The true aristocrats of Highland Games have always been known to be the solo pipers. The Chieftains of old all had their own pipers who were treated with the greatest respect, dining at the top table and ofter having a “Gille-Piobair” to carry their pipes. It is said “to the making of a piper go seven years of his own learning and seven generations before” this being a reference to the hereditary pipers to the Clan Chiefs and to the sevens years training that was given at the famous Skye School of Piping, run by the MacCrimmons.
The March is the military music which enabled Scots warriors for centuries to march further and faster. When playing a march the piper marchers round the platform in time to his music.
When a piper is playing Strathespeys and Jigs he is normally playing for dancers, hence the reason for standing still on the platform tapping with one foot in time to the music. |
