I read “Why do they play bagpipes at police funerals?” and thought that even though dear Uncle Cecil’s answer was adequate it was a little lacking.
The bagpipe is not originally an Irish or Scottish instrument, it’s history can be traced back into antiquity and the Roman Emperor Nero himself played the bagpipes during the first century A.D. These bagpipes were depicted on Roman coins and showed the Roman innovation of adding the reservoir or the bag.
After the first century the bagpipe was a widely distributed instrument and examples can be found throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. One might be astonished to discover just how many types of bagpipes there are.
Mention bagpipe and the image that comes to mind is the traditional Scottish bagpipe which has three drones protruding from the top of the bag, these are what produce that constant sound.
Anyways, back to the question as to why they play bagpipes at funerals. My Scottish grandmother told me that the reason the pipes are played at funerals is because people believe that the sound of the pipes protects the soul of the departed as it makes it’s way to heaven. Some might joke that the sound of bagpipes is dreadful enough to scare away any evil spirits that might be lurking. Personally, I find their sound to be all too soothing.
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Joe - Nero’s affection for bagpipes caused him to have coins minted with their image, it is quite likely that he played the pipes rather than the violin as Rome burned. The playing of pipes would have been more fitting the circumstances anyways.
Perhaps the reason we hear that he played the violin is that the violin would have been an instrument played by the nobility while the bagpipe was regarded as an instrument of peasants.
As a matter of fact, the violin/fiddle family is not noble. It’s the peasant version of the viol family, which has frets and is tuned in forths, and was the noble instrument. (Or, to put it another way, a viol is a bowed guitar.)
And, yes, as far as I know, bowed instruments of any kind didn’t appear in Europe until the middle ages.
I always thought that the reason they played Bagpipes at any funeral(cops or not)was that if the Godawful noise didn’t wake the person up they must really be dead. Just one last check
The simple reason for pipes generally at funerals is that the pipes, played solo, can be the most mournful and expressive instrument possible, especially in the outdoors (where the great pipes are meant to be played).
There was a solo piper playing at the end of Payne Stewart’s funeral - walked away, into the early morning mist, playing “Going Home.” Sent chills up my spine, even as a 30 second clip. No other instrument can do it like that.
Toby, let me ask you: Have you ever actually heard bagpipes, or are you just parroting what other pipe-haters say? If you actually listen to them, there are very few sounds more beautiful, and none, I may venture to say, more appropriate for a funeral.
Besides, the Irish have already tried their darndest to wake the corpse before the funeral starts… Whaddaya think those parties are for?
For the record, Nero was accused by some of his contemporaries of reciting lines from Homer and playing the lyre while Rome burned, not the fiddle or the pipes. I’m not sure how the word “fiddle” came to be associated with Nero.
I guess the pipes are an acquired taste that I somehow acquired at a young age. Nobody else in my family likes them.
OK, we have gotten deep into the history of bagpipes/fiddles/violins to the time of the Romans. Let’s bring it back to present day. Why have bagpipes, mournful and settling, found their way into the fire service? Because of the close connection between the two, or because of the heritage of the Fire Department? My father asked me this afternoon…thought someone here would know.
Thanks for the info.
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