Okay class: Last war in which the Brits were actually "piped" into combat? It happened not intentionally. I cannot offer a citation for the answer as I heard it from a Scotsman while attending an event in London.
Kilts?
- Thread starter tslex
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
warren, I don't know, but I have a remote recollection that this happened at least once during World War I when Brit and Scot units were operating in proximity.
Footnote: Also, when the Scots show you their crown jewels, they call them "the real crown jewels," whereas the ones in London, according to Scot tour guides, are just pilfered from the British colonies, or some such.
Footnote: Also, when the Scots show you their crown jewels, they call them "the real crown jewels," whereas the ones in London, according to Scot tour guides, are just pilfered from the British colonies, or some such.
No, no tslex. Not offering any opinion on Irish politics! I don't look my best with two black eyes and an arm in a sling 
If I had to guess, and a guess only it is, I would say the Falklands War. Only because it was so recent that it would be anachronistic.
MSO- your post reminds me of a terrible joke. "My wife and I are both feminists, but of course I'm better at it!".
If I had to guess, and a guess only it is, I would say the Falklands War. Only because it was so recent that it would be anachronistic.MSO- your post reminds me of a terrible joke. "My wife and I are both feminists, but of course I'm better at it!".
I was told that it was in Korea. A group, company? of Scots were marching on a road from point A to point B. The pipers, real Scottish "war pipe" pipers (not a Dunhill in the lot), were piping when the group was attacked. The pipers never dropped a chanter and the drummers never missed a beat as the troops changed face and charged the almost equally surprised enemy.
That's pretty much the story as related to me by an old gent as we watched the "Horse Guards" prepare to parade. It was a stirring story as a band was playing in the background, sun was glinting off of breast plates and sabres as the troopers and horses arranged themselves into line. I believe the story was triggered when my wife no one in particular why there were no pipes at the display. "It's not a Scots unit." The man answered her.
That's pretty much the story as related to me by an old gent as we watched the "Horse Guards" prepare to parade. It was a stirring story as a band was playing in the background, sun was glinting off of breast plates and sabres as the troopers and horses arranged themselves into line. I believe the story was triggered when my wife no one in particular why there were no pipes at the display. "It's not a Scots unit." The man answered her.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that those caught up in the lore and legend of ole timey Scotland are not up to speed on the politics of contemporary Scotland.
That has worked out just swimmingly.
As for pipes in battle, I cannot speak to the last time. But the pipes were famously played at the landing on Sword Beach at Normandy, on orders from Simon Fraser, who equally famously countermanded orders of the War Office that pipes should only be played on parade, or some such.
(And certainly the Scots have us there. Uileann bagpipes don't really lend themselves to that traditional wartime application, what with the knee bellows and all.)
ETA: That would make a funny sketch: The Irish warriors become envious of the Scots' tactical success with the bagpipes, and form a unit of uilleann pipers to lead them into battle, the poor bastard trying to march while squeezing the bellows with their knees.
(And certainly the Scots have us there. Uileann bagpipes don't really lend themselves to that traditional wartime application, what with the knee bellows and all.)
ETA: That would make a funny sketch: The Irish warriors become envious of the Scots' tactical success with the bagpipes, and form a unit of uilleann pipers to lead them into battle, the poor bastard trying to march while squeezing the bellows with their knees.
I have read The Squad.
As for President Roosevelt, I have not read Morris. My take on President Roosevelt is that he spent his life trying to life up to his image of himself. That he was no longer that sickly child but, a "real" man, a man's man and self-made at that. Again, another man who was at the right place in the right time and, perhaps most importantly, a man with some brash ideas for a young and brash country. He had the personality to carry through on what he thought was right. An impressive man, almost theatrical, bigger than life with a zest for that life.
I'll put the trilogy on my list . Thanks for mentioning it.
As for President Roosevelt, I have not read Morris. My take on President Roosevelt is that he spent his life trying to life up to his image of himself. That he was no longer that sickly child but, a "real" man, a man's man and self-made at that. Again, another man who was at the right place in the right time and, perhaps most importantly, a man with some brash ideas for a young and brash country. He had the personality to carry through on what he thought was right. An impressive man, almost theatrical, bigger than life with a zest for that life.
I'll put the trilogy on my list . Thanks for mentioning it.
My apologies, my old friend tslex, for having to bring that up
It's certainly not unique to Scotland, it must be said, this modern malaise of, well, you know....
It's certainly not unique to Scotland, it must be said, this modern malaise of, well, you know....
warren, I don't think that take on TR ("that he spent his life trying to life up to his image of himself") is wrong. Indeed, that's a core truth about him. But I'd respectfully suggest it is incomplete. A fascinating and complex man.
The Morris series is a commitment -- took me all of a summer to work through them a couple years ago -- but you won't be sorry to have given the time.
The Morris series is a commitment -- took me all of a summer to work through them a couple years ago -- but you won't be sorry to have given the time.
As I cannot stand the traditional "Here Comes the Bride" wedding march, my wife and I were married to the sweet ululations of the Seven Pipers Society pipe and drum corps. Best music ever. We had a semi-open bar: Guinness, Jameson's, and Bushmills were free, everything else had to be paid for. I suppose that's the closest I've ever come to being piped into battle. Most people there said it was the best wedding they had ever been to.
warren, you'll be glad you did. (I guess the Kindle versions are more compact -- the hardcopies run from 800 to 900 pages each.)
aldecaker, I have to confess to an addiction to latakia. Nearly everything I smoke has some or, more usually, a lot. Old Dog, Penzance, Margate, FMOTT, HH lat flakes, Squadron Leader -- all favorites. The only aro I ever smoke is the occasional bowl of L1Q in a cob if I have an irresistible hankering for dessert. And, I realized very early on, I just cannot abide Periques. OGS, Navy slice, any VaPer -- I'm intrigued by the aroma, and even the taste, but Periques cause an immediate headache and general "icky"feeling. Who can explain it?
As for your wedding:
1. My first wedding 30+ years ago featured an Irish band lead by my good friend. They were outstanding and it was great to see folks who would have said they "didn't like Irish music" being converted.
2. I LOVE your notion of a semi open bar, featuring both the "catholic" and the "protestant" Irish whiskeys (now made in the same distillery).
aldecaker, I have to confess to an addiction to latakia. Nearly everything I smoke has some or, more usually, a lot. Old Dog, Penzance, Margate, FMOTT, HH lat flakes, Squadron Leader -- all favorites. The only aro I ever smoke is the occasional bowl of L1Q in a cob if I have an irresistible hankering for dessert. And, I realized very early on, I just cannot abide Periques. OGS, Navy slice, any VaPer -- I'm intrigued by the aroma, and even the taste, but Periques cause an immediate headache and general "icky"feeling. Who can explain it?
As for your wedding:
1. My first wedding 30+ years ago featured an Irish band lead by my good friend. They were outstanding and it was great to see folks who would have said they "didn't like Irish music" being converted.
2. I LOVE your notion of a semi open bar, featuring both the "catholic" and the "protestant" Irish whiskeys (now made in the same distillery).
One detail from Scottish history, or from the biography of one Scot. Queen Victoria, who I think was the longest serving British monarch (although the current queen is closing in) had many (9?) children and apparently one lively marriage with her husband Prince Albert, while presiding over an era of intense prudishness in the general population. Piano legs were covered out of modesty, as one famous example. After she had been a widow for years, Victoria became close to one of her Scottish attendants, a Mr. Brown, who offered companionship and -- by some accounts, it seems likely -- a lot more. Brown was properly deferential to his queen and extremely protective of her, and seemed to prompt her out of a long melancholy. I believe Mr. Brown was a kilt wearer, which may have caught Victoria's eye. Victoria was a extra diminutive woman but of a lively nature.
Quite an entertaining movie made on that story:
Mrs. Brown
Billy Connolly and Judi Dench are outstanding in it.
Mrs. Brown
Billy Connolly and Judi Dench are outstanding in it.
I've got two "training kilts" (Utilikilts, as referred to by an auld Scotsman selling the real thing at a local Ren Faire), and two of the real thing (so-called) - 9-yard wool, Clan Buchanan, one modern tartan ("The Targe") and one Hunting Tartan. I've been gradually acquiring a full formal set of accessories (Prince Charlie jacket and waistcoat, evening sporran, etc.), and conversely enjoy wearing the less formal versions when I'm out and about.
As for the "Kilt Lifter" appellation for Scottish Ales, there are a number of those out there (Pike Brewing in Seattle among them). Ease of access, y'know... As Utilikilts put it on a t-shirt, "Better to be caught with your kilt up than your trousers down."
As for the "Kilt Lifter" appellation for Scottish Ales, there are a number of those out there (Pike Brewing in Seattle among them). Ease of access, y'know... As Utilikilts put it on a t-shirt, "Better to be caught with your kilt up than your trousers down."
Welcome to the thread, phred. You seem a very like minded fellow.
I know the Buchanan clan claims many, many names (or septs, as I think they are called by you folks). I was at a Grandfather Mountain highland games some years ago and it seemed one couldn't swing a dead cat -- let alone toss a caber -- without hitting a Buchanan. And old, and fine, and substantial line. And a handsome tartan, too.
(I do envy you Scots those tartans. See discussion, supra.)
I know the Buchanan clan claims many, many names (or septs, as I think they are called by you folks). I was at a Grandfather Mountain highland games some years ago and it seemed one couldn't swing a dead cat -- let alone toss a caber -- without hitting a Buchanan. And old, and fine, and substantial line. And a handsome tartan, too.
(I do envy you Scots those tartans. See discussion, supra.)
Thanks, tslex. I do enjoy target shooting - though my eyesight's not what it used to be. :D
As for "tartan envy", it's well known among history students that the whole "clan tartan" thing is a load of codswallop, developed after the 1746 Act of Proscription was repealed in 1782, and has more to do with Sir Walter Scot's romantic notions and the shenanigans of certain woolen cloth merchants than it does with actual clan and tartan history. :D
As for "tartan envy", it's well known among history students that the whole "clan tartan" thing is a load of codswallop, developed after the 1746 Act of Proscription was repealed in 1782, and has more to do with Sir Walter Scot's romantic notions and the shenanigans of certain woolen cloth merchants than it does with actual clan and tartan history. :D
- Status