The bagpipe was not originally from Scotland, but evolved into the Great Highland Bagpipe that is now widely regarded as Scotland's national instrument. While the harp was previously the national instrument, bagpipes rose to prominence in the 15th century as the instrument of Scottish clans and highlanders. Bagpipes originated in ancient Egypt and spread throughout Europe in various forms before developing into the three-drone version most closely associated with Scottish identity over centuries of use by Scottish clans. However, Scotland lacked a national collection of bagpipes, which has led to gaps in documenting their history as the country's national instrument.

1. BAGPIPE: AS THE
SCOTTISH NATIONAL
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
By: Vanya V.Valindria
VIBOT 2009

2. The Great Highland Bagpipe is widely known
as Scotland’s national musical instrument
Significance role in Scotland’s characteristic
But, is it true that the bagpipe was
originality ‘born’ in Scotland, its national
domain? : view in ‘music and ethnicity’ and
its history.

3. • The harp (clarsach): former national
instrument  by the 15th century Highland
bagpipes
• There are separations between music of
Scottish Highland and Lowland (Johnson, 1972).
• Some Scottish bagpipe music: Pìobaireachd
Ceòl Mor and Ceòl Beag

4. The bags
The chanter
The drones:
to make the
harmonies richer
(Lenz, 2004).

5. • The first form of Bagpipes  Egypt by 2500 B.C :
shawm.
• Pipes were used as the instruments of war
• Bagpipes settled in Highland Scotland about 1400
• 1st version :single drone bagpipes
• 2nd version: double drone(16th century)
• 3rd version: three-drone bagpipes (early 1700s) 
it became the version of nowadays Great Highland
Bagpipes

6. • Lowland Pipers
= town pipers who play in festivals or weddings.
In the Reformation era, the Calvinist banned the
musical instruments
• Highland Pipers
The highland clans maintained the piping tradition
for over the centuries.
The professional pipers are owned to the chieftain
of clan.
The pipers awakened the clan every morning and
play gathering tunes for clan meeting.

7. • Clan pipers’ title held
much esteem and
highly respected.
• MacKays, pipers to
the MacKenzie
• MacAuthurs, pipers
to MacDonald of the
Isles
• MacCrimmons, pipers
to MacLeod of
Dunvegan

8. • Political power and
warfare (military
service) of the clans’
chief (Collinson, 1975).
• By the end of 15th
century, a piper was
no longer serve a clan
chief, but to a town
(Baines , 1979).

10. • Stokes (1997) stated that music can
construct the ‘place’: relocation of identities
• Styles of music can symbolize the national
identities, by the: national composers,
national musical instrument or national
songs.
• Music is unusually stable in term of social
change

11. Balinesse
Gamelan
Etnic: Bali
Javanesse
Gamelan
Ethnic:
Central Java
Sasando
Ethnic: Rote – West Nusa
Tenggara
ANGKLUNG
National Musical Instrument
Ethnic: Sunda

12. • Celtic music in Ireland has
adopted the 3-drone bagpipe
• The harp had disappeared
from Scotland, but Ireland
had retained the harp music
• Pentatonic musical scale 
used in the a cappella of
traditional Celtic music as
well as in the Gaelic songs

13. • Many bagpipes from all around the world
have been evolved but not has the same
nobility as the Highland Bagpipes(Ipswich, 2008).
Traditional
Boha: France Tulum : Turkey Mizwad: Tunisia
Swedish bagpipes

14. • Cheape (2007: 16) describes Donald
MacDonald (1819) comments; “The bagpipe
was the ‘only national instrument in
Europe’”. The Scottish has a perspective
that, “Bag-pipe is sacred to Scotland,
and speaks a language which Scotsmen
only feel. It talks to them of home, and of
all the past..”.

15. In the other hand, Scotland itself had no
museum of bagpipe collection
• There were gaps on the history
of bagpipes
• This fact is caused by the
function of Great Highland
Bagpipe as military instrument.

16. • As Bryan (1971, cited in Cheape, 2007: 12-13) stated
that because of an absence of material
proof of their authenticity, the Great
Highland Bagpipe never existed as a
historical musical instrument
• Thus, without a national collection,
Scotland has lack of evidences in building
potential perspective of bagpipes as the
national instruments (Cheape, 2007).

17. • The bagpipes were not ‘born’ in Scotland, but they came
and evolved to what is now known as The Great Highland
Bagpipes.
• The nobility of bagpipes are caused by the Highland
tradition that maintains the piping culture among the
clans.
• The gaps missing of the bagpipes national collection in
Scotland has pursued the museum to make a new policy
for bagpipe documentation.
• Even though it is not born in Scotland, the bagpipe had
been in Scotland’s heart for centuries.
• Thus, it makes the Great Highland Bagpipes are symbol to
Scotland, to show this musical instrument as a part of
Scottish ethnicity.

18. • Baines, Anthony 1979 Bagpipes. Revised Edition. Occasional Papers on Technology,
No. 9. Oxford: Oxprint Ltd.
• Bryan, J F., 1971 A Note on the ‘Glen 1409’ pipes. Proceeding of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol.103, pp 240-241.
• Celtic Instruments 2005 ”History of Great Highland Bagpipe”.
http://www.celtic-instruments.com/pipes/great-highland-bagpipes/history.html
accessed 30/10/2009
• Cheape, Hugh 2007 The Bagpipe: Perceptions of National Instruments PhD
Research Publication: University of Edinburgh.
• Collinson, Francis 1975 The Bagipe.- The History of a Musical Instrument London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Hermansson, Mats 2008 “A Brief Introduction to the History of The Great
Highland Bagpipe and Its Music“
http://bagpipe.se/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=49
accessed 28/10/2009
• Ipswich International Tattoo 2008 “The History of Bagpipe”
http://www.ipswichthistle.com/index.php?/history-of-bagpipes.html
accessed 6/11/2009

19. • Johnson, David 1972 Music and Society in Lowland Scotland in the Eighteenth Century
London: Oxford University Press.
• Kay, Billy 1996 Odyssey: Voice from Scotland’s Recent Past, pp.192-201 Edinburgh: Polygon.
• Lenz, Andrew 2004 Bagpipe Journey, Andre Lenz’s Bagpipe Tips, Bagpipes Anatomy
http://www.bagpipejourney.com/articles/bagpipes_anatomy.shtml accessed 5/11/2009
• MacDonald, Donald 1974 A Collection of the Ancient music of Caledonia called Piobaireachd
“Preface of the first published collection of Highland bagpipe music” E P Publishing Limited
(c.1819).
• Myles, Ian 1996 Dunsmuir Highland Games spectator program, “Bagpipes”
http://www.highlandnet.com/info/misc/pipes.html accessed 29/10/2009
• Stokes, Martin 1997 Ethnicity, Identity, and Music: The Musical Construction of Place Oxford:
Berg.
• The Robert Burns World Federation 2008 “The 'Jacobite cause' and Scott´s Waverley
- Consequences for the Scottish identity?”
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/expert/burns%20and%20scott2.htm accessed 31/10/2009
• Wikipedia 2009 “List of Bagpipes” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bagpipes accessed
5/11/2009.
• Wikipedia 2009 “Music of Scotland” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Scotland
accessed 2/11/2009.