Keith Highlanders concert March 8-9-10 in Kirkland, WA

[timflan]

Complete non sequitur for my C-Brats friends, but I figure some of you might ACTUALLY be interested! I would like to invite all of my fellow C-Brats in the Seattle area who also happen to be pipe band enthusiasts (Hmmm...that may be a pretty small group, come to think of it!) to our big Kirkland Performance Center show this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

OK, let me pitch it another way: I'll be playing my drum, dressed up in my kilt. Now, how can you resist?

We've been busy busy busy, putting together a show to delight and entertain. There are still a few great seats left on each night, but they are going fast. I'd love to see you there!

http://www.khpb.org/kpc/KPCshow.aspx

 

[BrentB]

cool we have a great group in Indy

 

[rogerbum]

I'll see if we can make it. Old joke - if you throw a accordion and bagpipe out the window, which hits the ground first?











Doesn't matter, it's all good.

 

[RogerJuntunen]

And for even more musical variety, the 'Sons of Knute' will be warming up the instruments on the 16th which is Saint Urhu's Day, to prepare for another stellar performance on Saint Patricks Day, starting at high noon- main street- Twin Falls, Idaho. This will be our twenty seventh year in the parade and hopefully another first place trophy. Roger

 

[Rock-C]

we on the rock-c are bagpipe fans! and more so, drumming fans! jake and ann have been busy practicing with the oregon defence force pipeband. jake on side and ann on tennor. fun fun fun! wish we could come, but it's quite a drive from salem. if you come to the portland highland games we could meet up with you there. have a great time with it. slainte, ann, terry, and jake

 

[Captains Cat]

I'll see if we can make it. Old joke - if you throw a accordion and bagpipe out the window, which hits the ground first?

Doesn't matter, it's all good.

Or, alternatively, who cares?....

A man walked into an office building after parking his car. When he gets on the elevator, he says "Oh no! I left my bagpipes in my car! Somebody might have stolen them!" Back to the car he runs, and, sure enough, when he gets there is back window is smashed out. But when he looks in the back seat, he finds four more sets of bagpipes.

On a more serious note Tim, the gathering sounds great but we'll have go look a little closer to the Right Coast! Have fun!!

Charlie

 

[localboy]

Couple of stupid questions for Tim.

-Why are bagpipes played to celebrate St Patrick's Day? One's Scottish; one's Irish.
-Where did the tradition of pipe & drum corps for LE and firefighter funerals come from?

Just curious.

 

[DaveS]

Where did the tradition of pipe & drum corps for LE and firefighter funerals come from?

Mark, several years ago, I too posed that question and as I recall, when the Irish immigrated to the United States they bore the brunt of a great deal of discrimination. The only jobs that they could find were the dangerous and dirty jobs. Firefighting and Police Work fit that description. Additionally, when the Scottish and Irish immigrated here they also brought with them the bagpipes. (Apparently Scottish, likewise ended up in the FF and Police profession as well). Obviously in major structure fires it was not uncommon for many firefighters to be killed in the roaring conflagrations as well, so funerals were quite frequent and I suspect the loss of life of Police Officers was frequent as well, with the rough street scenes at the time. When funerals did occur the bagpipes were brought out with their sounds of mournful cry as rememberance to the individuals that died in an effort to save and protect the citizenry.

I remember hearing a story of a young girl asking her firefighter father why the bagpipes were played at the funeral and he said, "So we have one more opportunity to be loud and obnoxious".

Having attended several Law Enforcement and Firefighter memorial services over the years, the sound of the bagpipes and drums have never failed to cause a tear to fall from eye.

During my retirement ceremony last September, the bagpipes were played and after hearing some of the speeches on my behalf, I was begining to think that I was attending my own memorial service and eulogy. When I spoke, I told the folks in attendance that I had to pinch myself to be certain I was still amongst the living. :lol: (At the end of the ceremony, they had me walk behind the bagpipe players between a gauntlet of fellow firefighters shaking their hands all along the way). Quite a tribute and honor. The gathering after the ceremony at the Irish Pub was additionally a fun and raucous gathering! :lol:

 

[timflan]

Couple of stupid questions for Tim.

There are no stupid questions. Only stupid answers. Here are some stupid answers...

-Why are bagpipes played to celebrate St Patrick's Day? One's Scottish; one's Irish.

This one is puzzling, isn't it? It's all Celtic, and America is the melting pot...the west coast even more than the east coast, in terms of remembering the fastidious details of stuff a long time ago a continent and an ocean away. Is that a good enough answer?

And my name is Flanagan, right? So what the heck?! Well if there were an IRISH tradition of marching band with percussion, I would do that! But there ain't, so I do this.

By the way, one of the best pipe bands in the world is from (northern) Ireland: Field Marshall Montgomery.

-Where did the tradition of pipe & drum corps for LE and firefighter funerals come from?

Because a lot of policeman back in the day, in big eastern cities, were Irish, and so...Hey wait! This has the same problem as the St. Patrick's Day thing!

Actually, this isn't an American thing. There are lots of police pipe bands in Canada and Australia, as well as in England and Scotland. The origin probably has to do with the fact that the modern pipe band evolved from a British military tradition, so military and quasi-military (police, fire) organizations in commonwealth (or formerly commonwealth) countries have this pipe band notion floating around in the culture.

By the way, I spotted a YouTube video of us from last summer.

 

[localboy]

Having attended several Law Enforcement and Firefighter memorial services over the years, the sound of the bagpipes and drums have never failed to cause a tear to fall from eye.

Ditto. Can't help it. I lost a recruit class mate to a shooting in Fed Way. That music is haunting now, but in a good way.

When I was working in Hawai'i we did not do the bagpipes @ funerals. But when I moved here and attended my first LE service I was very impressed.

Well, thanks to both of you for answering my useless trivia question. It's always been one of those "WHY?" things.