Schoolboy facing ban on bagpipes

CBBC Newsround ^ | 12/09/2005

[sionnsar]

A teenager has been told to pipe down by his local council - literally!

Andrew Caulfield, 13, from Paisley in Scotland, was told to keep quiet after his neighbours complained about him playing the bagpipes in his garden.

The council decided to take action after everyone in his street signed a petition to get him to stop.

But his mum, Elaine, is angry, because Andrew is taking part in a scheme run by the same council to encourage kids to take up the traditional instrument.

She accused the council of being "two-faced" because they also wanted him to take part in official events, like Paisley's Santa parade.

But a council spokeswoman said: "We have received several complaints and a petition signed by local residents referring to excessive noise from the outdoor playing of bagpipes.

They tested Andrew's pipes and found they were louder than the accepted limit, she said.

'Frustrating'

The spokeswoman added that this case would not affect other school children who are learning to play the bagpipes, as they would all be given a special type of instrument to take home, which is much quieter.

Andrew has also since switched to a quieter set of pipes, but is still not allowed to play them without his neighbours agreeing to it.

He said "I love piping and not being able to play at home is very frustrating."

[sionnsar]

"like Paisley's Santa parade"

Need anything more be said?

[sionnsar]

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[Bosco]

Playing highland pipes is like owning an elephant: Everyone knows you have them.

[kingu]

What a crock. Yes, they're loud, and it makes sense to have training pipes, but please - does a kid with a drum get treated the same way? Just as load (and sometimes louder.)

[Khurkris]

BASTIDS!

[Polybius]

What a crock. Yes, they're loud, and it makes sense to have training pipes, but please - does a kid with a drum get treated the same way?

Yes, because kids with drums don't set up their drum sets outdoors in their gardens.

It seems that the parents want him to play outdoors and the neighbors want him to play indoors.

[kingu]

Yes, because kids with drums don't set up their drum sets outdoors in their gardens.

Perhaps it is a regional thing, but around here, kids set up their drums in the garage, which usually doesn't make much difference in overall sound level.

[Polybius]

Perhaps it is a regional thing, but around here, kids set up their drums in the garage, which usually doesn't make much difference in overall sound level.

I live in the Puget Sound area. Around here, if you set up outdoors in the garden, the drums get water-logged and the guitarists get electrocuted. ;-)

[sionnsar]

I live in the Puget Sound area. Around here, if you set up outdoors in the garden, the drums get water-logged and the guitarists get electrocuted. ;-)

I live in the Puget Sound area too. The neighbor kid plays his drums indoors, for what difference it makes.

I get complaints that I don't play my pipes outdoors enough. And this climate is near perfect for pipes...

[Welsh Rabbit]

There used to be a guy who practiced the pipes deep in some woods where I would walk my dog sometimes. Good thing for his neighbors, he was awful. The pipes can be beautiful; but in the hands of an amateur, they're an instrument of torture.

[AlbertWang]

There used to be a guy who practiced the pipes deep in some woods where I would walk my dog sometimes. Good thing for his neighbors, he was awful. The pipes can be beautiful; but in the hands of an amateur, they're an instrument of torture.

I suspect that this is the case with young Andrew- probably has not fully mastered the pipes, or more likely, sounds like a goose in a garbage grinder.

[metmom]

...the same council to encourage kids to take up the traditional instrument.

People should be careful what they wish for, they just might get it.

[SoDak]

The guy across the street from me has a set of bagpipes and plays them in his backyard from time to time in the summer. He's pretty good, so no one's complained or shot at him yet.

[LiteKeeper]

I love the Pipes...add me to this ping list!

[decal]

There's always the practice chanter...

[Mordacious]

Schoolboy facing ban on bagpipes

Yeah, like that'll work. Everyone knows that you can't stop a schoolboy from playing with his bagpipes.

[Redleg Duke]

There is a new invention here in the "Colonies". It is call the hearing protector. Let those intolerant jerks buy some and put them on.

I suppose I could express my surprise that the cheeks of their butts didn't suppress the music sufficiently, but that would be politically incorrect and intolerant. :-)

[Redleg Duke]

"I live in the Puget Sound area. Around here, if you set up outdoors in the garden, the drums get water-logged and the guitarists get electrocuted."

You say that as if it were a bad thing!

[Redleg Duke]

The practice chanter is only good for the fingering. Keeping a full stand of pipes going is another matter and takes a bit of practice.

[Rebelbase]

I always thought it would be cool to pour some liquid soap into a set of pipes and then play.