There are as many bagpipe players per capita in Utah as there are in Scotland

[Matty Ross]

Calling o' the pipes
http://www.standard.net/stories/2012...alling-o-pipes

[OC Richard]

I wonder if that's true.

It would be difficult to establish, in the first place, what constitutes a "bagpipe player".

Is a "bagpipe player" anyone who owns a set of pipes, working or not? Or anyone who can produce a sound out his pipes, whether musical, correct, or not? Or is the label "bagpipe player" restricted to those who have achieved a certain level of proficiency? What would that level be, and who would decide what level each person had attained?

Then it would be just as difficult to count how many existed in a particular area. What if a great player exists but doesn't play in public? How might he be counted?

What I did once, a few years ago, was to look at the list of solo piping competitors at some of our local Games, as published in the Games' programmes. Each piper's place of residence is listed, so it's a simple matter to find out how many pipers in an area compete in solos. That's a start, but leaves out all the pipers of whatever level who don't compete solo.

Or, one could make a list of all the pipe bands in an area and calculate the number of pipers. Of course this leaves out all the pipers who don't play in a band.

One could count both, but some pipers would be counted twice, and many would not be counted at all.

So, I'm skeptical of any such "per capita" claims until the person making the claim reveals how they arrived at their numbers.