Well I’ll be blowed

Bagpipes, alongside the recorder and violin, vie for the title of Marmite instrument. There are few sounds more excruciating than a recorder being blown by an enthusiastic toddler or a violin being scratched into submission by a learner but, for some, bagpipes clinch it. For them, the initial noise of the bag filling with air is how one imagines the love child of a pair of barber’s clippers and a vacuum cleaner might sound. This then escalates to a drone not dissimilar to a half-hearted wail from a child who has long forgotten what he is complaining about but persists nevertheless.

However, for the majority, bagpipe music is powerfully evocative, stirring the soul and conjuring up images of the untamed Highlands, majestic stags and national pride all beautifully packaged in a tartan ribbon of sound. As the official instrument of Scotland, soldiers have been beckoned to the battlefields, sportsmen energised for their national matches and pageants promoted with the rallying notes from bagpipes. From celebrations to commemorations, they play their part in enhancing already heightened emotions.

Even the gently fading as the coffin was lowered simultaneously wrenched and swelled hearts. Pipe Major Colour Sergeant Peter Grant was the man who had the honour and responsibility bestowed on him that day. He admits, “I was well aware that my performance was about to be broadcast to 12 million people worldwide so there was a lot of pressure prior to playing. However, when it came down to the moment my nerves went – I think because I was involved with the service. I felt a sense of emotion and sadness when I saw Her Majesty, who had lost her husband of so many years.”