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newspaper clipping with handwritten comments to the side
THE NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY, MAY 5, 1968 Playing the Bagpipe Gains in Popularity Among Americans
WASHINGTON--A dentist in San Francisco calms his patients with lively Scottish tunes while waiting for fillings to set, and for anesthetics to take effect, the National Geographic Society reports. Shrill notes from aloft startled office workers in Washington and New York a few years ago. It turned out that high-rise construction gangs in both cities included pipers who were practicing at lunchtime. Nobody knows exactly how many pipers there are in the United States, but the ancient art of bagpiping is more popular than ever, the society says. President Johnson has signed a bill ending a 15 per cent duty on imported bagpipes and parts. Lively skirls inspire college football teams, brighten parades, and enliven the meetings of fraternal organizations. Bagpipes seem to attract musicians regardless of origin or sex. An all-girl band from the University of Iowa won rave notices at guest appearances in Scotland. The shrill wail of the pipes does [sic] appeal to everyone, however. "At its best, mighty barbarous music," Samuel Pepys, the English diarist, grumbled. Those with unappreciative ears may not believe it, but there are three distinctive types of bagpipe music. The Ceol Baeg, or Little Music, consists of dance and march tunes, and the Ceol Meadonach, or Middle Music, includes slow marches, retreats, and simple laments. The majestic Ceol Mor, or Big Music, lends itself to great sonatas and concertos. The most famous of all Highland musicians, the MacCrimmons, hereditary pipers to the MacLeods of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, wrote, taught, and played the Ceol Mor, scorning the simpler forms of compositions. The MacCrimmon recipe for a good player was seven years of study, backed up by seven generations of pipers in the family. To test a student, one of the MacCrimmons supposedly wrote the notes of a tune on wet sand, and the novice was expected to play it faultlessly before the tide washed in.
Dear Jack. arrow to the left pointing to the newspaper clipping 1st RIOTS, marches, Sit-ins. ?Singings?, School Seizures -- And NOW "bag-pipes"! O Tempora O mores. Joe D NN