Scotland's national instrument, the Bagpipe or in Gaelic "piob-mhor" (the great pipe) did not originate from Scotland. The Bagpipe has a long and honorable history stretching back to the beginnings of civilization, for it is one of the oldest of instruments played by man.
The "Oxford History of Music" makes mention of the first documented bagpipe being found on a Hittite slab at Eyuk. This sculptured bagpipe has been dated to 1,000 B.C. Biblical mention is made of the bagpipe in Genesis and in the third Chapter of Daniel where the "symphonia" in Nebuchadnezzar's band is believed to have been a bagpipe. These early pipes or "Pan" pipes, without the bag or reservoir, were probably the second musical instrument to evolve. Musical history dictates that pipers have to take a back seat to percussion instruments in this case. These early pipes used materials with a natural bore (hollow reeds, corn stalks, bamboos, etc.)
Bagpipes probably had its beginnings in ancient Egypt where a simple chanter and drone were played together, and as time went by, they were attached to a bag, and a blowstem was added. This primitive bagpipe was played by the Greeks and Romans, and eventually spread though out Europe.
Although the existence of the bagpipes before the first century is thought to be documented by the Greek playwright Aristophanes in his work The Acharnians where he wrote, "You pipers who are here from Thebes, with bone pipes blow the posterior of a dog," there is no solid indications until the first century when a very famous piper came to rule Rome. Nero considered himself a good piper as well as many other things. He even had the bagpipes put on a coin. "They say he can...play the aulos both with his mouth and also with his armpit, a big bag being thrown under it, in order that he might escape the disfigurement of Athens," Dio Chrysostom wrote in 115 AD. This was one of the first positive references to the bagpipes.
The Roman bagpipes or "tibia utricularis" represented a major innovation, the addition of the reservoir. Historians have noted that Roman coins depict Nero playing the bagpipe, not the fiddle.
Nero used bagpipes to inspire his troops before battle, though at that time they were generally recognized as peasant entertainment.
Soon after the first century we can find traditions of bagpipes stretching all the way from India to Spain and from France to Egypt. We can surmise bagpipes were present in England in the 14th century when Chaucer wrote his Canterbury tales, for Chaucer's miller, "A bagpipe well couth he blowe and sown."
It was popular though the ages, and was one of the most common instruments during the Middle Ages. In more modern times, the bagpipe evolved, and became capable of a wider range of notes, and was played by a bellows held under the arm.
The early "Dudel-Sack" gave rise to a number of European, Asian and African folk bagpipes, namely, the Volynka (U.S.S.R.), the Bock (German), the Zukra (North Africa), the Gaita (Portugal and Spain), the Zampogna (Italy), the Cornemuse (France), the Moshug (India), the Zumarah (Egypt), and Flemish, Polish, Greek and Hungarian examples. An extensive and thoroughly documented collection of these instruments can be found in the Musical Instrument section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In addition, examples of early folk bagpipes can be found in the paintings of Breughel, Teniers, Jordaens and Durer.
Though in the 18th century, when towns and cities began to flourish, and people began to move from villages and making music in the open, favoring the elaborate instruments of today. This caused the bagpipe to die out, for the most part all over Europe, save in Brittany, where it survives to this day. The pipes can still be seen and heard in some form (usually a single-droned form) in many European countries, such as Spain.
In 1619 a Book on Organography by Preatorius was published with illustrations of early babpipes.
In Britain, the history of the bagpipe followed the same pattern that it did in continental Europe, except in the Highlands of Scotland. The pipes' martial music appealed to the Scots, and it became their instrument of choice at an early date. Around 1500, a second drone was added, and around 1700, a 3rd (the big one) drone was added, giving the bagpipe as we know it today.
After the Uprising of 1745, the playing of the pipes was forbidden in Scotland, but it was kept alive in secret. They were classified as an instrument of war by the Loyalist government. In 1746, in York, James Reid, a piper who bore no arms against the English king was tried for treason. The court came to the conclusion "no highland regiment ever marched without a piper and therefore his bagpipes in the eyes of the law, was an instrument of warfare" He suffered death on the 6th November 1746.
After the ban was lifted, bagpiping really began to emerge. Highland societies were set up in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere for the purpose of keeping alive the traditions of the Highlands culture. The pipes became the most popular music for Scottish soldiers, (who were, in increasing numbers) being enlisted in the British Army. This spread their popularity and helped their survival, and the pipes can be heard today wherever men of the Scottish race have traveled.
Likewise, Ireland has experience the evolution of its own Uillean (chamber/bellows pipe) and war pipe (Brian Boru). The evidence exists to substantiate the belief that pipes may have been common throughout the remainder of Britain prior to their to emergence upon the Scottish landscape.
Nevertheless, there is no question that the Bagpipe was very popular throughout England. Middle Ages Pre-Reformation churches reveal carvings of bagpipes. Chaucer refers to the Miller playing pipes in "The Miller's Tale", Documents from the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (1498 and 1506) refers to payments to the English piper. Shakespeare's "Henry IV" refers to the "Drone of a Lincolnshire Bagpipe". The Irish are believed to have played pipes for Edward I at Calais in 1297 and at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. In fact, both Henry VII and Henry VIII are believed to have enjoyed pipers.
Questions remain as to when and where the first, second and third drones were added to the "piob-mhor" along with the questions as to when and where the bagpipe entered Scotland. However, the fact remains that this is an instrument whose growth and movement parallel civilizations and early history.
The Highland Pipes are only one of the over thirty different kinds of bagpipes that have appeared throughout the world. The Spanish, French, Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Tunisians, Indians, Greeks, and a myriad of other cultures have developed bagpipes of their own. These bagpipes have any number of drones, up to eight coming out the top, bottom, or side of the bag. Among the more famous bagpipes outside the British Isles are the Spanish Galicia which is like the Scottish bagpipe as far as the bag and air supply, but only have one drone. The French Musette which has keys on the chanter and a bellow to keep the bag full. And the Zampongno from Italy which has two chanters.
When they arrived to Scotland, they quickly became a part of Scottish life. Every town would hire a bagpiper, usually out of special taxes from the wealthy families in the area, who would pipe for townspeople on all occasions. In some places the piper would play in churches in place of an organ. As time went on, the bagpipes in the British Isles evolved and various types of pipes and piping were developed. Marches, strathsplays, hornpipes, and reels were perfected and played on the Highland Bagpipes, the Lowland Bagpipes, the Northumbria pipes, and the Irish Union pipes. The first written reference of the Great Pipes is in 1623, a piper from Perth was prosecuted for playing on the Sabbath. There is a painting dating back to 1733 of the Laird of Grant's Piper. Various towns throughout Scotland hired Pipers to play. In 1486 Edinburgh had a band consisting of three pipers, any household who declined to billet these 'City Musicians' in rotation was liable to be fined nine pence in accordance with a town council decree.
The Scottish people have made the bagpipes one of the outstanding parts of their culture. In some many songs, stories, and poems, the Scots have celebrated their pipes, and unlike many other cultures they have kept the pipes alive as part of their musical tradition.
