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Women and Bagpiping · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: And Samantha.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: And welcome to Stuff I Never Told You, a production
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: And this episode, well, it came about as a byproduct,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I guess, in my research for something else. If you
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: listened previously to our activists around the world, we did
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: feature an Egyptian Scottish woman. And it kind of led me, like,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I was going through all of these avenues, and it
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: led me to this episode. But I was very excited
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: because I was like, oh, this is interesting. I need
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: to know this immediately. And it needed to be done.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: And today we're doing it. We're looking at the world
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: of bagpiping or piping and a couple of the women
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: who made history in it. And it is a very few.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: So this became one of those episodes, as I researched,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I got really into the history.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. of bagpiping.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: So we're going to be talking a lot more about that.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: We are featuring a couple of women and then some
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: of the women today who are making giant changes and
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: breaking barriers and just the depth that needs to be done,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I guess, in order to make it more equitable because
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: it's still not quite there because bagpiping has been dominated
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: mainly by men, partially because it was kind of a
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: military thing. ish thing. It was used in order to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: distract and or to celebrate victory. So a lot of things.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Let me start by saying this, because this is the
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: history of bagpipes. It's still shorter than what it could
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: have been, because there's books and books and books of this, obviously.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know anything about bagpipes, as in fact, I've
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: never necessarily cared for it. Before y'all jump on me,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: bagpipe fans, because if you're here, you're like, oh, you're
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: going to finally talk about it. Or, oh, I found
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: this because you're talking about it. Don't be mad. It's
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: just because I didn't know much about it. It does
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: have a higher pitch in things that I don't necessarily,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: especially when it's super loud next to you. I'm like, oh,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: what's happening? I feel the same way about like the
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: fiddle and the violin. When it hits a certain pitch,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: it kind of hurts my ears. And I'm like, oh, no.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: But I do get used to it. And I do
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: appreciate the complexities of this instrument because I wouldn't even
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: know how to start with a backup. And contrary to
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: my last name, which is Scottish, my family, my adoptive
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: family is Scottish. I know very little. They know very little.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Let's just be really honest about this culture. Like I said,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I guess this is one of those many things that
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: we can file under something I never really thought about
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: until I was like, oh, women and bagpiping, yeah. It
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: just was one of those things that kind of left
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: it as it's always been here. I took it for
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: granted as it's always been here. And honestly, this thought
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: process is not far off when you look at the history.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: You're like, oh, it truly may have always, some form
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: of bagpipes have always been here. So the origination of
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: bagpipes are unknown, but the history does show that it
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: most likely was a part of the Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greek,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: and Roman culture. It may have even dated back to
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: like 1000 BC era, and apparently was mentioned in the Bible,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: in the book of Daniel specifically. That's not as old
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: as 1000 BC, but you know what I'm saying. The
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Book of Daniel apparently happened around like 605 BC or
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: would take place at 605 BC or like 500 BC.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Around in there. So this is even before then. There
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: is some evidence that shows an image that appears to
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: be something similar to the bagpipes in a Hittite stone
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: carving in what is now known as Turkey. So this
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: is a bit from bethroars.com. It is speculated that pipes
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: came about as far back as ancient Egypt. I've read
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: about an ancient Egyptian carving showing a street musician with
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: what seems like a bagpipe chanter in a bag under
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: the left arm. I can't, however, seem to find the photograph,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: so she was looking through that, but did find a
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: carving of this description from the Hittite empire that was
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: around at the same time as the ancient Egyptians, but
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: in what is now Turkey. The Hittite did have a
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: lot of trade with Egypt, so it could have been
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: passed on from Egyptians. So it was kind of like, okay,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: it seems like Egypt is the focal point in here.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: And we know they did a lot of interesting things
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: that brought a lot of, like, modern inventions. Like, they
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: had a lot of that before. So from there, an
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Egyptian reference of the Piper of Thebes. This is kind
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: of where it comes from. So from the discoverybritain.com article,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: they write, Musicians said to have played instruments fashioned from
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: materials like dogskin and chanter's card from bone around 400 B.C.,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: It appears that the bagpipe was hinted at the Bible,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: specifically the symphonia mentioned in the book of Daniel. So
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: they had different names. I don't love that it was like,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, it makes sense that it was made up
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: of body, like of animal parts. A lot of instruments
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: are still saying that now. It feels like, oh, no. Anyway, again,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: from there, the Romans come into play and took the
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: instrument globally back to the Beth Roars dot com. It
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: is written that Emperor Nero of the ancient Romans could
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: play the pipe both by means of his lips and
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: by tucking a skin under his armpits. And here comes
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: the first blasphemous piece of history. In the form of
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: the legend of Caesar's bagpipes during the conquest of Britain,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: the story tells of Caesar, in an effort to keep
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the Roman casualties to a minimum, decides to ambush the Celts.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: He did this by asking his pipers to hide and
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: the prearranged signal all play at once. The Celtic horses
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: bolted through their riders and the Roman army rushed in.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: The Romans used the original pipe band against the Celts.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: It is blasphemous indeed. Very blasphemous. So back to that
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: discoverbritain.com article. They talk about the make of these bagpipes. Quote,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: these early bagpipes were typically fashioned with naturally hollow materials
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: such as reeds, bamboo, and as mentioned, even bone, while
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: animal skins were often used for those with a bag part.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So there you go. See, you could use reeds. You
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: could use reeds. I guess skin still has to be used. So,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: and back to the legend from bethroars.com. They write this.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Legend says that when the Britons realized what had happened,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: they believed the bagpipe was divine with magical qualities. Hearing this,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: the English then copied the Roman instrument. In fact, there
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: is an archaeological find at Tewksbury Abbey, Gloucester, of a
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: small altar that 2nd century AD depicting a figure playing
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: an early type of bagpipe. So a lot of artistry
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: when it comes to the bagpipes. So as the legend
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: of the instrument is traveling internationally, the makeup of the
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: instrument has also progressed. So here's a bit of information
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: from historicuk.com. Bagpipes have existed in various forms in many
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: places around the world. In each country, the construction of
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: the basic instrument comprises the same component parts, an air supply,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: a bag with a chanter, and one or more drones.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: By far, the most common method of supplying air to
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: the bag is by blowing with the mouth, although some
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: early interventions included the use of bellows. The bag, commonly
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: made from the animal skin, is simply an airtight reservoir
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: to hold the air and regulate its flow, thus allowing
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: the piper to breathe and maintain a continuous sound, both
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: at the same time. The changer is the melody pipe,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: usually played by one or two hands. Generally comprising two
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: or more sliding parts, the drone allows the pitch of
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: the pipes to be altered. So now we kind of know,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: we kind of understand how a bagpipe works. I'm learning,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I'm learning. So with these commonalities, but still some variations,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: the bagpipe has been featured throughout history. So back to
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: that discoverbritain.com article they write, from the Middle Ages, the
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: bagpipes could be found in varying forms all across Europe.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: While the earliest physical trace of a wooden chanter found
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: in Rostock, Germany, dates from the late 14th century, in
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Geoffrey Chaucer's description of baggy pipae. in the Miller's till,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: in the Canterbury tills. So it gives a nod to
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: their place within society at the same time. And there
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: was one type of bagpipe that took shape above all others.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: And y'all, when I was saying baguette pipé, it's pretty
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: much bagpipes. It's just spelled in Old English. And apparently
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: that's how you say it, according to the computers that
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: told me that. Or they were making fun of me.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: One of the two things. So I'm going to go
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: with it, though. I'm going to trust the computer on
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: that one. And with that, it seems the bagpipes were
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: pretty popular in England during that time. So back to
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the bethroars.com blog. England became the center of the bagpiping world,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: with Orchester, Nottinghamshire, and Lancashire producing noted pipers in areas
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: such as Cornwall, Northumberland, Lancashire, and Lincolnshire made their own
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: types of bagpipe. Strong evidence indicates that the Irish got
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: the instrument from invading Anglo-Norman armies, while the French and
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Gaul Celts who lived in France, produced at least seven
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: types of bagpipes, also inspired by the Romans. So really
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: big history when it comes to the bagpipes. I really
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: didn't understand it because in my mind, it just was Scottish. Yeah.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: In the story, right? So the level of like the
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: spread of the bagpipes is pretty intense and very, very,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: like it's one of, it's kind of one of the
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: oldest instruments out there with that type of history, you know?
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I don't want to know. I am correct. It is
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: one of the oldest instruments. So the computer tells me
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: once again.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: I'm worried this computer is becoming your friend. It's got
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: too much influence, Samantha.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I know, I know. This is the problem when you
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: do research online all the time and have to go
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: through everything. But it's true. It is one of the
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: oldest instruments. So says many an article out there. So
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I'm very surprised by that. I'm not surprised that it is.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: But like the order. i really thought was with scotland
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: so it is way bigger than that and it's been
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: used for many things And the blog goes on to
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: talk about the first notable evidence of the bagpipe in Scotland, which, quote,
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: the earliest evidence of the pipe in Scotland is on St.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Martin's Cross at Iona from 750 AD. Looking at it,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: it is a little of a stretch to say it
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: is definitely a bagpipe. However, it would fit when the
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Normans come to the island who definitely did have pipes
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: at the time. The first unquestionable depiction in Scotland is
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: in Roslyn Chapel in Melrose Abbey's carvings from the 15th century.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: In fact, hilariously, Melrose Abbey has a carving of a
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: pig playing the bagpipes. I don't know why. She just
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: said it's hilarious, so.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm very interested as to why, because there must
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: be a historical reason for that.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Context.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: At first, I would say that sounds like an insult.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: The pigs were very fortuitous at the time. That's one
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: of the reasons we eat a lot of pork around holidays.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Oh. Fortuna.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, well, they were associated with... I've
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: made it through the winter.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: In Europe, specifically. Okay.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's interesting. Maybe he has something to do with that.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: I also know, again, like, the blasphemous stuff with, like,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: the battle that happened in Scotland, so I wondered.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There must be a heated, perhaps debated
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: history behind that.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Right, yeah, right. So, just... We're going to leave it there,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: but she said it's hilarious. We're going to go with that.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: So soon after, the Great Highland Bagpipe comes to play,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: and the DiscoverBritain.com references Richard McLaughlin, who published The Bagpipes,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: A Cultural History, and wrote this. One variant that eventually
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: developed was the Great Highland Bagpipes, says McLaughlin. While early
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: bagpipes were likely to have had just one drone at
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: the top, a bag and a chanter, By the mid-16th century,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: it suggested a second tenor drone had been added and
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: then the third, the bass drone, and evolved by the
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: early 18th century. So the article continues, quote, exactly when
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: bagpipes arrive in Scotland is still a matter of debate.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: As heartstring-pluckingly good as it would be to believe the
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: unfounded suggestions that pipes were seen at the 1314 Battle
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: of Bonnockburn, it wasn't until a little later, 1396, that
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: were first properly recorded in Scottish history at the Battle
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: of North Inch. when war pipes were said to have
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: been played. Scottish historian George Buchanan said that the bagpipes
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: had replaced the trumpet on the battlefield in Scotland by
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: the mid-1500s, something supported by their reference at the 1547
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Battle of Pinkie near Musselboro. And linkage of bagpipes to
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: military is pretty lengthy and costs many pipers their lives.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: It's believed that possibly a thousand pipers died in the
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: First World War, and the loss was pretty consistent throughout
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: every time they would have pipers which led to a
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: banning of pipers in the front line during World War II.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: So they're like, oh, this is bad. This is not
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: working out. This is getting them killed. Let's take them off.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: And they kind of just banned it. Rightly so, I think.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, it doesn't seem like that was the way
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: to go in general. And at a certain point in history,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: owning a bagpipe in Scotland was considered treason. So this
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: is from scotiapipers.co.uk. The Highlanders were the ones to develop
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the pipes into the instrument it is now and to
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: make it the national instrument of Scotland in peace and war.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: All the chiefs of the Highland clans employed pipers. They
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: were considered a very important part of their establishments. The
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: music of the pipes spurred the troops on to many
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: a victory. They were used in many great battles. The
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: playing of the bagpipe was banned in Scotland after the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: uprising of 1745. They were classified as an instrument of
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: war by the loyalist government. They were kept alive in secret.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Anyone caught carrying pipes were punished, the same as any
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: man that bore arms for Bonnie Prince Charlie. So in
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: 1746 in New York, James Reed, a piper who bore
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: no arms against the English king, was tried for treason.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: The court came to the conclusion, quote, no Highland regiment
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: ever marched without a piper, and therefore his bagpipes in
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: the eyes of the law was an instrument of warfare.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: He suffered death on the 6th of November, 1746. So
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: I'm assuming suffered death meant like.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Execution?
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, executed. I was trying to, when I first read that,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: I was like, wait, what do you mean by that?
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Because other things could happen. So I guess the banning
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: was even more political than just, A, maybe we should
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: not have them murdered. And maybe they were murdered on
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: purpose to try to squash out any type of victorious
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: feelings or, like, camaraderie. So there's a lot to that.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: So it got that bad that people were executed or
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: at least imprisoned for having a bagpipe. And it was
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: seen as an act of war. So... Though this ban
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: was used to discourage and dismantle Scottish culture, I think
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: it's safe to say it did the opposite. The bagpipes
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: had been associated with different clans and families throughout the
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: lands for celebration, for remembrance, and more. And it has
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: continued to do so for the people. And not just
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: for the Scottish people. The culture of Scottish, yes, but
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: the Highland Celtic culture really lived on beyond Scotland, we
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: know this. So today, the bagpipes are as popular as ever,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: and its origins are worldwide. Many people, like myself, still
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: associate it to Scottish culture, but that doesn't mean it's
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: not played all over the world. And actually, the recent
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: World Cup has brought even more attention to this instrument.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: So this is from heraldscotland.com. It was an article they
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: wrote about how the World Cup has changed. So they write,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: Visit Scotland analysis suggests growing interest in Scotland's piping tradition
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: among U.S. audiences. with searches for bagpipes increasing by 22%
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: in July year-on-year and searches for Piping Scotland rising by 120%.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Interest in Scotland's piping culture is also reflective in online
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: visitor behavior. Scotland's annual week-long piping celebration, Piping Live, recorded
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: a 30.4% increase in visits to its website from people
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: in the United States in July compared with June, while U.S.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: web visits were up 220% compared with July 2025. So
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: it just jumped thanks to the World Cup. I mean,
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: come on. We were really excited to see Scotland in
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: the World Cup. Yeah, we were excited. It was short-lived.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Longer-lived than Korea, I think. But still, it was glorious.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: It was.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: They just seemed like they were having fun.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Mexico loves Scotland. Oh, yeah.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: They just seemed like a fun bunch. And a lot
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: of really... Entertaining news stories came out from them in
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: a time where I think we all really needed that boost.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Entertaining news stories.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: They drank Boston Dry.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: They drank Boston Dry, and I loved hearing the interviews
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: with them about it. Like, oh, they don't got any
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: beer over there. It was fantastic.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: It was a fabulous moment. I loved every bit of it.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: So of course it did. It did rise. And some
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: things to know about bagpipes, thanks to clan.com. This is
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: what they write. These are just some fun facts. Bagpipes
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: have several parts, including the air supply blowpipe, the bag,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: the chanter, the chanter reed, and the drone or drones.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: The chanter is the melody pipe, which can be played
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: by the piper, while the drone or drones provide a
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: constant note. Another fact, The bagpipes can play nine notes
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: from G to A. However, there are no sharps or flats,
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: so there is no need for a key signature. Also,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: the bagpipes have a bag that holds air. The player
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: keeps the bag full of air by blowing into it
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: with a tube or pumping it with the bellows. To
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: make music, the bag is pressed and the air comes
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: out through a kind of flute or chanter. There are
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: usually one or more other tubes coming from the bag
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: that make sounds whenever the bag is squeezed, called drones.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Each drone normally plays a different note and stays on
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: the same note the whole time it is playing to
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: play a harmony with the chanter. The sounds are made
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: by a single or more commonly double reed, which vibrates
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: when air is blown over it. See, aren't you glad
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: to know these facts? Moving on, the chanter in the
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: bagpipe is never silent. This means that there is no
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: rest between notes and the volume of the instrument cannot
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: be altered. The use of grace notes means that a
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: variation can be created, rather than through dynamics. This is
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: a lot to know. And another fact, and we missed it,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: by the way, we missed it. The 10th of March
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: is International Backpipe Day. Inaugurated by the Backpipe Society, it
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: is a grassroots celebration of all the world's backpipes. There
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: are celebrations across the UK, but also in Greece, America, Kenya,
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: and even Iran. Pipers of every kind gather, put on concerts,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: visit schools, play on the streets, or for dancing. Put
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: that in your calendar. And speaking of other countries, apparently
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: there are more pipe bands in the U.S. than there
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: are in Scotland. And just in case you're wondering, pipe
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: bands are musical groups that include the bagpipes and drum corps,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: which I don't talk about drum corps much here. I
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: just am focusing on bagpipes. If y'all have things that
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: you need to tell me about the entire band, please
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: let us know. You know I'll love more information. Again,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: I got really caught up in the history of this.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: So that's kind of why I was really focused on that,
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: not necessarily what the components can be. So if you
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: feel like I need to know more about it, please
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: get at me nicely. And when it comes to pipers
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: in total, there's quite a lot. In general, there's quite
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: a lot. And these numbers aren't exact, so I don't
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: have statistics, but some estimations are that in Scotland, there
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: are around 10,000 people who play the bagpipes. In North America,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: all of North America, the number goes around 100,000. So yeah,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: the history is being preserved all over the world. I
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: was trying to look at Australia because they got a
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: pretty good group of them. I could not find any,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: but apparently if Australia broke the world record by having
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: 374 bagpipe players play the ACDC, it's... It's a long
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: way to the top.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: If you want to rock and roll. Yeah.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: There you go. So they played that. 374 bagpipers came
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: through and broke this record, which was held as 333
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: people played in Bulgaria in 2012. So this happened in,
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: I want to say, 2025.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: 2025.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this happened in 2025. So congratulations, Australia.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, recent victory.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Kudos to you, you know? But I thought that was funny.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: I was like, okay, okay. Because I couldn't get numbers
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: from Australia, but I got those numbers. So there you go. So, okay.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: But like its very own origins, the spread of piping
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: when it comes to gender was a bit fraught. And
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: though women may have always been there playing the pipes,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: apparently one of the Egyptian carvings, that we were talking
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: about of the bagpipes was a woman. So it was
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: like put on a woman's casket because she was a
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: bagpipe player. It would take almost 200 years for women
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: to compete in the competitions alongside men for some of them.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Although there were women's only contests. And this is for
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: solo competitions. And I want to say like there were
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: some big name competitions that would just not allow women.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: And this is what we were talking about. It seemed
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: for the pipe bands, like we talked about before, where
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: they had the bands or larger groups, it would be
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: around the 30s and 40s when they could begin competing
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: against men. I think it was like 1938. So that
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: was a little more progressive, having groups. Because they would
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: also allow women to be a part of bands with men,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: I believe. Although some people did not like it. Oh, no.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: They were like, we don't accept this. So with that,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: let's talk a little bit about bagpiping, again, with women. Again,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: like I said, this is a little shorter part. Sorry,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I got really caught up in the history. We'll come back,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I'm sure. And if y'all have people that you want
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: me to talk about, send me that info. Give me
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: what you know. So when it comes to women and bagpiping,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: the history is interesting with individual women who broke barriers
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: and then moving on to see a cultural shift that
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: let more women in. This is from ThistleShoes.com. So they write,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: bagpipes and drums were long tied to military regiments and
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: civic ceremonies, roles historically closed to women. Until anti-discrimination laws
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: of the 1970s, many bands and competitions either directly barred
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: women or discouraged their participation. Some of the most prestigious groups,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: like the Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band, resisted female involvement
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: well into the 20th century. And not to, like, go
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: after them specifically, but that was one of those, like, big,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: notable places to be a part of. So people were
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: upset because they really did have, like, a higher standard
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: when it came to, so they thought, the respectability in bagpiping.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: But we have those who were the exception and not
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: just the rule. So let's talk about a couple of them.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: And these are brief overviews, but I will tell you
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: where the articles came from. So you can go read
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: it yourself and to get a little more in-depth look
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: at these women. And even more, they feature a lot
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: of women. One from Jenny Campbell, who wrote about trailblazing
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: female pipers for PipesDrums.com, is Elspath Angela Campbell, who is
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: featured in several different articles. She comes up as one
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: of the big beginnings. Campbell was born in 1873 and
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: came from a lineage of royalty, so this may be
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: why she was able to break some of those barriers.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: The daughter of Lord Archibald Campbell, granddaughter to the 8th
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Duke of Argyle, her aunt by marriage was Princess Louise,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: daughter of Queen Victoria, so royalty, royalty, okay, royalty. Her
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: father was a historian and enthusiast of piping and founded
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: the Inverary Pipe Band, and the band played their first parade,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: which led to Inverary Castle, where Elspeth spent her childhood.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: So it isn't surprising that she would also become a
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: part of the music world. So back to Campbell's article,
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: she writes, Elspeth spent her childhood at Inverary Castle. She
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: shared her father's interest and became a capable piper who
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: marched on parade with her father's pipe band and liked
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: to play around the table after dinner, like the pipe
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: major of Highland Regiment. She was also a founding member
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: of the People's Arts Society in 1902 and the only
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: lady member. She took an active part in the work
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: of the People's Arts Society and was the secretary at
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: the time. In addition to the bagpipe, Elspeth played the spinet, piano,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: and harp. Newspaper articles often referred to her as an
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: accomplished player, so they wrote, The Inverary Pipe Band walked
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: abroad in Inverary the other day, headed by a young
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: lady who blew the feet floor with all dexterity and
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: success of a prized bagpiper at Highland Games. This was
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Lady Elspeth Campbell, Lord Osterbald's handsome daughter. She's an expert
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: player and has done a good deal to make the
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: national instrument popular in fashionable circles. We love a good
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: fashionable circle, right?
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: If I was ever invited to one, I'd be thrilled.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Right. This needs to be like on an episode of
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Downton Abbey.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: Yes. Right? Yes, absolutely.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: I know it's gone, but I'm just saying. And from
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: another The Queen, the lady's newspaper, that's the article, they write,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Miss Elspeth Campbell, who is the best lady piper in Scotland,
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: acted as judge of the pipe playing at the fifth
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: annual Highland Gathering of the London Highland Athletic Club, which
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: took place recently in the athletic grounds at Richmond. Lady
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Eleanor Douglas Hamilton distributed the handsome prizes and was presented
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: with a beautiful bouquet. I just love that it was
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: such like, these lovely ladies are doing something so glam.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: At the gardens today. The ladies. And it seems throughout
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: history when they spoke of her, it would be added
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: that she was a very accomplished piper. Even when she
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: was given the title Lady Lesbeth Campbell. And by the way,
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: she never married. She just went on, did her thing,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: and became a lady. And she's like, cool. Peace out.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: I'm good.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. So her history is pretty deep. And she loved,
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: loved music. As she said. Then we have Bessie Watson,
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: and I will say this was the name that caught
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: my attention, and I wanted to be like, oh, I
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: want to talk about her. Who is this? So Bessie Watson,
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: known as the child suffragette and piping pioneer, and this
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: was a really great article that was written by Scotland
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: with Hannah blog. And by the way, I want to
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: put this as a side. They are a blue badge
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: guide with the Scottish Tourist Guides Association and I think
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: we need to connect with her because, again, my FYP
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: is telling me I need to go to Scotland. And
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: they may be the person. And, y'all, they do walking
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: towards exploring women's history and queer history. I mean, what
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: could be more cementy-coated? Yeah.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: We were trying to do that for a while.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Now we have a connection. Now I know of a person.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: I don't know them personally. I know of a person
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: who could be amazing when we actually get there. One
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: day we're going to start traveling. Yeah. soon. Yes. So
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: back to Bessie Watson, an Edinburgh-born woman. She had been
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: one of the few bagpipe women of that time. And
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: it isn't too surprising as she had grown up in
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: an area that was filled with music and lively gatherings.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: But that's not to say that she or the country
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: didn't face hardships. So this is from Scotlandwithhannah.com. Bessie also
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: grew up in an era where when fear of disease
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: was ever present, especially in crowded urban areas. In 1900,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: it was still common for children and adults to die
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: from illnesses that we can easily treat with antibiotics and
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: vaccinate against, like tuberculosis. It was fear of TB, an
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: infection which attacks the lungs, and had killed Bessie's Aunt
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: Margaret that motivated Bessie's parents to get her started playing
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: the bagpipes when she was about seven or eight. It
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: was believed that the mighty amount of breath needed for
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: piping would help to strengthen we Bessie's lungs and keep
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: her healthy, which is an interesting tactic. And this started
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Bessie's journey into her playing. Her mother, at the same time,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: decided to sign herself and Bessie up to be a
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: part of the Women's Social and Political Union. So back
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: to that blog. Women's Social and Political Union, WSPU, in Edinburgh,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: it was to celebrate, quote, what women have done and
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: can and will do at a time when women had
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: very few legal rights and no voting rights whatsoever. It
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: was still nearly a decade before the first women gained
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: the right to vote in Britain. and almost 20 years
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: before full suffrage. And the idea of the pageant was
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: to portray the achievements of women throughout history. So during
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: the time that her mom signed her up for this,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: it was also when the pageant was happening. So it
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: was a great opportunity for Bessie to get to play
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: her bagpipes. And there, Bessie played the bagpipes in a
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: large parade with the Lothian Lassies, a band that contained
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: several other young girls as well as her, but she
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: was the youngest of the group, and was even recognized
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: by a British woman's suffrage icon, Christabel Pankhurst, who was
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: one of the founders of the WSPU. And from there,
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: Bessie started her suffragette journey as that child. Back to
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: that article. She soon became a committed suffrage activist and
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: remained involved in the movement. She even wore her ribbons
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: in the colors of the suffrage campaign, white, purple, and green,
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: to school. She used her pipes as a form of
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: political expression. She played on platforms at Waverly Station, as
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: trains left to carry women's right campaigners to Holloway Prison
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: in London, and she would often go after school to
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: stand outside Carlton Jail in Edinburgh and pipe for the
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: women incarcerated inside. So she was all about that movement
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: at that young age. She also would go beyond just
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: playing outside of locations and in parades, but would go
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: on to play to help with the war efforts at
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: the time. Even became the first woman to pipe in
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: the regimental dinner at Seaforth Highlanders Battalion, which apparently had
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: a long tradition of piping. And it was a very
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: prestigious group of people that she was playing for. She
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: would soon go on to teach at Broughton, where she
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: would form the first state pipe band in Scotland with
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: a former piper major at the Edinburgh City Police. And
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: she led this band for 20 seven years at the school.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: But back to that Scotland with Hannah blog, they write,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Bessie continued to be recognized as a significant force for
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: change in Scottish piping, as well as politics. At 14,
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: she became the first female member of the Highland Piper Society,
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: winning several awards, and later founded the Broughton School Pipe
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: Band and led it for 27 years. She studied French
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: at the University of Edinburgh before becoming a teacher of
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: music and modern languages, working at schools throughout the city.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Music and piping remained a constant in Bessie's life, and
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: she was still playing the pipes in her late 80s.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: I think she died at 91. So a very long
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: year of her life. And I'm really glad she was
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: alive to see voting rights. Like, it's nice to know
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: that she was aware of what was going on. She
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: did at such a young age. The article showed a
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: picture of her scarf, the suffrage scarf, and it was
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: really cute. I was like, oh my God, it was
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: her original. I was like, dang, that's awesome. So that's
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: just a couple of women. I mean, there's many, many more.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: I've left out so many that we can come back to.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: And if you feel like we need to highlight a few,
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: please send that our way, and we will. But that
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: brings us to women competing today. So this is from Backpipe.News.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Although the solo piping competition system began in 1781, it
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: was almost 200 years later, in 1976, women were allowed
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: to take part on an equal footing with male competitors
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: at the major competitions. Before this, many women did compete
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: at other competitions and in events, especially for women's only.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: So whether it had to be a band or women's
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: only competitions, it was really rare for women to be
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: able to be competing. It took 200 years for it
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: to get to that point. So in Australia, though, there
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: was a woman who won the competition as well as
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: another woman winning second place, but it didn't seem to
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: be handled well. So it's not just Scotland. We're saying everywhere.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: So this is from that bagpipe.news. Women played in solo
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: events in Australia in the early years of the century.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: On Boxing Day 1900, the Lismore NSW Caledonian Society Highland
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: Gathering had several piping events. The best piper, who has
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: never won a prize, was won by Poppy Windsor with
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: Janet Dargie second, but the papers reported that, quote, in
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: this event, a protest has been entered against the winners.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: At the inaugural gathering of the Clarence River Scottish Society
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: in April 1927, as well as the usual solo contest
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: for adults and juveniles. There was a Constellation March and
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: an event for Lady Pipers in which the winner was Mrs.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: Antonelli and second was Mrs. Ruby Antonelli. So there was
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: a few that were allowed, but I think they were
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: all like, no, we're not, we're going to protest. And
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know, like, other than saying we're not, we
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: don't acknowledge it. Right.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: You can, you can participate, but you cannot win.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: But like, also, They didn't win any prizes. So it
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: wasn't like other than the prestige.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the skill, the perceived. Not even perceived, but yeah,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the skill level. Women don't have that.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: So it took a long time for anything to come
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: about and people to hear like, oh, okay, maybe women
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: do deserve being able to compete. Because only deeper conversations
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: we know. But So today there's trailblazers and leaders happening
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: as well because, again, like we said, it's still iffy
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: about whether or not they will accept women in the competition.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Faye Henderson made history, who was from Scotland, in 2010
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: as the first woman to win the prestigious gold medal
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: at Obon, and she was only 18 years old. So
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: this is from Thistleshoes.com. Back to that article. They write,
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: her victory secured her place at the Glenfiddich Championship, breaking
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: a 21-year absence of female competitors there. So, like, her
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: winning was a huge deal. It broke several barriers. And
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: this happened in 2010, so not even that long ago.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Margaret Dunn Houlihan, who is Irish slash Scottish, began piping
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: at nine and went on to win top solo prizes,
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: including being the first woman to play in the former
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: winner's march, Strathspey and Reel at Oban. And she now
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: teaches National Piping Centers. So that's awesome for future pipers.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: And then we have Allie the Piper, who actually I've
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: seen her name quite a few times because she has
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: gained apparently like the most followers. And she is from
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: the U.S. So again, back to the thistle shoes dot com.
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: They write Allie the Piper from the U.S. has gained
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: worldwide attention for reinventing the Great Highland bagpipe for today's
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: music scene. Beginning her journey at 14 to honor her
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: Scottish roots, she now blends Celtic tradition with rock, metal
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: and pop. reaching millions online. So I've seen several people
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: talk about how she is one of the biggest influencers
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: for backpiping today. I don't know if I've ever seen
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: her pop up on my FYP, but I've heard her name.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: So we got to acknowledge when these women come through
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: and really blow up things like this and bringing national
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: attention or international attention to instruments and historical things like this,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: especially one that has been gatekept for so long. Again,
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: like I said, I know we didn't really dig deep
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: into individual women. Like I need to, I need to
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: come back so we can. But the history of the
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: bagpipes alone is fascinating and just the people and the
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: players in it. So y'all, I feel like I learned something.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: This is one of those episodes I felt like I
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: really learned a lot.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Same. I also have never really given much thought to
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: the bagpipes. They're just something I would see in a
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: parade and be like, Oh, yeah. There we go. Backpipes.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: There they are. That's it. So I'm glad to hear
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: about this and learn that there are women who are
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: really pushing to get past these gates that have been
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: there for so long.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, we would love to hear any listeners with
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: any experience, any history that you know. That would be fantastic.
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: You can email us at hello at StuffI'veNeverToldYou.com. You can
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: find us on Blue Sky at Mom's Stuff Podcast or
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff I've Never Told You.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: We're also on YouTube. We have some merchandise at Cotton
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Bureau and we have a book you can get wherever
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: you get your books. Thanks as always to our super
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: producer Rima and our executive producer Maya.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: And thanks to you for listening. Stuff I've Never Told
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: You is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
• 37:26
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• 37:28
  Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.