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Pat Leggore, left, and Rick Brown. Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

George Aycrigg / News Chief

Firefighters are associated with the Maltese Cross, the Dalmatian dog and the fire bell, but the bagpipes and drums may be the one recognizable tradition that surpasses the others in regard to time and heritage.

According to Winter Haven’s Rick Brown, the president and pipe sergeant of the Firefighters of Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums, the bagpipes got their start in the fire service during the time of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland of the 1840s and massive Irish immigration to the east coast of the United States.

Brown said that during that depressing time, factories and shops posted signs that read ‘NINA,’ meaning No Irish Need Apply. The only jobs for the Irish were the dirty and dangerous ones, including firefighting and police work. These positions then also came with a high mortality rate. History records that the Irish weren’t favored at that period in American history, so no one seemed to mind that the Irish took those positions. This led to the common Irish funeral for typically several Irish firefighters who died fighting the same fire. The bagpipes were among the Irish traditions observed at these funerals.

Lakeland’s Pat Leggore, a 28-year firefighting veteran with the Polk County Fire Department and one of eight drummers for the Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums, said the Scottish also have played a role in pipes and firefighting. The bagpipes played a historic role in the wars fought in what is now known as the United Kingdom. Descending directly from Scottish regiments in England’s military, the bagpipes had a penetrating shrill that could be heard for miles. Mournful tunes frequently were played over the pipes following the death of a warrior. When a firefighter died, it was seen as a parallel to the death of a warrior in battle. It is said that the music is a sign to God that a brave and loyal subject was on his way to sit at the steps of His throne.

‘I’ve been researching my family history and found my grandmother’s tartan,’ Leggore said. ‘I had to e-mail the chief of the Clan McClain of Lochbuie in South Africa to ask permission to wear the tartan. He said, ‘Not only can you wear the crest, but you can be a clan member because of your heritage going back to your great grandmother.’ ‘

Not only did Leggore have to get permission to use a ‘sign,’ the entire band did as well. The Tampa Bay Pipes and Drum was granted permission to wear and display the red Leslie tartan by the chief of Clan Leslie in Scotland. It includes the honorary membership into the Clan Leslie.

Brown said drums originally were not part of the bagpipe bands. It wasn’t until the British, along with the Scottish, went into Africa that the drums were incorporated into the bagpipe units.

Brown, who has been fighting fires for 31 years, said that the pipes have become a distinguishing feature of a fallen hero’s funeral. He said the addition of pipes and drums to a fire department’s honor guard helps pay tribute to the fallen and celebrates the living, a tradition that goes back more than 800 years.

‘We have a lot of guys who want to learn how to play,’ Brown said. And that is a good thing, he said. He said that the Dundee fire chief, Chip Johnson, who also is a member of Polk County Emergency Medical Services, has been ‘piping’ for a long time and is called upon frequently to play at various events.

Brown said some of the firefighting pipe and drum bands are department bands, but the Tampa Bay band wanted to be regional and open to Hillsborough, Polk and Hernando counties. The band is classified as not-for-profit organization.

Beginning this year, the Florida Fire Chiefs Association will represent the Florida Fire Service Pipers and Drummers with the addition of its newest section. The Florida Fire Pipes and Drums Association was created as a contact point for all Florida fire departments in need of a bagpiper, whether for a solemn event or a celebration, and to bring powerful and positive representation of firefighters and police officers.

‘We have a few get-togethers throughout the state, one at the fire conference in Orlando and one in Ocala for the Florida Fallen Firefighters Memorial held at the State Fire College,’ Brown said. ‘We put in the names of any fallen firefighter heroes. One year I would like for us to go up there and have no names to put on the list.’

Leggore said firefighters are a tight family anyway, but the ones who play pipes and drums together are even tighter.

Firefighter bands also reach out to family members of firefighters. They are encouraged to be in the color guard and participate in parades and special events. The children of firefighters sometimes carry a band’s banner.

‘

There’s nothing like seeing people stand up when they see the American flag,’ Brown said. ‘It is so neat to have those colors out front. We have colors for the military, fire, law enforcement, state and America.’

Brown and Leggore have played with their unit throughout Florida and have traveled as far away as Pasadena, Colorado Springs and Washington, D.C., with pipes and drums in tow — all in support of fellow firefighters.

news@newschief.com

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This is a great website and here is the source:  http://www.celtic-instruments.com/pipes/great-highland-bagpipes/history.html

When one thinks of Ireland, its national symbol, the Celtic harp, springs immediately to mind. In the case of Scotland, the same can be said of the Great Highland Bagpipes. Across all continents, more than 200 different varieties of bagpipes are being played today. In every corner of the world where Celtic people have settled, the bagpipes or Piob have been absorbed into and become an important part of the culture.

Over the centuries, as people have migrated from country to country along the major trade routes, the bagpipes made the journey with them. Reed pipes and bagpipes spread across the Middle East, and through Asia via the Silk Road, and then to points ever more distant. In each destination, the instrument took on a different form. Today, most European countries have their own unique type of bagpipes—including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia and Sweden, among others–and each type of bagpipes has its own distinctive sound. The reed pipe of ancient times underwent a process of evolution that would eventually produce not only the bagpipes, but also the orchestral woodwind known as the oboe, as well as the bombarde of French Brittany.

Earliest Origins

The earliest physical evidence for the existence of the bagpipes is an engraved rendering in Chaldean sculptures dating back to 4000 B.C. The oldest set of pipes was found in Panopolis, Egypt, by archaeologists who dated them to 1500 B.C. By comparison, the only Celtic musical instruments of an equivalent age are the bodhran, harp and feadan (whistle or flute).

The earliest forerunners of the Great Highland Bagpipes—simple, mouth-blown reed pipes—had emerged in the Near East and Egypt by 2500 B.C. The most popular of these reed pipes was the shawm, which retained its popularity for centuries.

Instrument of War

Throughout history, high-decibel, mouth-blown pipes have always been associated with the waging of war; and as an instrument of war, the Great Pipes certainly have no equal–or even any competition. The notes of the pipes have a shrill and penetrating quality that can be heard at distances up to nine miles, and are not easily drowned out even by the sounds of battle. Compared to the instruments they replaced on the battlefield—trumpets, horns, and harps—the bagpipes have a more warlike, aggressive sound. As a result of their chilling effect on opposing troops, bagpipes were the favorites of generals everywhere, and Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all led troops into battle to the wailing skirl of the pipes.

Among classical civilizations, the Romans are the best-known advocates of using pipes in battle. Pipes were a particular favorite of the Emperor Nero, and Roman coinage of his era features a likeness of Nero playing a bagpipe. Could Nero have played the bagpipes, and not the fiddle, while Rome burned? (Some historians think so.)

In the course of conquering the world, the Roman infantry helped spread the bagpipes far and wide. The Romans also are credited with first adding a bag to a reed pipe to make more air readily available to the instrument while playing, and eliminate breath-related pauses in the music. At the same time, the addition of the bag obviated the need to master difficult circular breathing techniques.

Playing for the Crowned Heads of Europe

After the collapse of the Roman empire the pipes remained a popular instrument in Europe for more than 1,000 years. By the Middle Ages, the bagpipes were arguably the favorite instrument of all of Europe; pipers played in the courts of the continent’s most powerful monarchs. With their popularity as high in other European countries as in Scotland, there was really nothing to indicate that the Great Pipes or Piob Mhor would one day be identified so strongly with Scotland. Later, it would be up to Scottish Highland clans to elevate the bagpipes to full prominence, to foster further development of the pipes, and to make them the kind of instrument the whole country could embrace, in peace as well as in war.

Scotland: The Early Centuries

The best guess of scholars and experts is that bagpipes arrived in Scotland sometime during the 1300s, settling in the Highlands regions circa 1400. Before becoming the Great Highland Bagpipes that we know today, however, these earlier versions of the bagpipes would need to sprout a couple more drones.

The first set of pipes brought into Scotland would have had only a single drone, if any at all. Around the middle of the 16th century, a second drone was affixed to the pipes. The third drone, the bass or great drone, made its first appearance in the early 1700s, completing the modern-style Great Highland set of pipes. At the same time the Great Pipes were increasing in popularity, over in Ireland, the older Irish warpipes—with only has two drones, tenor and bass—were falling out of favor.

Piobaires of the Lowlands and Highlands

As the bagpipes entered popular usage in Scotland, there arose the need for professional pipers to play on ceremonial occasions, festivals, and the like. The role of the piobaire or piper, however, grew to be vastly different depending on the piper’s location, whether in the Lowlands or the Highlands.

Lowland Pipers. Towns in the Lowlands of Scotland typically hired a town piper, financed by supplemental taxes levied on wealthy landowners in the area. Town pipers performed on special occasions of all kinds, including feasts, festivals, and weddings. The repertoire consisted of light tunes and dance music, the pipers arranging traditional Gaelic airs and dance tunes for the bagpipes. The people of the Lowlands placed no importance on expanding the narrow boundaries of the bagpipe repertoire or on composing new and original pieces of music written specifically for the pipes.

Until the time of the Reformation, the popularity of bagpipes grew steadily throughout the Lowlands; then came the Calvinists, with their strange notion that the bagpipes, as well as all other musical instruments, were somehow steeped in sin. Throughout the Lowlands, the playing of musical instruments of all kinds dropped to almost zero. Meanwhile, the more remote Highland regions remained insular, relatively immune to the twists and turns of Lowland politics. It was in the Highlands that the bagpipes and pipe music would find a safe haven in which they could flourish, distanced from Calvinist influence.

Highland Pipers. The Highland clans shouldered the responsibility of sustaining pipers and piping for centuries. The Highlands had their own breed of professional pipers, who were in the employ of the clan chieftain. Every morning, the piper awakened the clan with a special tune. He would play on important occasions involving members of the clan, to commemorate weddings, births, and funerals. When the chief wanted to hold a meeting, the piper played a gathering tune to call the members of the clan to assemble.

For a time, in the late 1500s, the harp and the pipes shared the musical spotlight, and were played side by side; during the 1600s, however, the harp entered a decline, while the pipes were taken up by the Highland clans as their instrument of choice.

Demise of the Highland Clans

The mid-1700s would see the demise of the clan system itself. After Prince Charles Edward Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, lost a key battle to British forces at Culloden in 1746, the Loyalist government classified bagpipes as an instrument of war. Virtually any object of Scottish pride or symbol of Scottish culture was declared an “instrument of war” and banned—not only swords and bagpipes, but even tartan fabrics and kilts! This large-scale banishment of all things Scottish marked the beginning of the end for the clan system in Scotland.

The Great Pipes may not have flourished in every region of the British Isles during this period, but they remained indomitable in certain parts of Scotland, notably the Isle of Skye. There, a single family of pipers named the MacCrimmons were creating a revolution in pipes music that would take the Highland repertoire to new heights – piobaireachd.

Piobaireachd and the Ceol Mor Repertoire

Piobaireachd (pronounced pea-broch, with that gutteral ch sound) is another name for the Ceol Mor (or Great Music), the classical music of the bagpipe. The Ceol Mor repertoire consists of salutes, gathering tunes, marches, cumha (laments), and brosnachadh (incitements to battle). The other two categories of bagpipe music are the Ceol Meadhonach (Middle Music), consisting of slow airs and jigs; and the Ceol Beag (or Ceol Aotrom, the Little Music), comprising strathspeys, marches, hornpipes and reels.

Piobaireachd music follows a strictly regimented pattern and structure. The entire repertoire amounts to some 300 tunes, many of which were composed by the MacCrimmons, hereditary pipers to the MacLeods of Skye, and regarded as the greatest players and teachers of their day, if not of all time. The MacCrimmons operated an academy to which chiefs or lords from all parts of the country would send their pipers for instruction; this school firmly established their Boreraig estate as the center of piping in Scotland. According to the MacCrimmons, in order to produce a competent piper, the student required not only seven years of study, but also seven generations of pipers preceding him.

Through the school at Boreraig, the MacCrimmons were also instrumental in developing and disseminating the oral tradition known as canntaireachd (pronounced can-troch), which has been used to teach pipers the piobaireachd repertoire for almost five centuries now. In canntaireachd, the teacher sings the tune using a system of vocables, consisting of combinations of vowels that represent the melody notes, and consonant combinations representing the grace notes and embellishments.

The Great Highland Bagpipes Today

The worldwide fame enjoyed today by the Great Highland Bagpipes is due ironically in no small part to the British, who recruited Scottish Highlanders into regiments that were pressed into battle in all corners of the Empire. Had the Great Pipes not persisted so strongly in the Highland regions–long after other areas of Europe had given them up for softer bellows-blown pipes—they would not be nearly as well-known as they are today.

The Great Highland Bagpipes are currently played all over the world. Musicians of many nations, even in countries having their own native form of bagpipes, are arranging traditional folk tunes for play on the Highland pipes. In a parallel development, some Celtic musicians have rediscovered ancient airs and piobaireachd tunes and arranged them for other Celtic instruments, such as the harp, fiddle, and guitar. The Great Highland Bagpipes and their repertoire continue to evolve, and research into all aspects of traditional music and styles persists. Many other cultures across the globe have abandoned the more traditional aspects of their arts and music; on the other hand, the Scots and the other Celtic peoples continue to celebrate ancient and traditional instruments, keeping them an integral part of their musical heritage.

Amazing Grace Music – New Version

The Story Behind Amazing Grace Music Ever heard of the song “Amazing Grace”? Sure you have. Love the tune and melody of it’s music? Sure you do.

Amazing grace music has been first linked to the variant of the tune “New Britain” of which the composer is unknown and which is in William Walker’s shape-note tunebook Southern Harmony,1935. In addition to that, New Britain first appeared in a shape note hymnal from 1829 called Columbian Harmony.

Furthermore, the melody is Scottish or Irish origin since it is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune. When we talk about Scottish or Irish music the Great Highland Bagpipe indeed has a large role in it since it has long played an important part of Scottish music. Although this particular form of bagpipe developed exclusively in Scotland, it is not the only Scottish bagpipe, and other bagpiping traditions remain across Europe.

The earliest mention of bagpipes in Scotland dates to the 1400s although they could have been introduced to Scotland as early as the sixth century. On the other hand, when we talk about Irish music, the harp, reels, hornpipes, jigs, mazurka, the flute, the fiddle and the uilleann pipes are the musical instruments which are commonly used in this type of music.

Amazing grace music has an origin which is a mixture of both Scottish and Irish music. It has been mentioned earlier that bagpipes in this type of music. What are bagpipes anyway? Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Even though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of several varieties can be found in use throughout Europe, Northern America, the Persian Gulf and the Caucasus.

Amazing grace music indeed has a very interesting origin which is why it has a very unique and wonderful sound.

About the Author

“Andy Rogers is a singer songwriter, worship leader and owner of www.AmazingGraceMusic.net where you can download FREE mp3, chord chart and powerpoint visuals for a new contemporary guitar version of Amazing Grace.”

Hello again, Jeff!

Prosperity is everywhere – if you choose to see it. Have you gotten so used to focusing on lack that you have a difficult time recognizing prosperity?

Read on for some easy ways to change that.

——————————————————————————–

TODAY’S PROSPERITY TIP:

If you’ve held a lack mentality for any length of time, you have likely reduced your awareness of the prosperity that exists all around you and gotten used to seeing lack and shortage everywhere you turn.

You know how they put “blinders” on horses so they can’t see peripherally and get spooked or distracted? You’ve got your own kind of blinders on – ones that blot out your ability to see true abundance. It’s time to take the blinders off! Here’s how:

1) Switch your perspective.

Because you’re so used to focusing on lack and scarcity, you may need to consciously switch your perspective in every situation until it becomes a habit. A good way to start is by paying attention to the times when you begin focusing on lack. If you feel stressed when it’s time to pay your bills, or you get angry when an unexpected expense arises or when you miss an opportunity – make a conscious decision to alter your perspective in these moments.

Rather than feeling stressed about paying your bills, affirm that you always have more than enough money to cover them, even if you have to juggle a few things around. Affirm that just like you received the money you have right now, you will receive more again.

2) Tune into the natural abundance around you.

A great way to become aware of the abundance around you is to spend time in a natural setting. Take an afternoon visit to a local park, public gardens, or even your own back yard. Sit quietly and take in your surroundings. Notice the abundance of plant and animal life, and see how effortlessly everything blooms into life. Think about the process that takes place in the cycles of nature: how a seed is planted, watered and given sunlight and begins to grow into something beautiful.

3) Go on a prosperity hunt.

Have you ever participated in an Easter egg hunt? Adults hide colorful plastic eggs filled with toys and candy, children go on a “hunt” to find them and keep whatever they find. You can do the same thing in your own life, but seek prosperity instead of eggs. Travel new pathways and look for prosperity wherever you go. Look more closely at the people you encounter, and expand your awareness of places and situations to find the hidden egg of prosperity that exists there.

Prosperity lurks under every bush, within every flower, in every location, in every smile you receive and give, and in every situation you experience in life. You just need to recognize it and embrace it and it will be yours.

TODAY’S PROSPERITY AFFIRMATION:

Today I say YES to abundance, and ignore lack completely.

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