Old and new world highland bagpiping / John G. Gibson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gibson, John G. (John Graham), 1941-

Series:

McGill-Queen's Studies in Ethnic History ; 38

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bagpipe--Scotland--Highlands--History.

Bagpipe.

Bagpipe--Nova Scotia--Cape Breton Island--History.

Bagpipe music--History and criticism.

Bagpipe music.

Physical Description:

xii, 424 p., [11] p. of plates : ill., maps, ports.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The work is the result of over thirty years of oral fieldwork among the last Gaels in Cape Breton, for whom piping fit unself-consciously into community life, as well as an exhaustive synthesis of Scottish archival and secondary sources. Reflecting the invaluable memories of now-deceased new world Gaelic lore-bearers, John Gibson shows that traditional community piping in both the old and new world Gàihealtachlan was, and for a long time remained, the same, exposing the distortions introduced by the tendency to interpret the written record from the perspective of modern, post-eighteenth-century bagpiping. Following up the argument in his previous book, Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping, 1745-1945, Gibson traces the shift from tradition to modernism in the old world through detailed genealogies, focusing on how the social function of the Scottish piper changed and step-dance piping progressively disappeared. Old and New World Highland Bagpiping will stir controversy and debate in the piping world while providing reminders of the value of oral history and the importance of describing cultural phenomena with great care and detail.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Charts and Table

Preface

Introduction

Piping in the Jacobite Highlands from 1745

The MacGregors and Piping in Glengarry

Keppoch, Clanranald, and Cameron Piping

Piping in MacLean Country

Fraser, Farquharson, MacIntosh, Grant, Chisholm, and Barra MacNeil Pipers

Raasay MacLeods, Glencoe MacDonalds, Appin Stewarts, and Cluny MacPhersons

“Hereditary” or Chiefs’ Pipers in Hanoverian Scotland

Piping in MacCrimmon and MacDonald Skye and in Strathspey (Grants)

Piping in Glenorchy/Breadalbane, in Islay, and in MacDougall and MacIntyre Territory

Sutherland and Gairloch, Seaforth, and Gordon Piping

New World Piping in Cape Breton

The East Bay Area of Cape Breton and the MacLean Pipers in Washabuck

Piping and Tradition in the Margarees, Inverness County

Piping in the Glendale Area, River Denys Mountain, Melford, Big Marsh, Orangedale, and Valley Mills

Pipers, Piping, and Cultural Glimpses of West Lake Ainslie

Reverend Archibald Campbell’s Observations of Piping in Judique

Some Pipers in Northern Cape Breton

Conclusion

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [389]-416) and index.

ISBN:

1-283-52993-9

9786613842381

0-7735-6979-0

OCLC:

929120679