A Piper's Remembrance

Perhaps it is the ancient scale of the instrument that makes the solemn and powerful poetry of the bagpipe the most enduring of all musical accompaniments for funerals and memorials. For hundreds of years, people far and wide have bade farewell or gave memorials to their dearly departed with the music of the pipes.

Recent history has proven that bagpipes continue to be associated with the most touching of all funeral services and memorials, the latest one being that of Ronald Reagan where the world saw on TV piper Eric Rigler leading pallbearers to the march towards the fallen leader’s resting place (see video here).  Queen Elizabeth II's funeral was concluded with music played by her bagpiper, Pipe Major Paul Burns. For decades the monarch was woken up by the sound of bagpipes, played underneath her window, acting as a personal alarm clock .

From the victims of 9/11, to funeral and memorial services for members of the police and military forces in many parts of the world—the bagpipes express those emotions when all else fail.

Below are some suggestions on when bagpipes would be best suited for a funeral or memorial service:

• At any point in the service, the piper could play a special hymn. The piper could be in the same room, or off in the distance (or outside) if preferred.

• The pipes can be played as the casket is carried out of the chapel.

• leading the funeral procession from the internment site or from the gate of funeral park to the grave site.

• At the Graveside, Bagpipes can be played as the funeral procession arrives, during the graveside service, or after the service is over and friends and family are leaving.

• If the terrain permits, it is quite effective for the piper to be at a distance and out of sight, when the tune is started. Then move slowly move towards the graveside before the hymn is completed. If the piper is out of sight, then someone will need to give the cue when to begin playing.