The Bagpipes

The origin of the bagpipes can be traced back to antiquity.  The bagpipes probably originated as a rustic instrument in many cultures because a herdsman had the necessary materials at hand: a goat or sheep skin and a reed pipe.  

The bagpipes are mentioned in the Bible, and historians believe that the bagpipes originated in ancient Samaria. It may be possible that even Jesus played the pipes while attending to his lambs. The bagpipes were introduced to Persia and India through Celtic migration and subsequently to Greece and Rome.  A Roman historian of the first century wrote that Emperor Nero knew how to play the pipe with his mouth and the bag thrust under his arm.  During the Middle Ages, all levels of society heard and appreciated the bagpipes.

Bagpipes have always been made in many shapes and sizes, and the bagpipes have been played throughout Europe from before the Norman Conquest until the present day.  Medieval bagpipes usually had a single drone. (As in contemporary illustrations of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for English single-drone pipes.)  Around 1400, most shepherd-style bagpipes acquired a second drone.  A third drone was added after 1550. (See paintings by Brueghel and the illustrations in Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum)  

The Renaissance period also saw the advent of small, quiet chamber bagpipes such as Praetorius' Hummelchen or the French shuttle-drone models, some blown with bellows under the arm rather than with the mouth.

The construction of the bagpipes allows a continuous supply of air to be maintained.  By squeezing the bag of the bagpipes with the left hand while a breath is taken, the flow of air can be kept up in both the drone bagpipes and the pipe chanter.  Other features of the bagpipes are the blowpipe and the double reed of the chanter and drone.  The blowpipe of the bagpipes contains a round piece of leather hinged onto the bag end that acts as a one-way valve.  As a bagpiper blows air in, the flap opens; when the bagpiper stops blowing, the air pressure within the bag of the bagpipes forces the flap shut.  The chanter has seven finger holes, a thumb hole (9 notes in all), and a usual range of an octave and one note.

The bagpipes are ideal for solo dances and monophonic music.  Bagpipes have been mentioned for use in polyphony, but if so, problems would arise.  The drone would preclude the possibility of any change of mode, and the continuous sound would prohibit the observance of rests.

During the Renaissance, the popularity of the bagpipes increased, and the bagpipes gradually moved from country to court.  Both Edward II and Edward III had bagpipers in court.  King Henry VIII, composer and music patron, also had an extensive collection of instruments which, according to a contemporary account, included one with pipes of ivorie and a bagge covered with purple vellat.  As a rustic instrument, the bagpipe has been immortalized in Pieter Breughel's and his contemporaries' paintings.

The Scottish Highland Pipes are now the only ones commonly known worldwide. They, and the publicity, are both a product of the nineteenth century. Scotland was not particularly famous for its pipers until comparatively recently. The three-drone Highland Bagpipes was a development of an earlier two-drone pipe - the Irish Great Pipe, or Piob Mhor. This was itself probably a development of an older single-drone pipe.

The modern Highland Bagpipe, and probably its ancestors, were designed as war pipes, the main requirement of which was absolute maximum volume. To achieve these sound levels, they were inevitably made rather raucous, and they require unbelievable amounts of lung pressure. If you're thinking of taking up bagpipe playing, I'd advise you to start with anything other than the Highland. You'll be doing yourself and your neighbors a favor.

On the other hand, the Highland Pipes come with a big folk repertoire and a superbly virtuosic technique which is the envy of many other pipers. This piping tradition was also originally Irish. Scots who became particularly adept at piping were sent to "finishing schools" in Ireland. It's perhaps appropriate that Irish Uillean pipes are becoming better known, thanks to shows like "Riverdance" and a general interest in all things Celtic. My favorite, though, is the Northumberland pipe, which I would play if I didn't have to remain historical.