Here`s a nice example of Cape Breton piping in the far west. Barry Shears, a well known piper, judge and bagpipe historian from Nova Scotia, performing outside the `Wandering Angus`store in Port Townsend, Washington State. Barry was teaching at the springtime Féis Shiàtail (Seattle Festival) along with Cape Breton fiddler-step dancer Andrea Beaton. This set of jigs you would hear at a square dance at a small parish hall in Cape Breton. The piper would be sitting down, a piano player accompanying  him or her, and the floorboards would be bending with the number of people dancing. Barry follows up this set with `This Old Man`and inexplicably, some Christmas tunes.

Who knew Alan Walters had an alter ego: “Leatherman”. Seems he only comes out for Wacky Jigs and Hornpipes night at the Celtfest  in Nanaimo. This performance is from July, 2008 but it’s certainly worth watching.

Madonna and Bagpipes

The Material Girl may have talent, but does she have any sense? Despite the rants of Elton John’s husband Canadian David Furnish, you have to give Madonna credit for her creativity and energy. But suggesting someone can learn the bagpipes in six weeks may be a bit of a stretch.

Recently, British actor James D’Arcy landed the part of King Edward VIII in Madonna’s co-written and directed movie W.E. Part of his duties included playing the bagpipes. Eddie, the Duke of Windsor who gave up the throne for Mrs. Simpson (not Homer’s wife) was a piper. According to a discussion on the BobDunsire forums, he was not an accomplished piper, what with running the realm, chasing Wallis and all the other duties of a king.  However, to truly represent the monarch in the film, D’Arcy was asked to learn the bagpipes.  He was given six weeks.

Give D’Arcy credit. He tried. The first thing his instructor rightly told him was it’s impossible. Maybe in a year he could get a tune down. D’Arcy told Madge who would not take no for an answer. “So I emailed Madonna and said that was the case, and she said ‘OK, fair enough, but I think you should learn to play the bagpipes. Just because somebody says you can’t, it doesn’t mean you have to listen to them”, says D’Arcy. She suggested he “bend reality”.

D’Arcy’s instructor, named John Angus, started the task of bending reality and according to the British actor; he learned “three minutes of bagpipes with all three pipes”. In six weeks! Look out Field Marshall Montgomery!

Unfortunately the scene was cut from the movie.  I don’t think I need to wonder why!

I have some fond, and some foggy, memories of bagpiping on New Year’s eve around this big country.

My bagpiping career began in Halifax where I first squawked out a semblance of a tune under the tutelage of Pipe Major Barbara Stewart of the 33rd. Service Battalion. I credit Barb’s daughter Heather for my entrance into what has become my long affair with the pipes. She was the first to strongly encourage me to take lessons from her mother. As I moved to the Halifax Police Association Pipe Band, I also met many good friends in the band and friends of the band, most of whom hailed from Cape Breton and Antigonish. The New Year’s Eve celebrations inevitably led to the Lower Deck in Halifax’s Historic Properties. Long line-ups are a breeze when you’re in a crowd of people being marched, in no recognizable formation, into the pub by a bagpiper, with the bouncer holding the door for you. If John Ferguson and his band McGinty were on stage, you were guaranteed to be called up to help keep the party going.

Within a few years, I was one of the bagpipers at the head of the unruly and disorganized gang of revelers from Antigonish, Cape Breton and various other places stumbling around Halifax’s downtown or into house parties around the city. And in Halifax, bagpipers were always welcome.

As I moved around the country with work, I continued to play for New Year’s Eve celebrations in Goose Bay, for the Canadian and British Air Force, and later in Edmonton at an Irish bar on Whyte Avenue. Here in Vancouver, a large ex-pat Scottish community has been calling the past few years, and I’ve joined them at three p.m. on New Year’s Eve for an informal “hogmany” to ring in the New Year as it happens in “the old country”.

Today, the revelry of past years has tapered off (thankfully) but the memories of good times and lively music are still fond and vivid. In a recent conversation with a bagpiping friend from Cape Breton, he told me he was returning home from the U.S. to visit family after Christmas. Other family members, most of whom are very good pipers, are also gathering and a lively night of bagpipe music is planned for one  evening.  No doubt the pipes will ring out in their Richmond County, Cape Breton home one of these days, filling the house with tunes and reminding everyone of the connection between family, friends and music.  As my friend told me, “it will be pipes until dawn”. Just like the old days.

MC.

You may have to be a bagpiper to figure this one out, but there’s something a bit unusual about this photo of a pipe band (I’m not sure of the band’s name). I’ll give you a hint. It has something to do with the front row.

The following headline was recently posted on Craigslist Vancouver: “Bagpipes: Grainger and Campbell“.

The posting says the pipes have not been heard in years. The author, Hugh MacKintosh, inherited his father’s Grainger and Campbell bagpipes and after long thought and discussions with his wife, has decided to sell them. MacKintosh says he cannot, nor could not, learn the pipes because of Parkinson’s Disease. I know this was a difficult decision for Hugh to make. Giving away your father’s or family pipes to strangers is tough. In this case, Hugh, knowing the alternative was to place them under a bed for years, voted for the instrument and maybe for his father as well.  What piper would not want to see his pipes continue making music. I certainly do. Be they with family members or not. And these Grainger & Campbell’s made a lot of music in their day in the Mission area.

The Mission Legion Pipe Band. Branch #57.  In the fall of 1960, a group of men enthusiastic about the bagpipes went to the Haney Legion and asked to be supported for lessons. I assume Haney said no, because in December 1961 there was a piper and drummer named Dave Steele who worked with the armed forces at CFB Chilliwack. He started teaching the group, and the local Mission legion threw in $5,000. That was a lot of money in 1961. It’s still a lot of money for most pipe bands today. All that dough got them uniforms, drums….and bagpipes.* I can’t confirm whether or not the Craigslist pipes came from this batch, but I’ll bet it did.

The band marched its first parade in 1962. The only tune the pipe band could play was “The Brown Haired Maiden“.  Let’s hope everyone in Mission who knew Scottish music was in the band that day, not on the street. Those pipes were heard for the next decade or more. All the Remembrance Day events in the 1960′s and 70′s, veteran’s nights, at Hugh Sr’s. home, etc.  Hugh Jr. remembers many times when his father would be dressed in kilt and Prince Charlie jacket, shouldering the pipes and marching into a room. The pipes saw many years of active service, but they have been quiet for several years now, languishing in a box. As Hugh MacKintosh says, it’s time to let them go, and be heard again.

That’s what I intend to do. I have acquired the bagpipes and have started refurbishing what are already solid pipes. The L&M bag is in good shape but needs seasoning, which it will get this weekend. The drone bores need to be well oiled. These pipes have beautiful Celtic designs on the imitation silver ring caps, ferrules and tuning slides. A new bag cover and cords are in order, along with three new drone reeds plus a reed for the Grainger chanter. It may take some time, but the process of getting these pipes once again into musical circulation and back on someone’s shoulder is now underway. Stay tuned.

*Carl Ian Walker’s “Pipe Bands in British Columbia”. Publisher: Western Academy of Pipe Music.

Parliament Hill bagpipers.

For the young B.C. piper looking for an opportunity to play his or her pipes full time, get paid for it and experience the history and tradition of the Nation’s Capital, this is a great opportunity. As the notice from the Canadian Armed Forces indicates, the application deadline for next year’s positions close on Friday (Nov 4) so if you are interested, you’ll need to act fast.  Here are the details and contact information from P.M. Alan Clark.

———————————–

The Canadian Armed Forces is accepting applications and will be holding auditions starting mid November 2011 for the position of Pipers and Drummers for the Ceremonial Guard Ottawa.  Applications should be submitted soon in order for us to organize an audition in your location.
****Application Deadline is 4 NOVEMBER 2011 ****

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/cg-gc/pd-cc/index-eng.asp
http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/cg-gc/forms/application-demande-eng.asp

More information on recruiting can be found on the website but here are some of the things pipers and drummers are involved in as part of the guard.

• Daily Changing of the Guard on Parliament Hill Ottawa
• Hourly Sentry postings at Rideau Hall (home of Governor General) and at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
• Ceremonies for State visits, and other events in the Nations Capital

Watch videos here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwIo2kAwskg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p41IgvRtpY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x76NLLmNIo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4vSPTXrUOw

Benefits:
An opportunity to be employed full time from mid April until end August. (this amounts to aprox. $12,000.00 CAD)
Instruments will be provided (McCallum AB2, HTS800),
Transportation, uniforms, meals and accommodation are also provided.
Rates of pay can be found on our website.

Canadian Forces Reserve Soldiers are eligible for benefits, such as;
- Education reimbursement up to $2000 per year
- Full time summer employment / part time winter employment with a local Reserve Highland Regiment

For further details please contact
Pipe Major (Master Warrant Officer) Alan B. Clark, CD
CGBand@forces.gc.ca

Tel: (613) 990-1545 or 1-877-858-3205

Battlefield Band

Growing up in a Scottish Highland immigrant community in northern Nova Scotia, the ancient Gaelic language and music of Scotland was, and continues to be, a significant influence on the music and life of the community. And while the passage of time has diminished the impact of both the music and language, a revival has been underway since the late-1980′s. Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, The Rankin Family, Barra MacNeils and many other fine musicians have been at the forefront of this musical revival. Now the language is  undergoing it’s own resurgence. In Nova Scotia, the Office of Gaelic Affairs, (Lomairtean na Gàidhlig) a Division of the provincial government Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, is headquartered in Antigonish with an office in Mabou, Inverness County (Cape Breton). Language classes are going strong, and I’m proud to report several of my nieces and nephews are enrolled in learning the original language of our grandparents.On Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending a concert by a band that was influential in my musical growth. The Battlefield Band has been around since 1969. And while it has undergone a number of personnel changes since those early years, it continues to deliver rich, vibrant Celtic music from regions of Scotland that resonant with many people from my home community. Fiddler, bagpiper, vocalist and pianist Ewan Henderson is from Fort William; the last town my ancestors saw in Scotland as they set sail as immigrants to the New World in the late 19th century. Fiddler Alisdair White is from the Isle of Lewis – the ancestral home of many families from Antigonish and Inverness Counties. Along with Sean O’Donnell and piper Mike Katz, the band continues to deliver music from these regions on the instruments that our people brought with them to the new world – bagpipes, fiddles and their own voices.  The concert had an intimate feeling to it, similar to a ceilidh with musicians trading and sharing instruments. There was no technical magic to this concert, no blaring electric instrumentation or fancy lighting to distract from the essence of the music.  It was pure, simple Celtic music, delivered by a competent quartet of musicians steeped in the musical traditions of the Scottish Highland’s.   I thank the Rogue Folk Club for bringing in the group, their only Canadian appearance on the band’s current tour.  I am glad to provide their latest video here for your enjoyment.

I couldn’t resist. I found this online, and while I am sure that Iain is a fine player indeed, maybe he should concentrate a bit on reviewing text before it’s published to the web:

“Iain is a professional-grade piper with over forty-five years’ experience playing weddings, funerals, parties, and corporate and sports events. He is also a composer of note, a member of The Piobaireachd Society, and the Musician’s Union. Iain plays an impeccable 150-year old MacDougall bagpie with exquisite tone, and is known for always being appropriately ‘turned out’ for his engagements.”

Not quite sure what that instrument would sound like….

Photos from Sunday’s (Sept. 25) Police Officer Memorial Ceremony in Cloverdale, BC,  recognizing the 106 men and women peaace officers who have died in B.C. over the years. Photos courtesy The Vancouver Sun and The Province.

Moment of Silence

RCMP, Vancouver Police & Delta Police Pipe Band Drum Majors, led by RCMP E. Division Drum Major Rob Smith.VPD Colour Party, courtesy The Vancouver Sun.