Irish Kilt?

[OC Richard]

Yes, the bagpipe probably did begin in the Middle East

This is one of those things for which there is, as far as I have been able to discover, no evidence whatsoever, but which has through sheer repetition has come to be regarded as true (at least by those who choose not to be guided by evidence).

To me, the present distribution of bagpipe species indicates the opposite, that the type of bagpipe found in a wide swath from along the North African coast all the way to India is a relatively recent introduction.

With genetics and linguistics the region of greatest variation is usually the point of origin. Thus it's obvious that all modern humans had an African origin because of the far greater DNA diversity there (in fact all non-Africans on earth are an outgroup from a single African group). When you find relatively little DNA diversity over large areas it indicates a more recent and rapid spread. And the same is so in linguistics: you wouldn't have to know the history of the distribution of the English language to know that Britain is the point of origin and that it was introduced into Australia more recently than it was North America... the amount of variation vis a vis the size of the area of distribution tells you that.

And so it is with traditional things like musical instruments... they continuously (though slowly) evolve and are spread and the point of greatest variation is most likely the point of origin, and when you see very little variation spread over a vast area that tells of a recent introduction and rapid spread (as with the case of "Arabic" bagpipes).

So where is this area of greatest variation? I would say the Balkans, with dozens of species in a very small area, with things like counterdrones etc etc, and secondarily central France.

BTW that's great info there about the adoption of the Highland pipes by Irish revivalists. Francis O Neill, the great Irish champion of traditional Irish music and especially of the uilleann pipes, wrote disparagingly about the Irish rushing to adopt the Highland pipes at the very time it was happening (1900-1910). I've quoted his bitter remarks here before... he was afraid that the Highland pipes would oust the uilleann pipes altogether, and it's true that at that time the uilleann pipes were in decline. But now of course there are more uilleann pipers than ever, something Francis O Neill couldn't have forseen.

I should also point out that like the traditional Irish costume, the ancient Irish Warpipe also became extinct as a result of the English invasions. No examples exist and its exact construction and musical capabilities are unknown. However a number of tunes thought to be part of the ancient warpipe repertoire did survive in the uilleann repertoire and these suggest that the ancient Irish Warpipe was capable of playing at least one note in the second octave, the note which would be High B on the Highland pipes. Therefore the chanter may have had a less-steeply conical bore than Highland chanters, and more like the bores of the old Lowland Pipes chanters and Central French chanters.

Evidently the ancient Irish Warpipe had its two drones in a common stock, which BTW is a very common (!) thing in British bagpipes as well (even Highland pipes, early on, had the two tenors in a common stock). But it's not known if the two drones were in octaves or in 4ths or 5ths.