Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-05-17
ORIGIN OF BAGPIPES
1T is FOUND IN THE ANCIENT REED,
OR SHEPHERDS PIPE.

In Early Times There Were Many
Different Kinds of BaGpipcs In Use
In Europe-The Highland, LowIand
and Irish Varieties.
According to the encyclopedia the bag
pipe is wind instrument the fixed char
actcriStic of which has always been
two or more reed pipes attached to and
sounded by a wind chest, OF bag which
bag has in turn been supplied either by
the lungs of the performer or by bel
lows The original instrument was pre-
sumably the simple reed, or shepherd 5
pipe. which was well known to the
Trojans. Egyptians Greeks and Ro-
mans. But the strain of blowing these
ancient pipes was so great that some
genius conceived the idea of having q
reserve supply of wind in a bag attach
ed to the pipes, and hence the bagpipe.
The first real instrument is believed to
have been Il 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 com.
mon in Great Britain and abroad. At
one time there were five different kinds
known on the continent, some inflated
by the mouth and others by bellows,
while in the British isles three kinds
were known-the great highland bag
pipe, the lowland bagpipe of Scotland
(Which closely resemblcd the Northum-
briam and the Irish bagpipc.
In the great highland bagpipe, which
originally had but one drone, waived
tube leads from the mouth to an air
tight bag, which has four other ortilces,
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 thrown on
the shoulder, while the latter is held in
with reeds, but Of different kinds. The
drones are tuned by means Of sliders,
or movable joints, and this tuning or
preparation for playing, which general
ly occupies a few minutes of the pipcr's
time before he begins the tune proper,
is heard with impatience by those not
accustomed 10 the instrument. Indeed,
ii gave rise to the saying, applied in
Scotland to those who waste time over
small matters, You are longer in tun-
ing your pipes than in playing your
tune"
The Scottish lowIand bagpipe like
the Northumbrian pipe was in two
forms, one consisting of smaller and
milder toned edition Of the highland in
strument and the other n miniature Of
this and having the same relation 10 1t
as the fife has to Il German band It's
great drawback, from the point Of view
of the devotees OF the highland bagpipe,
Is that 1t IS unsuited TO perform what
they consider the perfection Of pipe mu-
sic-the pibroch. These small pipes
We're however gentler than the high
land. having the same tone, but less
sonorous. 1t was to the strains Of such
a bagpipe that Chaucer tells Us the com
pany OF pilgrims left London, and 1t is
the same instrument that is alluded 10
in Shakespeare rs the Lincolnshire bag
pipe.
The Irish bagpipc is the instrument in
It's most elaborate form and is supplied
with wind by a 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 melodiou5.
and there IS a harmonious bass which
is very effective in the hands Of a good
player The Irish instrument is fast
dying out.
The bagpipe, though at one time fair
" common, never obtained a firm hold
In England 1t lost favor and gradual
ly deteriorated until it is now practi-
cally extinct The average English
man neither appreciates nor under
stands II. \ famous poet irreverently
once compared its notes to the shrill
screech OF a lame goose caught IN
corn" VILE another hereto writer lik-
ems its sound to horrible. noisy, mad
Irishman" or to the cries of the "eter-
nally tOrmeuted." 70 the Irish people
it appeals more strongly. They still
possess in degree the feeling Of at
tachment to the hagpipe which is so
general among Scotsmen But IT is
undoubtedly more closely associated
with Scotland, both in the highlands
and lowlands, than with any other
country. the particular instrument In
use being the great highland bagpipe,
which. as already explained, consists
of three droncS. including the big
drone which was added about the be-
ginning Of the last century. It is this
type which has gradually superseded
the lowland pipe. There is no doubt
that the bagpipe was in use in Scot
land from a very early period, and IL
is In Scotland that it has been brought
to the highest degree of perfection. Its
music distinctly connects 1t with Scot
land. as is clear In the pibroch, the
strathspey. the reel, the march and
other popular melodies. There are
proofs that the instrument was cult
waited IN Scotland certainly in the
twelfth century and Of its universal
popularity as early as the fifteenth cen
tury, while IN the seventeenth century
nearly every town in the highlands and
lowlands boosted of its piper.-London
Globe
Trusting to Appearances.