The Sinister Piper

 

A sinister piper
does not imply a malevolent Scot,
though bagpipes are known for their very disquieting sound.
Here the adjective is used in an alternate definition.
Sinister: 
of or on the left side; left.
the opposite of dexter.

Traditionally the great highland bagpipes are held
with the three drone pipes over the left shoulder,
the air bag clasped under the left arm,

and the left hand uppermost on the chanter pipe.

 

 

Angel playing bagpipes in the Thistle Chapel, Edinburgh
Source: Wikipedia

 

 

 

This positioning of left fingers above
and right fingers below is the arrangement
on all modern woodwind instruments from flute to bassoon
as this places the usually dominant right hand, the dexter,
lowermost to control the lowest notes.

 

However this fine Scottish piper
broke the rules and reversed everything
by playing with his right hand atop the left
and putting the drones and bag on his right.
It's exactly what a sinister left-handed person
would find most comfortable,
but it is a very uncommon
accommodation to see in a piper.

 

 

 

This Black Watch Piper was featured in my story
from May 2019, Four Well-dressed Pipers.

Under the picture a message dated the postcard as Sept. 25, 1903.
At the time I speculated that his left-handed playing position
might be the fault of a sloppy printer reversing the image,
but all the other aspects of his uniform are actually correct.

And as proof I can now present him with his right-handed partner.

 

  

The previous photo of the Black Watch Piper was a sepia-tone photo, but there's no mistaking him as the left-hand piper in this colorized postcard captioned Highland Pipers. The duo wear matching green jackets, with red and black tartans, and white horsehair sporrans with five black tassels. On the grass before them are two pipe banners which are their regimental company colors.

The card was published by Valentine & Sons, at the time the largest British manufacturer of picture postcards. This printing company was established in 1851 by James Valentine (1815–1879) in Dundee, Scotland. They also published the first card but my scan cut off the top publisher's caption. The colorized card has a postmark of 12 VIII 1924 from Brussels, Belgium, a place that does have a folk music instrument called the Pipasso or Picardy bagpipes that is traditional to northern France and Belgium.

 

* * *

 

A second colorized postcard shows the same two pipers outdoors in a grassy woods, but only the sinister piper is playing. The other Scotsman is poised over a pair of swords with one hand akimbo and the other raised as he demonstrates the  "Ghillie Callum"—The Sword Dance. This ancient Scottish Highland dance dates back to the 1200s and involves a single dancer, male or female, making hopping steps around the X made by two basket-hilted broadswords. The name, "Ghillie Callum" means “Servant of Malcolm.” A ghillie was a term given to the young man or "lad" who would guide Highland chiefs on hunting and fishing expeditions.

 

The sword dance remains a popular entertainment at Scottish events and is even a performed by Highland Regiments. Here is a YouTube video of sword dancers from the 1st Battalion Scots Guards performing at the Military Tattoo in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland in 2016.

What's odd about the sword dancer postcard is that the pipers' tartans have changed colors. I don't think either postcard displays the correct pattern for a Black Watch tartan, which must have been a constant irritation for these two pipers whenever they saw themselves in a shop postcard display. This postcard, also produced by Valentine & Sons, was sent to Germany from Edinburgh on 13 June 1913. Someone saved the stamp.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

My last postcard shows a right-handed piper who was celebrated enough to have his name printed on the caption. 

Piper James Gray, R.A.O.B.
late of the Highland Brigade.

His uniform is very like the Black Watch piper but even though printed in monotone it's clear the pattern of tartan is different, as is his sporran. Like the first postcard this piper's picture demonstrates how Scottish pipers were first used to promote Scotland as a tourist destination even without color printing for their flamboyant uniforms. This card was sent on 20 August 1905 from the Channel Isle of Jersey, a place not known for bagpipes, to Mademoiselle Y. Graeber of Agnetz, a commune in the Oise department in northern France.

 

 

 

Since ancient times the evolution of musical instruments has always favored the prevalence of right-handedness in humans. Early keyboard instruments were designed with bass notes for the left hand and treble notes for the right because the stronger right hand could more easily play melodies that way. Today no manufacturer makes a reversed piano. 

 

With early string instruments the right hand held the bow because is was considered the more rhythmic arm. Modern string players continue playing with that technique because it works regardless if you are left or right-handed. There are some exceptions for left-handedness, largely for players of guitar and other plucked strings, where the instrument can be restrung and the right fingers change chords on the fretboard while the left does the strumming or picking.

In the 19th century when brass instruments first acquired valves the makers designed the keys for the dominant right hand. Generally this still works for left-handed people, though very occasionally some players will modify a trumpet to suit their preference. There is one exception, the French horn, which is my instrument. It has valve keys for the left hand, unlike all the other brass instruments. But the reason is because the modern horn is a descendant of the early valve-less natural horn in which the player placed their right hand, the dominant one, into the bell in order to manipulate the pitch and produce other notes outside of the natural harmonics. 

Early woodwind instruments of the medieval and renaissance eras were often made with finger-holes that would allow a player to put either hand at the top. This could be easily done with simple open hole instruments like flutes and shawms, and with bagpipes too. It was only when advancements in key mechanisms were invented that modern woodwind players developed a universal consensus to put the left hand above the right hand.

 

I have never seen any modern flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, or saxophone made to accommodate a sinister left-handed bias. Good players just learn to be ambidextrous and overcome any difficulties their weaker fingers might encounter. With determination and dedication anyone can master a musical instrument, even the great Highland bagpipes. All you need is lots of practice. Preferably outdoors and far away. 

 

 

Rather than illustrating this post with videos of 11 pipers piping, I've chosen two videos of solo pipers. Here is Piper James Cooper, Pipe Major of Ballater & District Pipe band, playing The Sleeping Tune by Gordon Duncan within the Tomnaverie Stone Circle above Tarland in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.The tune is a modern composition.

 

 

 

 

In conclusion I offer this last example of the power of Scotland's musical heritage. Here is a lone piper playing the lament, "The Flowers of the Forest", on 9 September 2022 at the Memorial and Thanksgiving service for the late Queen Elizabeth II that was held at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh in preparation for her final journey to London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where the Firth of Forth
is not the same as a Fifth of Scotch