Bagpipes

Based on a 'national collection of the national instrument' now assembled in National Museums Scotland, this book offers an account of the musicology of the bagpipe in its European context, including the remarkable influence of the Baroque on Scotland's musical traditions. The record is meagre for the evolution of the bagpipe in Scotland and perceptions of the 'national instrument' have depended on a stereotype Great Highland Bagpipe assumed to have a continuous history from a distance past. The evidence, as far as it goes, suggests that Scotland adopted a 'great pipe' from the European bagpipe tradition and made it, through the strength of he Gaelic language and its music, very much its own.

The CD-ROM makes available for the first time the database of the National Museums Scotland collection together with some sound clips.

Dr Hugh Cheape, formerly Head of the Scottish Material Culture Research Centre, National Museums Scotland, was largely responsible for building this definitive bagpipe collection. He is now a Lecturer and Course Leader in the University of the Highlands and Islands. He has published many articles on Scottish history, and his books include the ever-popular Tartan: The Highland Habit