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Great Highland Bagpipe

Great Highland Bagpipe

Great Highland Bagpipe


Great Highland Bagpipe is the most famous and popular bagpipe in the world. The word “bagpipe” is strongly associated with the image of a Scotsman and many people believe that the bagpipe is a Scottish invention. In fact, bagpipes, as well as many other musical instruments, came to Europe from the East. According to one of the existing versions, the bagpipe appeared in Scotland thanks to the Vikings. It was brought there by the Normans. Another version says that the bagpipes were brought to the territory of Scotland by the ancient Romans.
Bagpipes were known even in antiquity. The first instrument, identified as a bagpipe, dates back to 3000 BC. It was found during excavations of the ancient city of Ur in the territory of the kingdom of Sumer. The Roman emperor Nero played various musical instruments, including bagpipe. Different types of bagpipes were widely distributed on the lands of ancient Slavic states.

The history of the instrument called “bagpipe” includes an extensive collection of archival materials: annals, murals, bas-reliefs, figurines and pictures depicting bagpipes of different periods of time.
Great Highland Bagpipe was developed in the 16th-19th centuries in the north-west of Scotland. In the Middle Ages Scottish bagpipes were used as a functional tool. In the clans of the Scottish Highlanders there was a special post “clan piper”. He played at all ceremonies and events (including ritual). The sound of the Scottish bagpipes frightened the enemies and raised the strength of the spirit of the Scottish mountaineers. The British formed the regiments of the Scottish Highlanders, who traveled with bagpipes, participating in the colonial campaigns of Great Britain.
The Great Highland Bagpipe received the world popularity in the second half of the 20th century. Pipe Bands appeared not only in the states that made up the British Dominion (Canada, Australia, New Zealand), but also in Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, etc. Such a large increase in interest in the Scottish bagpipe was largely due to the international festival of military brass bands Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Since 1947 this festival is annually held in Scotland in the medieval Edinburgh Castle.
Alexander Danilov. Canto della festa

Alexander Danilov. Canto della festa


Great contribution to the development of world interest in Scottish bagpipes was made by one of the best military orchestras of Scotland pipers, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes & Drums, famous for its collaborations with Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, as well as many rock and pop stars of Great Britain and Hollywood. It was the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes & Drums who first performed Elvis Presley’s song Amazing Grace on bagpipes.
Scottish bagpipe is the loudest musical instrument. Its sound could be well heard at least three miles away.
The main producer and exporter of bagpipes in the XIX-XX centuries was Pakistan.

Great Highland Bagpipe

Alexander Johnston Angus Mackay. Piper to Queen Victoria. 1840

Alexander Johnston Angus Mackay. Piper to Queen Victoria. 1840

Alexander Rozhkov. Bagpipe

Alexander Rozhkov. Bagpipe

Alfonso Daniel Rodriguez Castelao Gaiteiro de Soutelo.

Alfonso Daniel Rodriguez Castelao Gaiteiro de Soutelo.

Anthony van Dyck. Portrait of Francois Langlois. 1630

Anthony van Dyck. Portrait of Francois Langlois. 1630

Baby piper

Baby piper

Bagpiper and Old Woman, circa 1550

Bagpiper and Old Woman, circa 1550

Bulgarian artist Ignat Ignatov. Piper

Bulgarian artist Ignat Ignatov. Piper

Camillo Innocenti, Canzone ciociara. 1903

Camillo Innocenti, Canzone ciociara. 1903

Dean Morrissey

Dean Morrissey

Edoardo Navone Il. Corteggiamento

Edoardo Navone Il. Corteggiamento

Edward Comte. Piper

Edward Comte. Piper

Emile Jean Horace Vernet. Village Musicians, 1832

Emile Jean Horace Vernet. Village Musicians, 1832

Francois Boucher. A Summer Pastoral, 1749. Wallace Collection, London

Francois Boucher. A Summer Pastoral, 1749. Wallace Collection, London

From a late 15th century French copy of the Romance of the Rose

From a late 15th century French copy of the Romance of the Rose

Gaspard de Gueidan playing the musette, painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1738

Gaspard de Gueidan playing the musette, painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1738

Geoffrey Webb, Shepherd with Bagpipes, 1935

Geoffrey Webb, Shepherd with Bagpipes, 1935

Hearing David Teniers c. 1640

Hearing David Teniers c. 1640

Hendrick Terbrugghen. A Man Playing the Bagpipes

Hendrick Terbrugghen. A Man Playing the Bagpipes

Hendrik Terbruggen. Bagpipe player, 1624

Hendrik Terbruggen. Bagpipe player, 1624

Henri-Horace Roland Delaporte. Still life with bagpipe, 1763

Henri-Horace Roland Delaporte. Still life with bagpipe, 1763

I.F. Antipin. Music of Scottish hedgehogs, 2006

I.F. Antipin. Music of Scottish hedgehogs, 2006

Indian piper orchestra

Indian piper orchestra

Jacob Jordaens. Man playing the Bagpipes

Jacob Jordaens. Man playing the Bagpipes

Jakob Jordans. As the Old Sang the Young Play Pipes

Jakob Jordans. As the Old Sang the Young Play Pipes

Jan Sanders van Hemessen. Piper and listener

Jan Sanders van Hemessen. Piper and listener

Jan Steen. Merry Family, 1668. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jan Steen. Merry Family, 1668. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Johannes Tielius. Bagpipe Player making Faces, 1687. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Johannes Tielius. Bagpipe Player making Faces, 1687. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Joaquin Martinez de la Vega. Piper

Joaquin Martinez de la Vega. Piper

Joseph Mansell. Man playing Bagpipe

Joseph Mansell. Man playing Bagpipe

Julius Garibaldi Melchers. Macpherson and Macdonald.

Julius Garibaldi Melchers. Macpherson and Macdonald.

Kate Elizabeth Oliver. Portrait of Charles Higgins, in Highland dress. 1939

Kate Elizabeth Oliver. Portrait of Charles Higgins, in Highland dress. 1939

Konstantin Makovsky. Wandering musicians, 1910s

Konstantin Makovsky. Wandering musicians, 1910s

Michael Karapaunov. Singing Competition. 1990

Michael Karapaunov. Singing Competition. 1990

Mikhail Karapaunov. Bagpipers, 2001

Mikhail Karapaunov. Bagpipers, 2001

Piper at night

Piper at night

Piper Bill Millin

Piper Bill Millin

Piper in Prague

Piper in Prague

Piper Kenneth McKay of the 79th (Cameron) Battalion at the Battle of Waterloo

Piper Kenneth McKay of the 79th (Cameron) Battalion at the Battle of Waterloo

Portrait of Francois Langlois by Claude Vignon

Portrait of Francois Langlois by Claude Vignon

Piper to the Laird of Grant by Richard Waitt, 1714

Piper to the Laird of Grant by Richard Waitt, 1714

Portrait of Francois Langlois By Van Dyck

Portrait of Francois Langlois By Van Dyck

Portrait Painting of Clansman and their Clan Castle

Portrait Painting of Clansman and their Clan Castle

Reinhold Klaus. Dawdler, 1957

Reinhold Klaus. Dawdler, 1957

Robert Griffing

Robert Griffing

Roberto Gonzalez del Blanco Sin titulo

Roberto Gonzalez del Blanco Sin titulo

Studio of David Teniers the Younger. A Bagpipe Player.

Studio of David Teniers the Younger. A Bagpipe Player.

Tatyana Skorlupkina. Piper, 2000

Tatyana Skorlupkina. Piper, 2000

The Bagpiper by Abraham Bloemaert

The Bagpiper by Abraham Bloemaert

The Blind Piper by Joseph Haverty

The Blind Piper by Joseph Haverty

Thomas Couture. Piper and his son

Thomas Couture. Piper and his son

Unknown Artist. Bagpiper and Girl. before 1686

Unknown Artist. Bagpiper and Girl. before 1686

Thomas Couture. The Player of Cormeuse

Thomas Couture. The Player of Cormeuse

Unknown Artist. Italian Bagpipe Player. circa 1900

Unknown Artist. Italian Bagpipe Player. circa 1900

Unknown author. Portrait of a musician playing bagpipes. 1632

Unknown author. Portrait of a musician playing bagpipes. 1632

William Bruce Ellis Ranken. Pipe Practice, 1918. Museum Dundee

William Bruce Ellis Ranken. Pipe Practice, 1918. Museum Dundee

William Allan Manner

William Allan Manner