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#FuneralFactFriday: Bagpipes At Funerals
Why do we play bagpipes at funerals, especially for police officers and firefighters?
Bagpipes have roots among the Scottish, Irish, and Celtic (plus others!), and were routinely played at weddings, wakes, and dances. When large groups immigrated to the United States after the Great Potato Famine of the 1800s, they brought their cultural traditions with them.
When they arrived, they were met with prejudice. Unfortunately, many Scottish and Irish men were forced into difficult, dangerous jobs like policing and firefighting. Work related deaths were common. The fallen were honored with the traditions of their homeland, which included mournful bagpipe music. The hauntingly beautiful melodies allowed the normally stoic men to shed their tears.
Over time, police officers and firefighters from different heritages began to request bagpipes too. They liked the solemn dignity of the instrument and the unity it created within their departments. They even developed uniformed bands of pipers, known as Emerald Societies (an homage to the Emerald Isles). Many of the bands have over 60 members!
Bagpipe music has also been adapted for military services and funerals of every day people. We've assimilated the tradition into our cultural melting pot of funeral customs. Bagpipers can be hired to play old standards like Amazing Grace and Oh Danny Boy, or a limited range of popular songs (the instruments have nine notes with no sharps or flats). Sign me up for AC/DC's Thunderstruck!
@HisAndHearsePress
The #GreatHighlandBagpipe is from #Scotland. That is the one you see most often in parades. The #Uilleann #bagpipes are Irish, and you see those most often played by #Irish folk musicians.
The GHBs require the player to constantly blow up the bag. It only has nine notes, so they can't play tunes with rests/breaks or >9 notes in them. Their HUGE volume is actually from on *tiny* wooden reed, built like an oboe reed, that's about the length of a U.S. quarter.
The Uilleann pipes can play a wealth of notes. Their bag is kept inflated using a kind of bellows under the left arm of the #bagpiper.
The composer for the film #Braveheart did not realize the musical limitations, so the #music he wrote for the film could not be played on #Scottish pipes. The theme you "see" the #piper playing in the film is actually being played on a Uilleann #bagpipe.
Be sure to check out this video, where #AllyThePiper demonstrates how bagpipes work.
@HisAndHearsePress
The #Scots came over primarily because of the #HighlandClearances, when they were thrown off their ancestral lands by #British Lords who wanted to convert the land to sheep farming. Part of this oppression also meant that their #Scottish ways were literally being outlawed (wearing the #kilt, playing the pipes, and speaking #Gaelic were all declared criminal offenses).
Some Scots migrated to #Ireland off and on, and some of those came to the USA during the #GreatPotatoFamine. They are often referred to as "the #ScotsIrish" (or incorrectly as "the #ScottishIrish").
#Immigration #Genealogy #History #Scotland #Ancestors #ImmigrantAncestors #Clans #ScottishGenealogy