Hilarious Description Of Highland Bagpipes From ~1820 Canada.

[mawnansmiff]

Reading on about the fur trading industry of North West Canada I came across a Cree Native describing to his chief his first experience of a bagpipe player....
"One white man was dressed like a woman, in a skirt of funny colour. He had whiskers growing from his belt and fancy leggings. He carried a black swan which had many legs with ribbons tied to them. The swan's body he put under his arm upside down, then he put its head in his mouth and bit it. At the same time he pinched its neck with his fingers and squeezed its body under his arm until it made a terrible noise."
Who says history is boring? ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[ophiuchus]

:rofl:
:clap: -That’s great!

 

[mau1]

Where did you pull that from, Jay? Sounds quite interesting!

 

[jaytex1969]

I've recently enjoyed the Netflix series, Frontier, which is a tale about some of the characters in and around the Hudson Bay area back in the day. Pretty well done, from a layperson's perspective.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hah! Nice one, Jay. I take it the piper was wearing a sporran.

 

[kcghost]

Very good. Would be an accurate description today.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I take it the piper was wearing a sporran."
I can only assume so John, but what puzzled me is where the Native Indian got the description of a swan from. Do swans (black or white) live in such northern climes?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I've recently enjoyed the Netflix series, Frontier, which is a tale about some of the characters in and around the Hudson Bay area...."
Please elaborate Jay (the other one) as I might wish to buy it. I did a quick search of 'Frontier' on Amazon but came up with a whole load of options but nothing specific to this subject.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I just checked, and it's still on Netflix, at least chez moi.

 

[workman]

I've stayed away from this one so far, since I've only seen it recommended by women who find the antagonist to be handsome. So yes Jay, please elaborate :nana:

 

[warren]

Jay: Swans (Tundra and Trumpeter) migrate through my area, Southcentral Alaska, on the way to the Arctic every year. The Mute Swan, Eurasia, also makes it into the the Arctic. Black Swans in the Americas and Europe are simply color variations of the indigenous swans per Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

 

[trudger]

Swan squeezer. I will never see the pipes the same again.

 

[jaytex1969]

Jay #1, it's a Netfilx original series, so you may not find it elsewhere.
IMDB link:
FRONTIER

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I've recently enjoyed the Netflix series, Frontier, which is a tale about some of the characters in and around the Hudson Bay area back in the day.

I enjoy the show also. It's quite good.

 

[cortezattic]

Confirms my opinion of bagpiping. :lol:

 

[mawnansmiff]

Warren, thanks for the ornithology lesson, if anyone knew the answer it would be you.
Jay (the other one), alas I don't have Netflix or indeed any PPV tv.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Jay, the other other one, you could get Netflix in the UK if you wished, yes? There might be a free trial. (It's all streaming, and not PPV per se.)

 

[mawnansmiff]

Warren, tonight I'll be watching the second episode (of 3) of the acclaimed BBC documentary "Alaska: Earth's Frozen Kingdom" which is about your short summer. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any swans ::
John (The only one), I'll wait for the DVD edition should it appear.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[anantaandroscoggin]

As a person who actually enjoys bagpipe music, I remember running across a similar description: "Looked like he had a cat under his arm, with it's tail in his mouth, biting it, and sounding the same."

 

[davet]

Here's a picture of Pelicans in northern Alberta Jay. Taken from the roof of a power plant with my phone :| Most people don't realize the range of some of these migrations.