Sponsor of the Capital District Scottish Games in Altamont, NY (www.scotgames.com) |
Tartan Trivia | Fun Facts | The Bagpipes
OUR HISTORY. . .
Formed in 1917 with the support of Clan MacRae and General Electric, the Schenectady Pipe Band is one of the oldest bagpipe bands in the United States. General Electric guaranteed a job to the person chosen as pipe major. Isaac Riddell, a stone cutter in Barre, Vermont, was selected to start up the band and became its first pipe major and instructor in 1917. Riddell was a piper in the 92nd Regiment Gordon Highlanders of Aberdeen, Scotland, before coming to the United States, which is why the band wears the Gordon Highlanders' uniform. (In 1986 we took on a second uniform, the Ancient Maclean of Duart worn with a black day jacket and vest.)
In 1917-1918, the Schenectady Pipe Band played throughout the East in support of Liberty Bond Drives to raise funds for World War I. From 1918 to 1920, the band went into suspension to divert manpower to the War. In the 1930's the band's name changed to the British Empire War Veterans Band, under the sponsorship of the BEWV Post. It was disbanded during 1942-1943 when the manpower went to World War II. The band emerged from WWII without sponsorship under its former name, the Schenectady Pipe Band.
We have paraded throughout the Northeast providing entertainment while honoring our national holidays with reverence
and long-standing dedication. In our long and rich history the Schenectady Pipe Band has played for presidential (FDR)
and gubernatorial (Carey) inaugurations, appeared on local and national television, installed college presidents, and performed for international pop star Rod Stewart in Concert! You may recall the 'I LOVE NEW YORK' TV commercials of the late 1970's showing a pipe band marching adjacent to an ancient mist-covered castle? Well, the sights and sounds of that scene were brought to you by the Schenectady Pipe Band outside Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands, N.Y.
The Band entered the competition arena, competing against other pipe bands throughout the US and Canada, in 1974. Steadily
improving our musical skills, as well as the overall standard of bagpipes and drums, we have been awarded several
distinguished titles over the years including:
Northeastern United States Pipe Band Grade II Champions - 1987
Northeastern United States Pipe Band Grade V Champions - 2005
Northeastern United States Pipe Band Champions - 1998
EUSPBA Northeast Branch Grade III Champions - 2004, 2006
EUSPBA Grade IV Champions - 2009
Third place finish at the North American Championships in Grade III, Maxville, Ontario - 1992
Eastern United States Grade III Champions Supreme - 1988, 1992 and 2003
Eastern United States Grade IV Champions Supreme - 2002
North American Pipe Band Grade IV Champions, Maxville, Ontario - 2002 (Click here
to listen to the performance which earned us the title of 2002 North American Pipe Band Grade IV Champions in Maxville, Ontario.)
The Band travelled to Scotland in 1987, 1993 and 2000 to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships and in '93 returned
with a coveted 1st place for 'Dress and Drill' in our grade. Quite an honor for an American band to achieve against the
best in the world! On that same trip, we accepted an invitation to play at the Military Tattoo at Stirling Castle for the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders' annual retreat. It marked the first time in their history that any band outside of Scotland had been granted such a privilege.
In 1978, the Schenectady Pipe Band took on the challenge of re-establishing the Capital District Scottish Games, previously sponsored by the Clan MacRae. The Games, now one of the largest events in the East, draws over 40 bands and 15,000 spectators to the Northeastern U.S. Championships. They have grown to become a favorite regional festival where people of gaelic descent can proudly display their culture, traditions and talents. The Games provide an arena for pipe bands, athletes, and highland dancers to compete and all to gather in an atmosphere befitting their Celtic roots. Set in the foothills of the Helderberg Mountains at the Altamont Fairgrounds, the Games are presented annually on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
In addition to the Capital District Scottish Games, the Band has also sponsored a Simon Fraser University
Pipe Band Highland Arts Festival in 2000 and several concerts showcasing the talents of world-class pipe
bands: The 78th Fraser Highlanders from Canada-1988 and 2001; the ScotRail Vale of Atholl from Scotland-1988;
and Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Burnaby, British Columbia-1996 and 2000. Band members and Games
volunteers are also hard at work for the community by planning and coordinating the Capital District
Scottish Games Charity Golf Tourney (an annual tourney that started in 1995 and has donated approximately
$40,000 to local charities).
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TARTAN TRIVIA. . .
Scottish people are called Scots. Things from Scotland are called Scottish, not Scotch, which refers solely to the drink.
Some of the more traditional Scottish foods include: bannocks or oatcakes - a barley oat flour biscuit; black bun - a
dark rich fruit cake; and haggis - parsley, savoury, thyme, onions, beef suet and oatmeal sewn up and boiled.
The national dish of Scotland is haggis, neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes).
Robert Burns is regarded as Scotland's national bard. Throughout his life he penned many famous verses, none more so than
to Scotland's national food haggis, entitled "To A Haggis", with the line "Fair fa' your honest sonsie face great chieftain
e' the puddin' race."
The kilt is seen as the national dress of Scotland and "a man in a kilt is a man and a half." The kilt started life
being entirely confined to the Highlands. The Lowlanders, who have always made up the majority of Scots, regarded what
they considered a "barbarous" form of apparel with "loathing and contempt" and conferred the derogatory term of "redshanks"
on the Highlanders. Today anyone with the smallest claim to Scots ancestry proudly wears the kilt.
Fish and chip shops in Edinburgh offer "salt & sauce" instead of "salt & vinegar."
In the 1296 annexation of Scotland by England, Scotland's coronation stone, the "Stone of Destiny" or "Stone of Scone",
was removed to Westminster Abbey in London by the English King Edward I. The stone was temporarily returned to Scotland in
1950 and permanently returned in 1996.
Saint Andrew was a fisherman and disciple of Jesus Christ. Although not Scottish and never having any connection with
the country while alive, St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. Some of his relics (bones) lie in Scotland.
Although the English language predominates, Scotland is also home to the traditional language of Scots-Gaelic which is
still spoken in the Highlands and Islands and is even taught to children of playgroup age in areas such as rural Perthshire.
The great athletic Caledonian Games were originally held in Scotland and brought to America where they eventually
became the modern-day track and field event.
In the 17th-18th century, most Scottish immigrants settled in the Southern and Middle Atlantic region of America.
The group known as Scotch-Irish first emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, then finally to America in the late 18th-19th
century.
The main sites of Highland settlement in the U.S. were the Cape Fear River Valley in North Carolina, the Mohawk and
Upper Hudson Valleys in New York, and along the Atamaha River in North Carolina.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT. . .
The following is a quote from American President Woodrow Wilson, the grandson of a Scottish Presbyterian minister: "Every
line of strength in American history is a line colored with Scottish blood."
Sixty-one percent of American presidents are of Scottish descent. So are two-thirds of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices,
and almost half the secretaries of the U.S. Treasury. Nine of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were from
Scots descent. James Pollock, also of Scots descent, put the slogan "In God We Trust" on American coins.
When the United States were first formed and the thirteen states selected their first governors, nine were of Scottish
ancestry. More than 100 governors of pre- and post-Revolutionary America were of Scottish birth or descent.
Of the 189 men who defended the Alamo in 1836, around 50 were Scots or of Scottish descent, including bagpiper John
McGregor and the legendary frontiersman Davie Crockett and Jim Bowie. Sam Houston, the commander of the Texan army when it
defeated the Mexican army under Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, was also of Scottish descent.
Also from Scotland or of Scottish descent were frontiersmen/explorers Lewis and Clark and "Kit" Carson, Revolutionary
War hero and founder of the U.S. Navy John Paul Jones, Revolutionary War Generals Alexander McDougall and Richard Montgomery,
Civil War Generals U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, and World War II General George S. Patton.
Five Scots buried their bagpipes before going out to die with General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
A piece of MacBean tartan traveled nearly a million miles to the moon and back with U.S. astronaut Alan L. Bean.
John MacIntosh, of Scottish descent and born in New York State, developed the MacIntosh apple - the edible one!
Allan Pinkerton, of Scottish descent, formed the first detective agency in Chicago.
Scotland also gave us Andrew Carnegie, a poor Scots immigrant who found fame and fortune in the U.S. railway and became
an iron and steel tycoon who gave all his wealth away.
Uncle Sam was a Scot! The nickname "Uncle Sam" belonged to Samuel Wilson, a patriotic meat packer of the 1800s who was
born in America to parents from Greenock, Scotland.
Alexander Hamilton, one of the most influential Scots in American history, became the first U.S. Secretary of the
Treasury.
And the list goes on . . . Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel F. B. Morse, Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Jefferson,
Patrick Henry, Washington Irving . . .
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THE BAGPIPES. . .
The Old Testament mentions more than one form of this great instrument, and ancient carvings prove its existence
more than one thousand years before the birth of Christ. It was used by the Roman Army and probably came to
Britain through them. From the Middle Ages on, it is mentioned in the literature of almost every European
country. Even within Britain we can see different forms of the instrument in England, Ireland and Scotland.
What makes the Highland bagpipe's sound? Four reeds are blown at the same time: one in the chanter on which
the melody is played, and one reed in each of the three drones which rest on the piper's shoulder. The drones
provide the constant, organ-like backdrop of sound for the melody. The long drone is called the bass. The two
shorter ones are called tenor drones and make the same sound.
The air which drives the reeds comes from the bag which is held under the piper's arm and is operated by
pressure of his/her elbow. The source of air is provided by the piper who blows into the bag and maintains
the supply by pressure from his/her elbow while he/she takes another breath. It takes awhile to learn the
knack of keeping the pressure constant. Any variation in air pressure will make the sound produced by the
chanter reed skirl (shriek), waver, or stop, and the sound of the drones will fluctuate.
Traditionally, the bag is made of sheepskin or hide, but may also be made of Goretex. The blowpipe, chanter
and drones, usually made of African blackwood, are attached to the bag by means of wooden cylinders called
"stocks." In playing, the bag goes under the left arm (for right-handed players). A simple valve at the
base of the blowpipe allows air to pass into the bag but not out.
The drone reeds have a single blade which vibrates to produce sound. A tuning band or "bridle" controls the
vibrating length. The open end, wrapped with hemp, is inserted at the base of the drone. Drone reeds are
made of cane or synthetic materials. The chanter reed is more sophisticated. It is a double reed similar
to that of the oboe. Two pieces of cane are shaped and tied tightly onto a copper tube or "staple", flattened
slightly at the upper end.
The drones are of cylindrical bore except at the tops where they spread out to form "bells" and at the
intermediate joints where they have to be widened to allow for tuning. The tenor drones have two sections and
and the bass drone three. The chanter is conical with seven finger holes in front and one thumb hole at the
back. There are also two holes bored near the foot of the chanter at right angles to the melody notes.
"Mountings", which are usually of silver, nickel, ivory, or synthetic ivory, decorate the drones, blowpipe
and chanter. These mountings also strengthen the pipes and prevent splitting. The bag has a cloth cover
of tartan or velvet, and colored cords of wool or silk tie the drones together.
The tune or melody is played on the chanter, which produces a scale of eight notes with a ninth note a whole
tone lower than the bottom note of the scale. The notes are produced by the fingers covering and uncovering
the holes pierced in the chanter. This sounds easy, but because the chanter cannot be "tongued" like a
normal reed instrument, the notes can only be separated by short grace notes or doublings played very quickly.
Only after hours of practice will these sound right. And until these have been mastered, only the simplest
tunes can be played.
The drones are fitted with slides so they can be tuned by altering the sound up or down. The drones are
tuned to the second-lowest note of the scale. But the air which the piper blows into the bag is warm, and
grows warmer because the bag is held close to the body. As the air warms, so do the reeds. The sound they
produce rises, but at a different rate in each case. The pipe has then to be returned until it settles down,
when it will hold the sound for some ten minutes before having to be retuned again. When playing in public,
the art lies in bringing the instrument to its best pitch just before performing, but even then it will have
to be fine-tuned before the performance begins and possibly between selections as well.
So between keeping the supply of air constant, fingering the tune itself accurately--with all its gracenotes
played correctly--and tuning the instrument so that is sounds as it should, the piper has his/her work cut
out. A true piper will never mock or jeer at a novie as he battle to coax something approaching music out of
this most complex and unpredictable instrument.
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