ABSTRACT
The Great Scottish Highland bagpipe is the major survivor of the family of bagpipes that have appeared in the British Isles since the chorus in the twelfth century. Tradition concerning the Highland bagpipe can often be buttressed by verifiable facts; and so it is from a mixture of both, in the typical Gaelic way of things, that we must proceed. There is no reason why we may not suppose that the bagpipe went through the same stages of development in the Highlands of Scotland as in the other areas of the British Isles. The bagpipe in Scotland was probably, to begin with, an instrument of peace rather than war; for in the earlier days of the country’s history, the instruments of war were the trumpet and horn. There is no chronological reason against such a bagpipe having been in existence at the date of Bannockburn; but there is nothing to go on except tradition.
