The Bagpipe in Scotland
Much controversy has centred around the origin of the bagpipe in Scotland.
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“The Bagpipe in Scotland” from The Story of the Bagpipe by William H. Grattan Flood
Much controversy has centred around the origin of the bagpipe in Scotland. Some assign it a Roman importation, whilst others allege that it came from Norway. The truth is, that Scotland got the instrument from Ireland as the result of two colonizations; the first, under Cairbre Riada, in A.D. 120, and the second, under Fergus, Lome, and Angus, the sons of Ere, about the year 506.
All authorities, following St. Bede, agree that Caledonia was peopled from Ireland, and we are on perfectly safe ground in stating that the Irish colonists who went over under Fergus MacErc, in 506, brought the bagpipe as well as the harp with them. O'Donovan says:— "The present language of the Highlands passed from Ireland into the Highlands about A.D. 504; and a regular intercourse has ever since been kept up between both countries, the literature and music of the one having been ever since those of the other.''
Ancient Highland pipes, with the date 1409 carved on the stock. In the possession of Messrs. J. and R. Glen. Images from text
From the eleventh to the fourteenth century the bagpipe in Scotland, we can assume, was equally popular as in Ireland—Scotia Major. I have previously alluded to the mention of the chorus or bagpipe by Giraldus Cambrensis, in 1195. Dauney proves conclusively that chorus meant bagpipe in the passage cited, and he adds that the carving of the instrument in Melrose Abbey “is confirmatory of the fact." Bagpipes accompanied the Anglo-Irish troops who went from Ireland to Scotland to aid Edward I. of England in his Scottish campaign, 129S-1300, and again from 1303-34. Robert Bruce himself was in Ireland in the winter of 1306-07. St. Nicholas of Lyra, who died in 1340, distinctly equates the chorus with the bagpipe: “chorus habet duas fistulas de ligno, unam per quam inflatur, et aliam per quam emittit sonum, et vocatur Gallice chevrette.''
There is nothing improbable in the statement that the bagpipes were played at Bannockburn, in 1314, though the historical evidence only goes to show that the music on that great day consisted only of horns. perhaps the music of the pipes was beneath the dignity of the historian to take any note of, but, be that as it may, there is indisputable evidence as to the piob mor in Scotland thirty years after the Battle of Bannockburn.
Both Robert and Edward Bruce were familiarised with the martial tones of the Irish piob mor during their stay in Ireland. David II., son of Robert Bruce, certainly employed bagpipes in Scotland, as appears from the Exchequer Rolls.'
The late Mr. Glen, of Edinburgh, had in his possession a set of pipes with the date 1409 and the initials "R. McD." This specimen of Highland bagpipes has two small drones and chanter, but the make and oi ornamentation are decidedly Irish. The joint of one of the drones is modern, as are also the bag and blow-pipe. I am inclined to think that this valuable instrument, notwithstanding the date, "MCCCCIX.," is of the first decade of the eighteenth century. May not the date be an error for MDCCIX., or 1709? The annexed illustration will give an idea of the instrument.
There is some doubt as to whether the bagpipe was played at the battle of Harlaw, on St. James's Eve, 1411, but, at that dale, the bagpipe was certainly popular in Scotland. However, the war-song at the commencement of this famous battle was recited by MacMhuirich (MacVuirich), the hereditary bard of Clan Ranald, and the MacMhuirichs were descendants of Muiredbach O'Daly, of Lissadil, County Sligo, a famous Irish minstrel.
This O'Daly had lived so long in Scotland that he was known as albanach, or the Scotchman, but there is no doubt that he became the ancestor of the MacVuirichs (descendants of Muiredbach), bards to the MacDonalds of Clanranald. Scotch writers tell us that the composer of the war-song at Harlaw also wrote a severe satire on the bagpipes, complaining bitterly that the bardic song was henceforth to be replaced by the skirl of the pipes. In this satirical poem MacMhuirich vents his disgust on the bagpipe and its lineage "in verses more graphic and humorous than gentlemanly and elegant," as Donald Campbell writes.
The musical powers of King James I. of Scotland (1406-36) may have been exaggerated, but he is credited with being, like Nero, no novice at the bagpipe. We are definitely told that he played well on the chorus or piob mor, as well as on the tabor, organ, flute, harp, trumpet, and shepherd's pipe. In Peblis to the Play, a poem attributed to the Scottish monarch, there are two allusions to the bag-pipe:—
"The bagpype blow and thai out throw
Out of the towne's untald."
And again —
"Gif I sall dance have done, lat se
Blaw up the bagpype than."
There is tolerable evidence to prove that the bagpipes were played at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431. Not only is there a fine pipe melody commemorating the event (incorrectly ascribed to that period), but the pipe were requisitioned to rouse the martial ardour of the Highlanders in that famous battle.
Angelic Bagpiper, A.D. 1400-1500
In the Lady Chapel of Rosslyn, Midlothian, there is a very fine figure of an angelic bagpiper, which has been well reproduced in Dalyell's Musical Memoirs of Scotland. It dates from about the year 1440.
In regard to another figure of a piper in Rosslyn Chapel, of the fifteenth century, Dalyell thus writes:— "Of two figures represented by the sculpture, one appears recumbent, asleep, or slain. His fellow—if himself not the piper—bears off the instrument as a theft or a trophy. The costume of both exhibits many peculiarities. A cap or bonnet on the recumbent figure is different from every covering of the head known to have been used in Scotland. It has much resemblance to the Irish bairadh; nor can we presume it to be a metallic helmet. Each wears a tunic girt in a short phillabeg below, leaving the limbs almost totally bare."
Sculptured Piper in Melrose Abbey.
In Melrose Abbey there was a sculpture of an elderly bagpiper. Some have imagined that the figure dates from before the middle of the twelfth century, but it is with more probability}' of the mid-fifteenth century. This figure is given in Dalyell's Musical Memoirs, but it has disappeared since 1860.
There is also to be seen in Melrose Abbey a gargoyle representing a hog performing on the bagpipes. The subject was not uncommon during the middle ages, and, as we have seen, there is a representation of a pig playing on the bagpipes in an Irish MS. in the British Museum, dated 1300. In Ripon Cathedral there is a carving on one of the oak stalls in which two pigs are seen dancing to the accompaniment of a third on the bagpipes.
Dalyell tells us that a carving at Beverley Minster represents "a whole group of festive pigs likewise dancing to the performance of a senior, a musician of their own species"; and he also mentions that "among the numerous carvings in Westminster Abbey is a woodland scene representing a group of monkeys, along with a bear playing- on a bag-pipe, all in high relief."
There is no doubt as to the part of the bagpipe being used in religious processions, and especially at funerals.
In some of the small churches, where an organ could not be thought of, a bagpipe furnished the music, but it was at outdoor religious functions that the pipe was or the greatest service. As late as the year 1536 the bagpipes were employed at a Roman Catholic service in Edinburgh. Not long afterwards the second drone was added, so that the effect of the instrument as an accompaniment to choral singing must have been very fine.
Towards the middle of the fifteenth century many of the Scottish burghs had town pipers, and these were maintained at the expense of the public, being lodged by the various householders in turn. In 1486 Edinburgh rejoiced in a corporation band consisting of three pipers, and any householder who declined to billet these "city musicians" in rotation was liable to be mulcted in a fine of ninepence, or, according to the quaint decree of the Town Council, "to ilk pyper 11jd at the least."
In Wedderburn's Complaint of Scotland., originally published in 1548, there is allusion to the then popular pastoral instruments, including:—"Ane drone bagpipe," “ane pipe maid of ane bleddir and of ane reid," "ane corne pipe," and "ane pipe maid of ane gait home,"
Among the household minstrels of King James IV. was Nicholas Gray a player "on the drone. In 1505, there is mention of a royal dole to "Jamie that plays on the drone," whilst in 1507 the royal pipers received New Year gifts.
Flood, William H. Grattan. The Story of the Bagpipe. The Walter Scott Publishing Company, 1911.
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