Thank, I put both of those on my watch list.
The story I’ve heard is that when the Black Watch was playing at the White House, they played the Mist Covered Mountains. JFK joked to Jackie that it was such a moving tune it must have really been composed by an Irishman, not a Scot.
So Jackie asked that it be played as the coffin was lowered.
(It was also a favourite of the Queen Mum so it was played at her funeral as well.)
Prior to the early 70s , the Flowers of the Forest was the standard tune for funerals, particularly military.
Then the band of the Scots Greys adapted Amazing Grace for the pipes, and it really took off, displacing FotF in the funeral repertoire. AG is a much easier tune to play, plus more people are familiar with it than FotF, particularly if you don’t have a Scots background.
One of the last pre-Covid outdoor events I took in was the annual remembrance for fallen LEOs and Corrections workers. It’s normally held immediately in front of our provincial Legislature. One of the closing pieces, after the short speeches and some brass bands/pipes and drums, was a solo piper (no relation) playing on the balcony of the Lege, wearing his Inverness cape. No magnification needed. He played the Flowers of the Forest as a Saskatchewan sleet came down. It was very moving and was completely appropriate for the sombre occasion.
If you live in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., you should checkout the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, Pa. Its billed as the largest free Celtic festival in America. Pipe bands come from all over to compete and there is alway bagpipe music in the air. The massed bands performance is awesome.
I had three choices:
- The thread about tipping.
- The thread about great covers of songs.
- This thread.
Ladies and gentlemen…I give you…the Unipiper.
(notice the tip jar in the description)
and
A good friend is a piper and performs locally.
I sent him the Snake Charmer vid. It’s fascinating to hear the pipes playing new styles of music.
I got lost for awhile on that channel. Great music.
In honour of Burns Night, here’s some really exceptional pipe music:
And a song by Robert Burns:
Liked that first one very much!
In honour of the Day:
Liam O’Flynn - Éire
Liam O’Flynn & Paddy Moloney - Dueling Chanters
Downfall Of Paris - Paddy Maloney & Paddy Glackin
sorry - that last one keeps breaking up.
Thank you for those. A few hours ago I was wishing you would gift us with some for St Patrick’s Day. You made my wish come true!
Yes, thanks - good stuff!
Ha! Glad this thread is still going.
#1 hit in the UK and some former British colonies in 1972:
Good stuff, thanks!
The Internet Archive seems to be the only place to find this:
Seems Discourse only wants to link to the audio rather than the page where the audio can be found. Anyway, it’s “The Dudelsack Song” aka " Dudelsack Polka" by the Chordettes.
All I know is that both of my cats shot off the arms of the couch when I played that. Paws didn’t touch the floor til they were clear in the other room. From the looks of it they won’t be back any time soon.