Jacobites!

Here are a very rough couple of paragraphs regarding bagpipes that I have written for my paper on the effects of Jacobitism on Highland music. I hope you're satisfied, Jane, my blog is incredibly boring now (keep in mind I have not edited yet):

It is essential to keep in mind that when one talks of Scotland in this period, they essentially are speaking of two different countries with unique cultures. Scotland was clearly and inescapably divided between the Highlanders and the Lowlanders.[1] While the Lowlanders spoke a Scotch dialect of the English language and were culturally fairly anglicised, the Highlanders spoke Scots-Gaelic and retained not only traditional dress, but a traditional socio-economic arrangement.[2] Further, significant sections of the Highlands remained devoutly Roman Catholic despite the efforts of their Presbyterian kinsmen.[3] Given the Catholicism of the exiled Stuarts, it is not surprising that they found their greatest amount of support amongst the Highlanders.[4] The Highland Scots can be seen, to a certain extent, as a fairly different people than the Lowland Scots.

In order to understand the significance of music in Highland society, it is necessary to look at the place of the bagpiper in the traditional Highland social order. Though the instrument did not originate in Scotland, discussion of Scottish music is bound to conjure images of the bagpipe. An inspection of the place in which Scottish culture had placed the bagpipe seems to validate this image, despite the instrument’s non nativity. The chieftains of the various Scottish clans would employ personal pipers who served as members of their individual “courts”.[5] The piper was not merely a source of entertainment; the Highland bagpiper played a vital role in Scottish society. Pipers were a common sight on battlefields, playing to urge on their fellow clansmen and let sound the call of retreat if needed.[6] However, these were not merely men who had practiced enough to gain a certain degree of proficiency with the instrument: a truly accomplished piper would have learned the ancient traditions and skills of his craft in a college of pipers.[7] This musical education would have been funded by individual chiefs for the express purpose of gaining skilled court musicians.[8] In addition to receiving the patronage of chieftains, pipers often were given lands by their chiefs for special loyalty and service.[9] The piper seems to therefore have occupied an especially privileged place in Highland society which was deeply tied to the traditional societal structure.

Immediately following the failure of the 1745 rebellion, Highland piping seems to have gone into a steep decline.[10] Though there had been new laws enforced restricting the exercise of Highland culture, such as the wearing of kilts and in some cases the playing of the bagpipes, it does not seem that this was the cause for the decline.[11] Instead, the decline seems to have come as a response to the upheaval of the traditional Highland clan system. With chieftains no longer possessing the power they once had, money began to become tight for the semi-feudal lords.[12] As a result, there was no longer as a great of a demand for the employment of pipers to serve under individual chiefs. blah blah blah blah blah.

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[1] Donaldson 38

[2] Ibid 38

[3] Ibid 38

[4] DNB Stuart, Charles Edward

[5] Cannon 51

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] Cannon 73

[11] Ibid 73

[12] Ibid 73