Bagpipe Day

Someone decreeth March 10th is Bagpipe Day. Or it may be in June. Others say Bagpipe Appreciation Day is different altogether. Whenever ... any excuse for waxing sentimental about tribal memory, sez I. It’s in the DNA: I had to post.

Rescued from a cached page that apparently appeared at one time in a forum on Canada At War:

The bagpipe is the only musical instrument deemed a weapon of war because it inspired its troops to battle and instilled terror into the enemy. The skirl of the pipes stirs men's and women's souls and its power and influence in battle as in life, is measurable.
The effects of the pipes on friend or foe are legendary crossing all cultural, geographic, economic and historical barriers. An examination of the origins and development of the pipes, their use among the ancient Celts and in modern warfare and life reveal their true and enduring significance.The origins and history of the pipes is interesting as the world has known the pipes in one form or another for more than 5,000 years. Bagpipes were invented when people found they could make music by blowing into a hollow reed and eventually the idea of harnessing a bag for a reservoir of air evolved. References to pipes are made in the Pharonic literature of Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Holy Land Scriptures. During the days of the Roman Empire there are numerous references to the pipes being played and in fact it is widely believed that Nero himself played the pipes and that Rome fell to the sound of the pipes, not the fiddle as previously thought. It is quite probable that the Romans brought the pipes to Scotland during their invasions.[1]

I can attest to the international life and love of the pipes. A favourite moment, being serenaded in the ancient Roman city of Jerash by members of the Jordan Armed Forces. I wrote longer on bagpipes and camels and military tradition: https://camelchaser.blogspot.ca/2016/05/military-and-police-camels.html.

Slainte!

© 2017 Brenda Dougall Merriman

[1] "The Piper's Toast," http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XORtfJN0OggJ:www.rcmpvetspei.ca/resources/Documents/The%2520Piper%27s%2520Toast.doc+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca.