Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30
BAap1pz LORE.
Probable Origin Of the Scots Own
Musical Instrument.

he
From the London Globe
According to the encyclopedia, the ba1-
pipe ia a wind instrument the fixed charac-
teristic Of which has always been two or
more reed pipes attached to and sounded
by wind chest or bag, which bag has in
turn been supplied either by the lungs Of
the performer or by bellows. The orig
inal instrument was presumably the simple
reed. or shepherds pipe, which was well
known to the Trojans, Egyptians. Greeks
ond Romans. But the strain of blowing
these ancient pipes WAS SO great that some
genius conceived the idea of having q re-
serve supply OF wind In q bag attached to
the pipes; and hence the bagpipe. The first
real instrument Is believed to have been q
skin OF goat or kid, with two pipes,
through one of which the bag was inflated,
the other emitting the sound In early
times the bagpipe was common IN Great
Britain and abroad. At one time there
Wero five different kinds known on the con-
tinent, some inflated by the mouth and
others by bellows, while In the British Isles
three kinds were known-the great High
land bagpipe the Lowland bagpipe OF Scot
land (which closely resembled the North
unbrlan) and the Irish bagpipe In the
great Highland bagpipe, which originally
had but one drone, a Waived tube leads
from the mouth 10 an alright bag, which
has four other orifices, three large enough
TO contain the base Of three fixed long tubes
termed drones, and another smaller, to
which Is fitted the chanter. The three are
held in the hands. All four pipes are fitted
with reeds, but Of different kinds The
drones are tuned by means of sliders, or
movable Joints, and this tuning or prepara-
few minutes Of the pipers time before he
begins the tune proper, Is heard with i'm
patience by those not accustomed to the
instrument. Indeed. 1t gave rise to the say
tvcr od IN md tn fhno yy1N octa
time over small matters: you are longer
in tuning your pipes than in playing your
tune"
The Scottish Lowland bagpbpe, like the
Northumbrian pipe. was in two forms. one
consisting of a smaller and milder toned
edition of the Highland instrument and the
other a miniature Of this and having the
same relation to 1t as the fife has to Ger
point of view of the devotees Of the High
land bagpipe, Is that 1t is unsuited to per-
form what they consider the perfection OF
pipe music-the pibroch. These small pipes
were, however, gentler than the Highland,
having the same tone, but less sonorous. 1t
was to the strains Of such a bagpipe that
Chaucer tells us the company of pilgrims
left London, and 1t is the same instrument
that is alluded to in Shakespeare as the
Lincolnshire bagpipe. The Irish bagpipe Is
the instrument in its most elaborate form
and Is supplied with wind by bellows.
The drones are all fixed on one stock and
have keys which are played by the wrist of
the right hand. The reeds are soft and the
tones very sweet and melodious, and there
IS a harmonious bass which Is very effec-
tive in the hands of a good player. The
Irish instrument is fast dying out, but
there Is believed to be at least one player
in Glasgow, an old man, bent with years,
but devoted to his pipes who takes his
stand near the top of the classic High street
and to a small but appreciatice audience
renders Scottish and Irish airs to the bag
pipe Of Erin.
rhA 1ao OF nra limo al
common, never obtained a firm hold in
England. 1t lost favor and gradually de-
Perforated, until 1t is now practically ex-
tinct. The average Englishman neither ap-
preciates nor understands it. A famous
poet irreverently once compared Its notes
10 1.-The shriH screech of lame goose
caught in corn" while another hereto
writer Hkens its sound to a horrible, noisy.
mad Irishman," or to the cries of the 'etcr-
nalIy tormented." To the Irish people 1t
appeals more strongly; they still possess in
degree the feeling of attachment to the
bagpipe which is so general among Scots
men. There Is evidence of this In the re-
vival of pipe bands in certain Irish reGi-
ments. But 1t Is undoubtedly more closely
associated with Scotland. both In the High
lands and Lowlands, than with any other
country; the particular instrument in use
being the great Highland bagpipe, which,
as already explained consists of three
drones, including the big drone, which was
added about the beginning of last centuryi
1t Is this type which has gradually super
seeded the Lowland pipe. There is no doubt
that the bagpipe was in use in Scotland
from a very early period; and it Is in Scot
land that 1t has been brought to the highest
degree of perfection. Its music distinctly
connects 1t with Scotland, as is clear In the
pfbroch, the strathspey, the reel, the march
and other popular melodies. There are
proofs that the instrument was cultivated
in that country certainly in the twelfth
century, and OF its universal popularity as
earIy as the fifteenth century, while in the
seventeenth century nearly every town in
the Highlands and Lowlands boosted Of its
piper.