[WillStG]

So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades? "Here comes the cameras boys - a one, a two..." This year
they even had some _Finnish_ pipers marching in NYC - and they too,
were playing "Scotland the Brave" as they all passed the cameras! So
I'm less than half Irish, but it struck me as a bit funny that.

Was it like one of St. Patrick's favorites or something?

Will Miho
NY TV/Audio Post/Music/Live Sound Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

[MiNe 109]

In article
,
WillStG wrote:

So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades? "Here comes the cameras boys - a one, a two..." This year
they even had some _Finnish_ pipers marching in NYC - and they too,
were playing "Scotland the Brave" as they all passed the cameras! So
I'm less than half Irish, but it struck me as a bit funny that.

Was it like one of St. Patrick's favorites or something?

It's because those are Scottish pipers.

Stephen

[Mike Rivers]

WillStG wrote:
So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades? "Here comes the cameras boys - a one, a two..."


Because they're tired of playing "Amazing Grace."


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Scott Dorsey]

WillStG wrote:
So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades? "Here comes the cameras boys - a one, a two..." This year
they even had some _Finnish_ pipers marching in NYC - and they too,
were playing "Scotland the Brave" as they all passed the cameras! So
I'm less than half Irish, but it struck me as a bit funny that.

Because they aren't Irish pipers at all. Irish pipers play little
uillian pipes instead of the huge Highland pipes. Thing is, they are
very quiet and often need amplification, and are not so useful in
parades.

What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. So it's perfectly reasonable to expect
them to play Scotland the Brave or There's No King but Charlie.

Was it like one of St. Patrick's favorites or something?

Did you know it was an Irishman that invented the PA system? Oh, well,
never mind. It's another patent mike story.....
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Richard Crowley]

"Scott Dorsey" wrote ...
What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. ...

It would certainly scare the spit out of you if a platoon of them
all fired up at once just over the hill.

Why do pipers walk as they play the bagpipes?

To try to get away from the noise.

[Mike Clayton]

Richard Crowley wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote ...
What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. ...

It would certainly scare the spit out of you if a platoon of them
all fired up at once just over the hill.

Why do pipers walk as they play the bagpipes?

To try to get away from the noise.

As the RAP resident scottish bagpiper I resemble these remarks

They play Scotland the Brave to frighten the Irish out...

And as an interesting aside note that the regimental piper was usually
the first target of the enemy troops. There's a good reason for that but
I won't disclose it because someone might shoot me first and ask
questions later!

And please note I wore my green shirt yesterday. It was St Patricks' day
here then, so you lot were a day late...

Mike (Who has an Irish Great grandmother and a whole bunch of Scottish
ancestors).

[Mike Rivers]

Scott Dorsey wrote:

What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. So it's perfectly reasonable to expect
them to play Scotland the Brave or There's No King but Charlie.

Bagpipe scholars believe that it was the instrument that in the Bible,
Joshua
used to knock down the walls of Jericho.


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:18:26 GMT, Mike Rivers
wrote:

Scott Dorsey wrote:

What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. So it's perfectly reasonable to expect
them to play Scotland the Brave or There's No King but Charlie.

Bagpipe scholars believe that it was the instrument that in the Bible,
Joshua
used to knock down the walls of Jericho.

The actual instrument was the human mind's innate credulity.

d

[polymod]

"WillStG" wrote in message
...
So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades? "Here comes the cameras boys - a one, a two..." This year
they even had some _Finnish_ pipers marching in NYC - and they too,
were playing "Scotland the Brave" as they all passed the cameras! So
I'm less than half Irish, but it struck me as a bit funny that.

Was it like one of St. Patrick's favorites or something?

'Giant Steps' is too hard on the pipes.

Poly

[D O'Heare]

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
WillStG wrote:
So - why do all the Irish piper's play "Scotland the Brave" at the
parades?

Because they aren't Irish pipers at all. Irish pipers play little
uillian pipes instead of the huge Highland pipes. Thing is, they are
very quiet and often need amplification, and are not so useful in
parades.

Having had a uilleann piper show up at one of my gigs yesterday, I
discovered that there are a variety of that sort of pipe. He had a small
set, but there are larger sets that play chords, and upon which one might
conceivably play "Giant Steps". (And then the regular whistle player hauled
out his great Highland pipes and did a medley that included "Scotland the
Brave", "Iron Man", and the theme to Star Wars. Pretty good for a Ukrainian
Scots piper from Saskatchewan, I thought.

The elbow pipes (that's the translation from gaelic) were invented after the
priests insisted that an instrument be made that could not be used to lead
the men to war. Uilleann pipes *have to* be played sitting down.

There are Irish war pipes that are much like the great highland pipes. The
easy way to tell the two kinds of war pipes apart is that the Irish ones
play in tune :-) The Irish war pipes were very nearly extinct (see
priests, above).

I was at a Highland Games in New Hampshire some years ago where I saw not
one but *two* marching Irish pipe bands, saffron kilts and all.

Did you know it was an Irishman that invented the PA system? Oh, well,
never mind. It's another patent mike story.....

stunned silence

--scott


Dave O'H
dave.oheareATgmail.com

[WillStG]

On Mar 17, 8:48 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
... they aren't Irish pipers at all. Irish pipers play little
uillian pipes instead of the huge Highland pipes. Thing is, they are
very quiet and often need amplification, and are not so useful in
parades.

What you are seeing are Scottish pipers with the big Great Highland pipes
that are intended as munitions. So it's perfectly reasonable to expect
them to play Scotland the Brave or There's No King but Charlie.


Aha, didn't know that. I chalk it up to being culturally deprived
as a kid; my 3/4's Irish mother taught me little of Irish culture, my
2nd generation Japanese Father taught me little of Japanese culture,
and we had nobody at The Church of the Crossroads (UCC) who could
teach me to play piano like Leon Pendarvis.

But I did have an interesting Irish-ish dream, after my 4 year
old Taliesyn kept me up talking 'till 3am the other morning. Wherein I
wrote "Talks of Recreation and Reclamation" on Bono's front door in
fingerpaints - he pronounced it "Perrrrfect..." Then we had dinner
with Edge, and Bono fell asleep with his head on my shoulder.

Seemed kinda Irish to me... Err - something like that.

Will Miho
NY TV/Audio Post/Music/Live Sound Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits