Coloured engraving of a 'Highland Piper'

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Piper fallen on hard times, seated, playing on bellow-blown Union or Uillean pipes inspiring folks passing to dance. The scene, by the deaf and mute artist, Walter Geikie (1795 - 1837), shows probably a street in Edinburgh in the 1830s.

The Highland bagpipe of Scotland is a universally recognised musical instrument but historically, in the last 2-300 years, only one in a variety of bagpipes growing out of the rich piping and musical traditions of the British Isles. Though its precise origins are still obscure, it seemed to arrive in the Highlands in the 15th or 16th centuries and was adopted as the principal musical instrument after the clarsach of the Gaelic clans. By the late 18th century, the Highland bagpipe had emerged in more of less fixed form with chanter and three drones, the style and embellishment becoming a matter of fashion as well as standardisation with a uniformity being required for band playing and competition. By the early 19th century professional bagpipe makers were offering different sizes of Highland bagpipe such as 'Full-size', 'Half-size', 'Reel' or 'Lovat Reel Pipe' and Miniature.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-579-549-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: The Bagpipe Collection
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  Bagpipe Archive 1.21
• Date: 1830s (date of event)
  
• Material:
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• Subject:
• Who: Walter Geike (engraver)
  
• Where: Scotland, Edinburgh (depicted)
  
• Event:
• Description: Coloured engraving of a 'Highland Piper'.
  
• References:
  • Etchings Illustrative of Scottish Character and Scenery, Plate 17. Edinburgh: c. 1842.
  • Cheape, Hugh,. The Book of the Bagpipe. Belfast: Appletree Press, 1999
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• Related Records: