Pipes in Unexpected Places

**KD Burke** · 14th June 14, 12:20 PM

A recent thread about an unexpected bagpipe appearance in a recent movie got me to thinking of other odd confluences of piping and pop culture.

I recall a movie from the 1980s in which a man used highland bagpipes as a snake-charming instrument to prevent a reptilian Amanda Donohoe from attacking him. It was called "Lair of the White Worm" and featured a shockingly young Hugh Grant.

So, anyone have other places where the pipes have made an incongruous appearance?

**Steve Ashton** · 14th June 14, 06:14 PM

You may want to check out the video "They Pipe Among Us" made by the stand-up comedian "Johnny Bagpipes".

Bar owners, Oil drillers, housewives, and even a bush pilot.

Here is Johnny on stage at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival in his Freedom Kilt.

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And here is a youtube

**Ron Abbott** · 14th June 14, 06:21 PM

Not sure who this is and I'm not sure who to give credit to for posting it, but it certainly brought a smile to my face:-

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**Blupiper** · 16th June 14, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Abbott

Not sure who this is and I'm not sure who to give credit to for posting it, but it certainly brought a smile to my face:-

That's Portland, OR, and I don't know who the kid is. He has a number of videos on YouTube with unicycle and Darth Vader rig.

JMB

PS_Oh, yeah, I can read--see the White Stag sign in the background of the pic.

**OC Richard** · 17th June 14, 06:59 PM

Hard to get more 'unexpected' than a Bagpipe Flash Mob!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7dh-RxXBCo

**KentuckyCeltophile** · 17th June 14, 07:37 PM

Was in the ruins of Jerash, Jordan a few months ago. Heard the pipes being played in the amphitheatre. Let me say the sound was brilliant. My wife rolled her eyes and said, "Only I could find the only 2 bagpipes in the entire Middle East." Quite an awesome experience. I'll post pics when I can.
KC

**Riverkilt** · 17th June 14, 09:42 PM

In the movie Dance Me Outside - about First People in Canada - they're having a phony initiation ceremony to induct a Caucasian guy into the tribe...when the action heats up the background music is bagpipes. Never see a piper - but the bagpipe music in the movie seems so out of place - even though it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-te6bEiqHo

**Dileasgubas** · 18th June 14, 04:32 AM

Originally Posted by KentuckyCeltophile

Was in the ruins of Jerash, Jordan a few months ago. Heard the pipes being played in the amphitheatre. Let me say the sound was brilliant. My wife rolled her eyes and said, "Only I could find the only 2 bagpipes in the entire Middle East." Quite an awesome experience. I'll post pics when I can.
KC

I have been in several Middle Eastern / Mahgreb countries (Egypt, Kuwait, Morrocco, and most recently, Libya) and have come across the pipes in every one of them. It is hard to suppress a smile when watching Libyan police forces marching to the tune of Heilan Laddie! It must be because the sound carries so well.

**KentuckyCeltophile** · 18th June 14, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by Dileasgubas

I have been in several Middle Eastern / Mahgreb countries (Egypt, Kuwait, Morrocco, and most recently, Libya) and have come across the pipes in every one of them. It is hard to suppress a smile when watching Libyan police forces marching to the tune of Heilan Laddie! It must be because the sound carries so well.

It was very different context, but the Highland pipes make me smile everywhere I have heard them. Seeing me in keffiyahs playing the pipes, and even noticed the Royal Stewart plaid on their drones. Anywhere I hear the pipes, I am drawn like a moth to flames. Sometimes draws out a tear of joy.
KC