![]() The tune is the often the same “Highland Cathedral”. In the evening, the Queen’s piper plays around the dinner table if guests are present. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has her personal piper play outside her window every morning, through rain, sleet, or snow. It was not until the 1800s that the ban was lifted. The English, determined to rid themselves of a thorn in their side forever, passed laws prohibiting playing of the bagpipe and wearing of the kilt on pain of death. The Scots were finally disastrously defeated at the famous battle of Culloden in 1745. The noise of the pipes together with the fierce war cries of the kilted “savages” of the north would strike fear into the hearts of the English soldiers. ![]() The Scots fought long against domination by the English. Warring clans would be led into battle inspired by the pipers playing their battle tune. Many of the clans adopted tunes of both types as their own. Three types of music evolved: piobaireachd, the great music of the highland bagpipe and the music we call “light music,” which was played for dances – jigs, reels, and strathspeys. During the latter days of knights in shining armor on into the eighteenth century, the clan chiefs in Scotland, with their great kilts and huge claymore swords, carried the responsibility of supporting a piper for local festivities and for playing for the chief’s own enjoyment. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, bagpipes were common all over Europe. The bagpipes have existed in one form or another for longer than history records. The sound also scared the enemy to death, so its proper name is the Great Highland Warpipe. The bagpipes were first used to inspire the Scottish soldiers as they fought. The Highland Bagpipe is one of the oldest instruments in the world, originating around the year 100 AD. Perhaps it was a wedding, or the funeral of a loved one, and you have never forgotten those haunting melodies played on ancient mystical instruments. You may have heard them echoing off city walls on Saint Patrick’s Day, parading past in a sea of multicolored tartans. Remember the first time you heard them? I’m sure you do. That doorway has been standing there, now mostly in ruin, with our name carved in the stone over the door since 1107 A.D. It is where a number of the boats come across from Ireland…and it has always been a beautiful place, even now. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about 21 miles south of Glasgow and known as “The Crossroads of Ayrshire”. Our Family home is in Kilwinning, Scotland, a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The Great Highland pipes are not what i do…it’s who I am, and I will be a bagpiper until the day I am put in the ground and another piper ultimately pipes me home. Piping is as much a part of me as an arm or a leg. I never forgot that experience, and I never will. It was as though my ancestors were right there with me, nudging me, inspiring me to push further, and to be the best bagpiper I could be. I remember the first time playing the bagpipes, standing on a mountain top, with the highland wind to my face. There is a spiritual side to playing the bagpipes unlike any other instrument I have ever heard. In that time I have played a lot of music on a myriad of instruments, but no instrument has had as strong an impact on my life as the Great Highland Bagpipes of Scotland. ![]() It has taken me from the heartland of Ohio to the California Coast, north to Canada, south to Florida and back again. I began playing music professionally in 1963. I am here for the primary purpose of being YOUR PERSONAL SCOTTISH CEREMONIAL PIPER. I am located in Groveport, Ohio and serve an area that covers most of the State. I am a Scottish American, Ceremonial Piper that specializes in Ceremonial Events across the United States. (The Photo above is from a 9/11 Memorial with Marine Escort as Jeff Linn performs “Amazing Grace” on the Great Highland Bagpipes.) Check out all of the music files and photographs you can get from each of your choices and don’t be shy about asking for references. Make sure the bagpiper is professional, polished, and capable of playing the bagpipes to your high standards. That being said, you should always base your decision on the things most important to you. The truth is that you have just found one. Most people often ask how to go about finding a good bagpiper.
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