The Mysteries of Piobaireachd Volume 2: The Story

Piobaireachd is one of the forms of music that is quintessentially Scottish.  It's the original music of the GHB, played by lone pipers before anyone ever thought to make more than one piper play at the same time.  It's sometimes referred to as the classical music of the bagpipes, and there is a lot more to a good piobaireachd than just playing the notes.  This series of posts will highlight some of the mysteries of piobaireachd, and why it's such a unique style of music.

Another reason that piobaireachds are so great is that each tune has a story behind it.  Sometimes the general story can be deduced from the name ("The King's Taxes"), but a bit of research can usually turn up some really interesting stories.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The castle of Duntrune in Argyllshire was at one time a stronghold of clan Campbell.  Legend has it that the MacDonalds invaded and captured the castle while the Campbell chief was away, but the MacDonald chief had to return home for some reason.  He left a small detail to hold the castle which included his piper.  The Campbells returned and retook the castle, killing all the guard except the piper.  They lay in wait for the MacDonalds to return, and the piper maintained a vigil on the ramparts, looking for his chieftain's boat to come across the loch.  When he saw the boat he struck up his pipes and played a tune the chief would recognize, but slightly different to indicate something was wrong.  The MacDonald chief interpretted the warning correctly and turned the boat around.  The piper received a punishment worse than death: his hands were cut off so he could never play again.  He subsequently died from his injuries, and the tune he played has come to be known as "The Piper's Warning to his Master."  This story was thought to be just legend until excavations at Duntrune unearthed a skeleton with its hands cut off cleanly at the wrist, leading to speculation that maybe there was some truth to the story.

Donald Mor MacCrimmon had a younger brother with facial ticks, which earned him the nickname Squinting Patrick.  Poor Patrick was murdered by his foster brother, and Donald was not happy with this.  His clan chief advised him to wait a year before exacting his revenge, hoping the time would cool his anger, but it didn't.  After 12 months Donald and a band of men rode to the village on Kintail, where the murderer was known to live.  He went from door to door demanding the murderer, but no one in the village would give him up.  Donald then had the doors nailed shut and set fire to 18 houses in the village, resulting in the death of several of its inhabitants.  As the village burned, he played a tune called "A Flame of Wrath from Squinting Patrick."

Email me if you know other good stories and I'll add them in a follow up post.

Previous Mysteries of Piobaireachd Posts
Volume 1: What's in a Name?