Posted on 11/08/2004 5:00:50 PM PST by SJackson
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Nov. 06, 2004) -- Amid the thunder of artillery and weapons fire, pipers are heard around Camp Fallujah blaring melodies from their age-old Celtic instruments.
Every day Lt. Col. Paul Sweeney, judge advocate lawyer, and Sgt. Steven Ammer, motor transportation specialist, hone their piping skills, unknowingly raising spirits as their tunes float on the wind to fellow Marines throughout the base.
“For me playing the bagpipes is just relaxing,” said Ammer. “Since I’ll be out here for seven months I figured I’d get some practice, so I had my wife mail my bagpipes to me. I feel renewed when I head back to work after each session.”
While Ammer and Sweeney perform songs like the Marines’ Hymn, service members who pass by stop in their tracks, pausing to listen to the notes that have played for almost 200 years.
“I’m Scottish so when I heard them playing, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” said Staff Sgt. Grant Smillie.
During the middle ages in Scotland and Ireland, the bagpipes were used to rally the troops into battle. The English outlawed the bagpipes in 1366 and declared them an instrument of war. Anyone caught playing the bagpipes were put to death.
“I’ve been playing close to three years,” said Sweeney. “I play with a pipe band back in the rear in Binghamton, New York. I carried mine on the plane all the way from Camp Pendleton.”
But Ammer and Sweeney aren’t the first Marines to pick up the bagpipes to play in a war zone. Several Marine pipers played during the bloody Battle of Peleliu. A Marine lieutenant was observed piping his amphibian tractor ashore on Iwo Jima. In Korea, Sgt. F.H. "Timmy" Killeen piped for his company of the 7th Marines during the numerous Inchon-Seoul night firefights.
“The bagpipes have been used in every major conflict with the Marines,” said Ammer.
Known as war or highland pipes, these instruments were also used during funeral ceremonies when burying fallen comrades. In the early days when a police officer or firefighter was killed in the line of duty, the Irish or Scottish forefathers within these departments ensured that their fallen brothers were buried with full honors. Today, that tradition transcends ethnic, racial and religious lines and the bagpipes are played at police, fire and military funerals regardless of race, color or creed.
“It’s pretty motivating to be here playing my bagpipes,” said Sweeney. “Aside from with my family and friends, I can’t think of a better place to be.”
Binghamton Ping
"Melody" and "Bagpipes" in the same sentence???
Wonderful
Pipers rule boys, don't ya be forgettin' it nae. (personal gloat see my pic)
Big thanks to whoever found this for me last night.
Joseph Kilna McKenzie - Sgt. McKenzie
Original Scottish Version
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon
Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon
Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears
Ains a year say a prayer faur me
Close yir een an remember me
Nair mair shall a see the sun
For a fell tae a Germans gun
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon
Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon
Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
English Translation
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I'll not be afraid
Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears
Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me
Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Where before many more have gone
In memory of Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie
Seaforth Highlanders
Who along with many others gave up his life
So that we can live free
We will remember them
I dinna ken anybody with brains who doesn't love a good round o' pipin' wi' a wee dram afterward.
Extreme warrior music!
This is done by Clan An Drumma.Way cool. Also was in We Were Soldiers. It sounds good on me pipes, too.
Bagpipes always gets my blood up.
From the Halls of Montezuma.
Q: Why do bagpipers walk when they play?
A: To get away from the noise.
Q: What's the only thing worse than a bagpiper?
A: Good question. We're still trying to find out too.
Bagpipes (noun) - I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made object never equalled the purity of sound achieved by the pig. -Alfred Hitchcock
Q. How do you get two bagpipes to play a perfect unison?
A. Shoot one.
Q. What's the definition of a minor second?
A. Two bagpipes playing in unison.
Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and an onion?
A. No one cries when you chop up an bagpipe.
Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and a trampoline?
A. You take off your shoes when you jump on a trampoline.
Q. How can you tell a bagpiper with perfect pitch?
A. He can throw a set into the middle of a pond and not hit any of the ducks.
Q. How is playing a bagpipe like throwing a javelin blindfolded?
A. You don't have to be very good to get people's attention.
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. To get away from the bagpipe recital.
Q. What's the difference between the Great Highland and Northumbrian bagpipes?
A. The GHB burns longer [but the Northumbrian burns hotter]
Q. What do you call bagpiper with half a brain?
A. Gifted.
Q. What's the difference between a lawnmower and a bagpipe?
A. You can tune the lawnmower, and the owner's neighbors are upset if you borrow the lawnmower and don't return it.
Q. How many bagpipers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Five, one to handle the bulb and the other four to contemplate how Bill Livingston would have done it.
Q. How many bagpipers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. 5-one to do it, and four to criticise his fingering style.
Q. If you were lost in the woods, who would you trust for directions, an in-tune bagpipe player, an out of tune bagpipe player, or Santa Claus?
A. The out of tune bagpipe player. The other two indicate you have been hallucinating.
Q. How do you make a chain saw sound like a bagpipe?
A. Add vibrato.
Q. How many bagpipers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Five. One to handle the bulb, the other four to tell him how much better they could have done it.
Q. What's the definition of a gentleman?
A. Someone who knows how to play the bagpipe and doesn't.
Q. Why do bagpipers leave their cases on their dashboards?
A. So they can park in handicapped zones.
Q. What's the definition of a quarter tone?
A. A bagpiper tuning his drones.
Q. What do bagpipers use for birth control?
A. Their personalities.
v Q. What's the difference between a dead bagpiper in the road and a dead country singer in the road?
A. The country singer may have been on the way to a recording session.
Q. What's the range of a bagpipe?
A. Twenty yards if you have a good arm.
Q. What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?
A. A bagpiper.
Q. What did the bagpiper get on his I.Q. test?
A. Drool.
Q. What's one thing you never hear people say?
A. Oh, that's the bagpipe player's Porsche.
Q. Why do bagpipers always walk when they play?
A. Moving targets are harder to hit.
Q. How do you know if a bagpipe band is at your front door?
A. No one knows when to come in.
v Q. Why did the bagpiper get mad at the drummer?
A. He moved a drone and wouldn't tell him which one.
Q. Why are bagpipers fingers like lightning?
A. They rarely strike the same spot twice.
Tom: "Hey, Buddy. How late does the bagpipe band play?"
Buddy: "Oh, about a half beat behind the drummer."
v Q: What's the difference between a Scotsman and a Rolling Stone?
A: A Rolling Stone says "hey you, get off of my cloud!", while a Scotsman says "Hey McLeod, get off of my ewe!"
Q. How can you tell if a bagpipe is out of tune?
A. Someone is blowing into it.
Q. Why is a bagpipe like a Scud missile?
A. Both are offensive and inaccurate.
BTTT
I admit the pipes are definitely an acquired taste, but having been involved with celtic music the past few years I've come to appreciate the talent it takes to play them well. Kudos to these two soldiers.
I used to think bagpipes were annoying but they kind of grow on you the more you hear them. It's a very unique sound and stays with you for a while after they have stopped playing.
Now cut that out. Just because bagpipes provide an automatic drone harmony, doesn't mean there isn't a melody. Egads! In the Orthodox Church, we have singers provide a drone harmony for the chant (in Greek usage it's the only kind of harmony allowed!)
Funny I got XM 76 on right now and they have on country bagpipes
Boot scoot boogie bagpipes?
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