An attractive 925 Sterling Silver keepsake bracelet charm featuring a traditional pair of Scottish Bagpipes suspended from a bead decorated with Highland Knotwork..

This bead will delight lovers of all things Scottish, and the unique and turbulent history of our small country.

They are a perfect fit for all popular charm bracelets and would make a wonderful addition to your charm collection!

All our Keepsake Bead Charms come in a delicate black charm box.

Size (approx) - 25.0mm x 15.0mm.

THE SCOTTISH BAGPIPES

Bagpipes are thought to have been used in ancient Egypt, and were the instrument of the Roman infantry. The origins of the Scottish clans' ‘piob mhor’, or great Highland bagpipe, is uncertain but the Highlanders were the ones to develop the instrument to its fullest extent and make it, both in peace and war, their national instrument.

The original pipes in Scotland probably had, at the most, a single drone. The second drone was added to the pipes in the mid to late 1500s. The first written mention of the "Great Pipes" was in 1623 when a piper from Perth was prosecuted for playing on the Sabbath. The third drone, or the great drone, came into use early in the 1700s.

The Highland piper occupied a high and honored position within the Clan system. Clan pipers titles were mostly hereditary and held in much esteem. The best known were the MacCrimmons, pipers to MacLeod of Dunvegan; the MacAuthurs, pipers to MacDonald of the Isles; the MacKays, pipers to the MacKenzie; the Rankins, pipers to MacLearn of Duart.

As a musical instrument of war, the Great Pipes of the Highlands were without equal, according to historians. The shrill and penetrating notes worked well in the roar and din of battle and pipes could be heard at distances up to 10 miles. Because of the importance of the bagpipes to any Highland army, they were classified as an instrument of war by the Loyalist government during the Highland uprising in the 1700s. After the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745, kilts and bagpipes were outlawed, the pipes being classified as instruments of war.