playing closer and later marching through the building itself in single file. This single file procession is exceedingly difficult as the drones of the piper in front drown the music of the rest, and so a piper can easily become lost and disoriented in the piece. (Manson 1977)

Pipers often play at military (and police/fire) funerals and weddings. At a funeral, pipers usually stand on the right flank of the funeral body, forming two lines through which the procession passes. They then march to the graveside, and later form in front of the firing squad in retreat. In a happier tradition, when a member of a Highland regiment marries, he is forcibly seized by his comrades and is put upon a table hoisted on the shoulders of four stout men. On the table is another comrade dressed to look like the bride. The groom and faux-bride then proceed to beat each other with sacks, one will with flour, the other with soot. The table is then marched around the camp, followed closely by one or more of the regimental pipers, playing “Woo’d an’ Married an’ a’.” (Manson 1977)

It is easy to see that through the gradually increasing use of the pipes in military endeavors, and the subsequent monopoly of regimental use of the pipes after the Disarming Act, that pipes have come to be closely associated with military organizations. It is even possible to say that without the use of the pipes in Highland regiments, that pìobaireachd might have been lost forever, surviving as it does in its changed form. The classic ancient art of pìobaireachd died in a large part with Donald Ruadh MacCrimmon (last of the great piping MacCrimmons), who neglected to have his sons instructed in the piping art due to an argument with the MacLeod chief. (Collinson 1975)

Nevertheless, bagpipe music lives on, albeit in a different but rooted form, in today’s Highland regiments and pipes and drums bands. It is also happily noted that Celtic instrumentalists and singers are gradually appreciating more the music of the pipes, and have begun to reevaluate and reincorporate pìobaireachd in their music and orations.

Works Cited

Cannon, Roderick D. 1988. The Highland Bagpipe and its Music. Edinburgh: Donald, c1988.

Collinson, Francis. 1975. The Bagpipe. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd

Fry, Peter and Fionna Somerset Fry. 1995. The History of Scotland. New York: Barnes & Noble,
Inc.

Gibson, John G. 1998. Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing Limited.

MacLean, Fitzroy. 1995. Highlanders. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.

Manson, W.L. 1977. The Highland Bagpipe. East Ardsley, England: EP Publishing Limited

Scott, Walter, Sir. 1925. The Fair Maid of Perth. London: Border ed.

And another ...... The Highland Pipers In the Great War

Mac

my sister's boyfriend is a piper and apparently has won national competitions! Thanks for the essay Mac, I'm sure he'll love it!

though i have yet to test his salt with an arm wrestle.

-D

From James Drummond's "Ancient Scottish Weapons", 1881 .

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And three plates from McIntrye North's "The Book of the Club of True Highlanders", 1881.

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Mac

My "weapon" of choice.

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Bass trombone by Steve Shires.

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[ Download ]

I'm pretty sure we'll hear you above the din , Chad *g*

"CLAIDHEAMH" , Mac

Good read Mac.

Thanks for sharing.

Vince Evans mentioned to me that there's a video called "When the Pipers Play"
that has an interview with Harry Lunan, the oldest living piper from WW I.

Mac

[ Linked Image ]

VHS Video (NTSC Format )
This compelling film combines inspiring songs with stunning images to create a moving and powerful spectacle.
Using drama, humour and words spoken by today's best known personalities and musicians, the film brings to the screen a unique insight into Scotland's national instrument and its music. It will stir anyone with a drop of Celtic blood running through their veins.

Narrated by Tom Conti
Songs by Isla St Clair
Featuring:
Phil Collins
Hannah Gordon
Charlton Heston
Karen Matheson
Donald Shaw
The World's Greatest Pipers:
Michael Cusak
Alasdair Gillies
Willie MacCallum
Angus McColl
Fred Morrison
Gordon Walker
including:
100 Pipers from all the Scottish Regiments.

Thomas,
I enjoy all your posts, but was especially pleased to find this string. Thanks for the synopsis of the recent history of the pipes. My sister(!) is a remarkable piper, and I'll never forget a command performance [b]in our house[/b]! I remember hearing a BBC special circa 1959, in which they traced the bagpipe to a two reed music, one the drone, said to be widespread over ancient (Celtic) Europe. Anyway, there are probably a lot of us out here in the ether quietly appreciating your many contributions.