The Bagpipes: A Cultural History

by Richard McLauchlan

In the early second century CE, someone was described as playing a pipe ‘with a bag tucked under his armpit.’ That man, the first named piper in history, was the Roman Emperor Nero. Since then, this improbable conflation of bag and sticks has become one of the most beloved and contested instruments of all time. When another piping emperor, Tsar Peter the Great, watched his pet bear take its last breath, he decided the creature would live on—as a bagpipe.

This rich and vivid history tells the story of an instrument boasting over 130 varieties, yet commonly associated with just one form and one Scotland, and its familiar Great Highland Bagpipe. In fact, the pipes are played across the globe, and their story is a highly diverse one, which illuminates society in remarkable, unexpected ways. Richard McLauchlan charts the rise of women pipers; investigates how class, privilege and capitalism have shaped the world of piping; and explores how the meaning of a ‘national instrument’ can shift with the currents of a people’s identity.

The vibrancy and inventiveness characterising today’s pipers still speak to the potency of this fabled and once-feared instrument, to which McLauchlan is our surefooted guide.

Genres: History

390 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2025

Reviews

[Margaret Burgess Aburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is personal to me - there is discussion around my father and his legacy. Engagingly written. I loved the inclusion of the MacCrimmon women - so often overlooked! No new information but what’s there is well presented - would highly recommend

[Nikolas Mavreas]

The heart inevitably breaks along with those of the young women that have been barred from playing the bagpipes until too recently. Lizzie Higgins, at one time regarded as the best interpreter of Scots traditional song, became a singer only after her father threw her pipes' chanter in the fire.

You can read my review on Classical Music Daily: https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2...