Old and New World Highland Bagpiping

Charlene Biggs teaches music at both Huntington and Cambrian colleges in
Sudbury. An outstanding pianist, she is also in the final stages of
completing a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music.

This carefully researched, well-written book will delight musicians,
historians, and anyone fascinated by social history and human foibles.

The book is not so much a history of music as it is a record of
genealogies and personalities. And what personalities! They include Lady
Anne Mackintosh, who rallies the blacksmith and six other old men to
defend Moyhall against Lord Loudon and 500 hundred soldiers in 1747, and
the romantic figures of Sir Walter Scott and Rob Roy. We also learn a
great deal about the social hierarchy in Scotland (and Canada) as it
pertained to piping (including the place of Ceol Beag and Ceol Mor), the
divisions between Catholic and Protestant communities, and the effects
of competitions and forced emigrations. Folktales and customs weave
their way into the Cape Breton section of the book.

Gibson writes with commitment and is not afraid to express personal
opinions, or to allow his partisanship to show. Other strengths of this
work are the copious notes, the large bibliography, and the glossary of
Gaelic terms. Additionally, there are genealogies of pipers (clan by
clan and district by district), maps, pictures of pipers and pipes, and
a four-page table providing the specifications of the MacLean pipes.

As a musician, I do have serious reservations about publishing a book
of this kind without as much as a scrap of music being printed with the
text. It would have greatly enhanced the learning experience for those
of us not familiar with the tunes mentioned to be able to read them for
ourselves. Even better would be an accompanying CD, so musicians and
nonmusicians alike could enjoy the music and better understand issues
raised in the book. I would have also liked further information on the
differences between classical and nonclassical types of piping, as well
as expansion of his ideas on the effects of changing perceptions of the
importance of literacy, the tempered scale, and the spread of
competitions—issues that have greatly affected other musical
disciplines.