BAG 



19(3 



BAH 



iiagpipe. been adapted to it, is almost the same in every re- 

 ' ' '* spect. The principal difference consists in the reeds 



being constructed to produce a louder sound, and 

 the drones are shorter. Third, The small, or Nor- 

 thumbrian bagpipe, which is the Scottish bagpipe in 

 miniature. Properly speaking, the Scottish bagpipe 

 has but eight or nine good notes : one or two more 

 may be gained by what pipers technically call pinch- 

 ing, that is, half covering the thumb hole, which 

 sometimes is attended with the most disagreeable 

 tones. Nothing is so well adapted for the bagpipe 

 as tunes consisting of few notes, and all set on the same 

 key ; for its compass is really very limited, and by 

 no means of that extent of which most performers 

 endeavour to persuade themselves. From the limited 

 vompass of the instrument, and its imperfections, we 

 lind but little music written for it ; to which may be 

 added another reason, that those in general who can 

 play cannot write. The favourite and peculiar mu- 

 sic is the Highland Pibrach, which we confess has 

 always appeared to us utterly unintelligible. It is 

 supposed to be a battle piece, a march, a lamentation, 

 or the like ; and sometimes occupies a complete half 

 hour or more in performance. 



Of the progressive history and improvement of the 

 bagpipe to its present state, we know very little. It 

 is supposed that there are allusions to an instrument 

 of similar construction in sacred writ ; and there is 

 no doubt that it is the origin of the organ. Perhaps 

 it first consisted of an inflated bag alone, with the 

 pipe and reed ; and in such a form it seems to have 

 been used by the Greeks, and also at a later period by 

 less civilized nations. By the Romans it was called 

 tibia utricularia, and, as certain authors have con- 

 ceived, chorus, or choraulus, and it was probably 

 played in the same way as the modern Highlanders 

 play it. 



Jit rum nndtifari tonius cui tibia buxo 

 Tandnn post e}>idas et pocuta mutticctorrm 

 Ventriculum iumpmt, bucaisi/ue injiare rubente} 

 Incipient ocidos aperit, eiliisoue trvatis 

 Jifultoliesi/ue alto jlatu e puimonibus hausto 

 Utrem mjJet, cubito vocem dot tibia presto 

 JVkhc hue nunc illuc digilo salicnte. 



Virgil. 



Suetonius speaks of the bagpipe ; and it appears 

 that Nero, the Roman emperor, played on it. On 

 one of his coins a bagpipe appears, and we are told 

 of a piece of sculpture, not long ago in Rome, of 

 this instrument, greatly resembling its present form. 

 The sculpture was supposed Grecian. St Jerome, 

 in his epistle to Dardanus, alludes to the bagpipe in 

 its more simple shape : antiquis temporibusfutt chorus 

 qiwque simplex pedis cum tiuabus cicutis cereis, et per 

 primam itispiratum secunda vocem emiitit. In France 

 it appears likewise in its simple state, in the Danse 

 ties Aveugles, in the 15th century ; and it is among 

 the instruments represented in the Dance of Death, 



at Basle, in Switzerland. 



The bagpipe is said to be of great antiquity in 

 Ireland, and to have been early known in Britain. 

 In the twelfth, or thirteenth century, we see it re* 

 presented without drones, or with only one, having 

 a flag, bearing a coat armorial, such as was recently 

 used in the Highlands of Scotland. King Edward III. 



had pipers ; and Chaucer, speaking of the minstrels, Ilafpipr, 



a vagrant tribe, describes the bagpipe under the Ba hama. 



name of cornmusc, which is the appellation at present "" 

 given to it in France : 



Commute and shalmes, many a floyte and lytlynge home. 



Among the musicians of Queen Elizabeth's house* 

 hold are named piper.. 



With regard to the introduction of the bagpipe 

 into Scotland, we are altogether uncertain. Emi 

 nent authors have affirmed, that it was not known at 

 the battle of Bannockburn, in 1 314. But a bagpipe,, 

 with one drone, appears among the sculptures on 

 Melrose Abbey, which, we are told, is a very old 

 edifice. James I. of Scotland, who was murdered in 

 1436, is said to have been a performer on this instru- 

 ment. We only know of its being in general use 

 during the last, or perhaps the preceding century. 

 At present it enters the list of military instruments, for 

 every Highland regiment has a piper ; and, as a na- 

 tional instrument, we have heard of institutions for 

 teaching it in the isles of Mull and Skye. Neither 

 pupil nor preceptor, however, being able to read, 

 musical notes were represented by pins driven into 

 the ground. To encourage the cultivation of this 

 instrument, annual premiums have been recently dis- 

 tributed by the Highland Society to the most emi- 

 nent performers. A competition, generally in the 

 end of July, takes place before a committee of that 

 Society at Edinburgh, who decide on the merits of 

 the candidates. The competition lasts several hours ; 

 and Highland dances, introduced by way of interlude, 

 are performed with uncommon skill and agility. We 

 doubt if this kind of music can ever be brought 

 to great perfection, on account of the defects insepa- 

 rable from the instrument. But the passionate attach- 

 ment which the Highlanders display for it, and the 

 use of which it has actually been in gaining victories 

 on the day of battle, render it a fit subject for en- 

 couragement. See Bartholinus De 'Tibit.s Vctcrum. 

 Montfaucou Antiquit. expliq. Essai sut la Mitsique, 

 torn. i. Fordun Scotichronicon. Pennant's Tour in 

 Scotland, vol. i.ii. Kotzebue's Travels in Italy. Strutt's 

 Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, (c) 



BAHAMA Islands, a name given by the Eng- 

 lish to that cluster of small islands, rocks, and reefs 

 called by the Spaniards Lticayos, which stretch, ia 

 a north-westerly direction, from the northern coast 

 of Hispaniola to the Bahama strait, opposite the Flo- 

 rida shore ; a space of near 300 leagues, from about 

 22 to 28 of N. Lat. and from about 70 to 80 of 

 W. Long. The whole number of these islands, com- 

 prehending those, whose smalluess, barren soil, or 

 want of water, render them uninhabitable, amounts to 

 about 500. Of these, the principal are Providence, 

 27 miles long, and 11 broad, whose capital, Nassau, 

 is the seat of government ; Abaco, Harbour Island, 

 Eluthera, Exuma, St Salvadore, called by the In* 

 dians Guanahani, Long Island, Andros, and BiminL 

 These islands, though unimportant in themselves, and 

 but little known to European geographers, are enti- 

 tled to particular notice, as it was on one of them that 

 the great Columbus first landed, after a voyage, the 

 most adventurous and magnificent in design, and the 

 most hnportant in its consequences to the two heittr- 



