Connecting With My World

Braemar Gathering. Scotland
Highland Games
White
Red
Green

Latest

I Want A Piper, Too!

“We have heard nothing but bagpipes since we have been in the beautiful Highlands and I have become so fond of it that I mean to have a Piper, who can if you like it, pipe every night at Frogmore.”

Queen Victoria, in a letter to her mother.

Braemar Gathering. Scotland

Braemar Gathering. Scotland

The tradition of The Queen’s Piper dates back to Queen Victoria.  In 1842, Queen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert traveled to the Scottish Highlands.  It was her first visit; and like all those who see the Highlands for the first time, she was overwhelmed with the grandeur of the northern countryside.  The Royal Couple were the guests of the Marquess of Breadablane at Taymouth Castle which is located north-east of the village of Kenmore, Perth and Kinross.   The Marquess happened to have her own personal bagpiper, who was pleased to play for Queen Victoria.  From that moment on, Queen Victoria was determined to have one for her household.

One year later, in 1843, Angus MacKay became the first personal Piper to Queen Victoria.  Piper MacKay was a famed composer of pipe music who had published a volume of reels and strathspeys and a collection of piobaireachd music.  Piobaireachd is an art music classical genre associated with the Great Highland Bagpipe.

Victoria wasted no time in directing Piper MacKay in his duties. The bagpipes were heard every day after breakfast, at balls and other special events.   Piper MacKay was there at the formation of a cairn to honour Queen Victoria’s acquisition of Balmoral Estate in 1852.   It was the event of the season.  Queen Victoria noted that, while the cairn was being constructed, “some merry reels were danced on a stone opposite”.

Queen Victoria died in 1901.  At her funeral two personal pipers were present in the first stage of the procession.  Queen Victoria’s desire for the music of the bagpipes has become a tradition for successive monarchs of the British throne.

In 2008, my family traveled to Scotland.  A highlight was to attend the Braemar Gathering, when The Queen made a personal appearance.  Now, five years later, her son, HRH Prince Andrew attended the 150th annual Victoria Highland Games.  Queen Victoria seemed to understand that the world needed the Highland Bagpipes.

But there is much more to the bagpipe story…

 

Caber Tossing, Braemar Gathering

Caber Tossing, Braemar Gathering

Posted by  |  May 21, 2013 | Categories: Bagpipers, Bagpipes, Music, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Pipes are Calling

“The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.”

Queen Victoria

Highland Games

Today, Canadians celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday.   Her reign brought the British Empire into a new world order, during a time of great change and uncertainty.   Born on May 24, 1819, she came to the throne after the death of her uncle, King William IV, in 1837. As a young woman ascending to the throne, her future husband described her “as one whose extreme obstinacy was constantly at war with her good nature.”

The death of Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901, ended an era in which most of her British subjects knew no other monarch. Her 63-year reign, the longest in British history, saw the growth of an empire on which the sun never set. Victoria restored dignity to the English monarchy and ensured its survival as a ceremonial political institution. Nine children and 26 of her 34 grandchildren who survived childhood, married into royal and noble families across the Europe.  She was truly the “grandmother of Europe.”

We celebrated this auspicious occasion by attending the 150th Annual Victoria Highland Games and Celtic Festival.  Queen Victoria’s descendent, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York presided over the opening, closing and awards ceremonies.  Central to the celebration was the pipes and drums.  When the mass band played, “Amazing Grace,” I knew that I wanted to explore the history of the bagpipes.  And what a history it is!  Even now, the position of the Queen’s Piper is one of the most prestigious assignments.

Every weekday for fifteen minutes starting precisely 9:00am, The Queen’s Piper plays the pipes directly under The Queen’s window when she is in residence at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, The Palace of Holyroodhouse or Balmoral Castle. And it all started with Queen Victoria.

The pipes are calling…

Posted by  |  May 20, 2013 | Categories: Bagpipes, Music, Queen Victoria | Tags: , | 24 Comments »

The Sum of All Colours

“Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” 
Coco Chanel

White

White is both the absence of any colour and the sum of all colours in concert. White, like the colour black, brings contrast to our lives.  Symbolizing purity, innocence, honesty, death and rebirth, beginning and end, this is the colour that brings us cold milk, fluffy cumulus clouds, polished alabaster, and freshly fallen snow.

The priests and priestesses of Ancient Egypt dressed in white linen in reverence to the goddess Isis.   Ancient Greece associated white with mother’s milk; Roman citizens over a certain age wore a white toga for ceremonial occasions. Medieval and Renaissance tapestries, manuscripts and paintings highlighted the white unicorn as a symbol of purity and grace. Even today, white is reserved for our extraordinary moments – weddings, births, and in some cultures, funerals.

As a contrast colour, white brings a sense of the dramatic.  Whether it is the red and white of the Canadian Maple Leaf flag, white chalk against a blackboard, or the twinkling stars against the black sky, we pay attention. Pablo Picasso once asked, “Why do two colours, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.”

Colours are a cultural reflection of our lives and the society that we create.  We draw from the world around us for insight and affirmation. John Ruskin, the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, once said that “The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most.”  Colour inspires us to express ourselves beyond words, to imagine a kinder, gentler lifestyle.

“White is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.” 
G.K. Chesterton

Posted by  |  May 19, 2013 | Categories: Coco Chanel, Colours, G.K.Chesterton, John Ruskin | Tags: , , | 36 Comments »

The Life Force – Red

“I love bright red drinks, don’t you? They taste twice as good as any other colour.” 
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Red

Everything about red is passionate, strong and vital.  It is the colour of the spectrum that demands our full attention, knowing that we can feel the life force of red blood flowing through our bodies.  Red is the first colour that we recognize as babies; it continues to grab our attention into old age.  For centuries, red has been associated with protection.  Amulets made from garnets and rubies, bestowed invincibility on the wearer.

Kermes, a red dye, was first made in the Neolithic Period, by crushing the female bodies of a tiny scale insect (Kermes genus).  It seems that the sap these insects lived on, primarily from the Kermes oak, produced the red. Assyrians and Persians used a different variety that lived on roots and stems, called Kermes of Armenia. The people in early North America made dye from the Cochineal, an insect from the same family as the Kermes.

Ancient Egyptians associated red with life, health and victory. Ancient Romans used red to colour the skins of their gladiators as well as the murals that decorated their luxurious villas.  Over the centuries, red became known as the colour for celebration, pageantry and ceremony. Robes of scarlet have been worn by clergy and academics alike.  The red velvet seats of opera houses and theatres enhanced the cultural experience.

On the opposite extreme, red is the colour of war, aggression and danger.  In ancient times, it was the colour given to Mars, the god of War.  Today, we hold the red poppy flower as our tribute to those who served their country. If I were the colour red, I would prefer being known for joyousness, rather than anger.  As Eleanor Roosevelt said so eloquently, “No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.” 

 “Red lips are not so red as the stained stones kissed by the English dead.” 
 Wilfred Owen, The Poems Of Wilfred Owen

Posted by  |  May 18, 2013 | Categories: Colours, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Wilfred Owen | Tags: , , | 30 Comments »

Green – The Promise of New Life

“When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, and the dimpling stream runs laughing by; when the air does laugh with our merry wit, and the green hill laughs with the noise of it.”

Lord Byron

Green

The primary colours of blue and yellow unite to create green. Green is the symbolic meaning for new life, resurrection, hope, fertility and environmental awareness.  In ancient Egypt, green was associated with the Nile, the source of regeneration and rebirth. In neighbouring Greece, Aristotle believed that green was placed somewhere between black, the symbol for earth and white, the symbol for water.  The Romans had special reverence for green as it was the colour  belonging to Venus, the goddess of gardens, vegetables and vineyards.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the neolitic people in northern Europe used the leaves of the birch tree to make inferior quality dyes. Archaeology, however, has not shed any light on how the ancient Mesopotamians were able to create their vibrant green costumes. Indeed, the production of green dyes remained illusive even in the middle ages.  It was not for want of trying.  They used ferns, plantains. Buckthorn berries, the juice of nettles and leeks, and the digitalis plant to name just a few, to produce a dye that was resistant to washing and sunlight.  A breakthrough came in the 16th century.  It was a two-step process, where cloth was first dyed blue with Woad, and then yellow with Yellow-weed.

The Green Knight was one of the most renowned characters in the King Arthur narratives. Legend portrays fairies, dragons and monsters as green. Beau Brummel, the famed British fashion icon, wore a green suit.  The Suffragettes used the colour green to symbolize hope.

Today, our earth is in need of hope.  Decades ago, Theodore Roosevelt said, “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” 

May we heed his warning…

“The world has changed.

I see it in the water.

I feel it in the Earth.

I smell it in the air.

Much that once was is lost,

For none now live who remember it.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted by  |  May 17, 2013 | Categories: Colours, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord Bryon | Tags: , , | 31 Comments »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 668 other followers

%d bloggers like this: