# Attention Northern Piper - Piping can kill you! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866 "2016-08-25T01:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/1 "2016-08-25T01:39:11Z")
[Piper dies of lung ailment.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/23/he-withered-away-for-7-years-doctors-didnt-realize-his-passion-was-killing-him/?tid=sm_fb) > [@](#): > > “It sounds like a Monty Python skit or an Agatha Christie story gone wrong,” William Schaffner, a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, told USA Today. Beware! StG ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/2 "2016-08-25T01:41:33Z")
If I know **Piper** , and I’m not saying I do, he is cleaning his pipes regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/3 "2016-08-25T02:46:32Z")
Nae chance! I’m conservative in my piping habits, and keep to the traditional [cow leather bag](https://www.google.com/search?q=bagpipes+leather+bag&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7y4yPxtvOAhVEfhoKHS01DtYQsAQIJA&biw=1280&bih=606#imgrc=2ulkUyiJ-mttWM%3A), which might have saved this poor sod: > [@](#): > > Part of the problem may stem from the use of modern materials in bagpipes, as **old-fashioned leather pipes were often used along with a “seasoning” bag that had antiseptic properties** , Shone said. Although airtight, leather bagpipes are also porous enough to let moisture escape, normally preventing mold growth, added Ian Clabburn, chairman of the Bagpipe Society, in an interview with the Telegraph. The cow leather bag needs seasoning every few month with the classic [Airtight Seasoning](http://rghardie.com/products/view/airtight_seasoning). Exact composition is a trade secrets, but it includes lye, which handles noxious little bugs. The newer bags are made from plastic composites, which don’t breathe nearly as well. They don’t need the seasoning, but they do need regular cleaning, because the moisture builds up in them ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/4 "2016-08-25T08:54:02Z")
This is one of the reason’s my spouse would tell his students never to eat or drink anything but water while playing the pipes. You don’t want to encourage anything nasty to grow in there. We also used to clean the things regularly. I’m not convinced the old leather bags were _that_ superior - Piper’s Lung isn’t new in the 21st Century and given that I started prior to the new materials coming out I’ve seen plenty of leather bags that had unpleasant things inside or were outright rotting. There’s also supposed to be a one-way valve in the bottom of the blowpipe to prevent backflow of the air from the bag. It’s mainly for airflow efficiency but it also helps keep nasties in the bag and out of the musician. A moist climate also has an effect. In the old days different leathers were used in different regions - sheepskin in the UK was pretty common, heavier leathers in drier parts of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/5 "2016-08-25T09:49:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This is one of the reason’s my spouse would tell his students never to eat or drink anything but water while playing the pipes. Whiskey would be OK, surely? > [@](#): > > You don’t want to encourage anything nasty to grow in there. Bagpipe music, for a start. Ow, ow, stop hitting me, I was joking. Mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/6 "2016-08-25T12:25:22Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Whiskey would be OK, surely? Only if you’re playing the Irish pipes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/7 "2016-08-25T13:38:34Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Only if you’re playing the Irish pipes 🙂 You mean the civillised pipes that are played sitting down. Much less chance of being shot by an enemy (or friendly fire depending on your ability) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/8 "2016-08-25T13:44:32Z")
Airtight bag seasoning just sounds so naughty. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/9 "2016-08-25T14:59:30Z")
Dornt gie fungus in yer lungus, Angus! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/10 "2016-08-25T15:11:22Z")
I fixed the title to remove the typo in Northern Piper’s name. Unless that was intentional and I’ll change it back. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/11 "2016-08-25T17:59:45Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Dornt gie fungus in yer lungus, Angus! This made me laugh. 😃 I play pipes as well, and my new composite bag has a zipper that I’m meant to open (and do) whenever I’m not playing to help air the bag out. If I suddenly start to get mysterious lung ailments, I’ll quit playing the pipes and see if that helps. Poor man: he must have been very determined to keep playing daily with only 1/3 of his lung capacity. The pipes require a lot out of me, at least as a novice, and I couldn’t have managed to play at his point of deterioration. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/12 "2016-08-25T19:00:01Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > [Piper dies of lung ailment.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/23/he-withered-away-for-7-years-doctors-didnt-realize-his-passion-was-killing-him/?tid=sm_fb) > StG Well they’ve been killing innocent bystanders for millennia! [sub]Sorry, bagpipers are the only musicians we banjo players are allowed to make fun of. Kinda like how people in Alabama make fun of Mississippi.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/13 "2016-08-25T20:49:30Z")
Thanks, **Loach**! StG ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/14 "2016-08-26T00:20:57Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Airtight bag seasoning just sounds so naughty. Also referred to as “Glasgow snot” because, well, that’s what it looks like. Nasty headcold pustulent snot. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-northern-piper-piping-can-kill-you/763866/15 "2016-08-26T00:30:42Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Well they’ve been killing innocent bystanders for millennia! > > [sub]Sorry, bagpipers are the only musicians we banjo players are allowed to make fun of. Kinda like how people in Alabama make fun of Mississippi.[/sub] If you’ve heard one song on the bagpipes, you’ve heard them both.