Tag Archives: heritage

Happy Bagpipe Appreciation Day!

Hail that quintessential Scottish instrument

The Bagpipes

bagpipe appreciation

There’s nothing like the skirl of the bagpipes to make a person a bit weepy. For me, I love the sound – others don’t share my feelings. Go figure. Some liken the sound to a cat having its tail rocked on.

When at war, the pipers went ahead of the troops. Were they trying to take advantage of their enemies whilst they were incapacitated by the music coming from the bagpipes? Who wouldn’t be intimidated by the sight of an army marching towards them playing songs to motivate their troops?

Still, watching the massed bands at the Highland Games or the pipe bands in the local parades makes me yearn for Scotland and brings a tear to my eye.

Traditional pipe music? Alternative pipe music? How about the Red Hot Chilli Pipers? Yes, that’s correct. It’s not a typo. Here they are playing We Will Rock You.

 

And how about a little Smoke on the Water and Thunderstruck to really get you into the spirit of Bagpipe Appreciation Day. Sorry about the advert at the beginning of this one…

 

Check out this link to McCallum Bagpipes.

Or watch this video on YouTube to see how bagpipes are made.

Bagpipes – love ’em or hate ’em? Leave a comment for or against this musical instrument.

Hail that quintessential Scottish instrument – bagpipes.

It’s Bagpipe Appreciation Day!

The Bagpipes

bagpipes

There’s nothing like the skirl of the bagpipes to make a person a bit weepy. For me, I love the sound – others don’t share my feelings. Go figure. Some liken the sound to a cat having its tail rocked on.

When at war, the pipers went ahead of the troops. Were they trying to take advantage of their enemies whilst they were incapacitated by the music coming from the bagpipes? Who wouldn’t be intimidated by the sight of an army marching towards them playing songs to motivate their troops?

Still, watching the massed bands at the Highland Games or the pipe bands in the local parades makes me yearn for Scotland and brings a tear to my eye.

Traditional pipe music? Alternative pipe music? How about the Red Hot Chilli Pipers? Yes, that’s correct. It’s not a typo. Here they are playing We Will Rock You.

And how about a little Smoke on the Water and Thunderstruck to really get you into the spirit of Bagpipe Appreciation Day. Sorry about the advert at the beginning of this one…

Check out this link to McCallum Bagpipes.

Or watch this video on YouTube to see how bagpipes are made.

Bagpipes – love ’em or hate ’em? Leave a comment for or against this musical instrument.

My Scottish Roots…

Since the subtitle of my blog is My Scottish Roots and Writing I decided it was about time I included something about my heritage. And today is a good day to do it.

dad
Robert A Robertson July 30, 1913 – April 29, 1969

My father came to Canada in 1930 – one of the 7,000 children sent out by The Orphan Homes of Scotland founded by Scottish philanthropist William Quarrier, who grew up in extreme poverty and later in life when he had the means to help the less fortunate, he did.

I’ve written an article on Quarrier which was published by The Scottish Banner in December 2001. Funny enough, I didn’t even know the article had been accepted until I opened my paper and there it was. But I digress… back to the business at hand – my Scottish roots.

My father was one of ten children born to John Robertson and Margaret MacDonald in Aberdeenshire, Scotland between 1903 and 1915 (five of which were sent to The Orphan Homes of Scotland).

Grandpa Robertson had been married before and had fathered ten children with his first wife, too. The youngest from this previous marriage was six when he married my grandmother (wife #2)

One thing that I didn’t realize immediately but my grandparents shared the same birthday, not that they could have afforded to buy each other gifts.

grandpa_robertson
Grandpa Robertson
Aug 12, 1856-June 18, 1930
grandma_robertson
My Grandmother – Margaret (MacDonald) Robertson
Aug 12, 1882-Dec 2, 1915

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although this isn’t the greatest quality photograph, I think I look more like my grandmother than grandfather. What do you think?