Sen. Kennedy's funeral mass on TV

[piperdbh]

This morning I watched Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral mass. I was hoping to see some 'pipers, but there were none. Perhaps the heavy rain changed their plans. It was a very moving service, with Yo-Yo Ma, Placido Domingo, Susan Graham and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus providing music. All the living US presidents except Bush Sr. were there, as were senators, representatives and others with whom the Sen. Kennedy worked, as well as many, many Kennedys. The nieces, nephews and grandchildren offered the prayers, the senator's sons and Pres. Obama eulogized him, and a military honor guard provided military honors. One detail that I noticed (that several of you who saw it, too, probably noticed) was that the Cardinal Archbishop's crozier is a cromach, I suppose in honor of his Irishness. With a name like Sean O'Malley, it stands to reason that His Eminence would carry a cromach.
I hope the late senator's family finds peace and comfort in each other and in the condolences offered by those whom he served.

[macwilkin]

was that the Cardinal Archbishop's crozier is a cromach, I suppose in honor of his Irishness. With a name like Sean O'Malley, it stands to reason that His Eminence would carry a cromach.

No, that is a crozier, which is a symbol of the office of Bishop. It is symbolic of the shepherd's crook.

Cromachs are Scottish, not Irish.

T.

[Larry124]

...I hope the late senator's family finds peace and comfort in each other and in the condolences offered by those who he served.

x2

I watched also. Very moving and also interesting.
Maybe a piper at Arlington?
My family at it's height was only a little smaller. My mother and my aunt led the women and girls and my father and my uncle led the men and boys. Those four "elders" shared the leadership seamlessly.

[McClef]

I watched it too and didn't realise how many Kennedys there were. It led to a fair bit of googling.

The respect, even from political opponents, was amazing.

[EagleJCS]

Given that the Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB) is a Scottish instrument, not Irish, I'm not really surprised there weren't any. (At least not officially. There may have been one or two pipers here & there along the route - in Boston &/or DC - that played, but the TV didn't pick them up.)

He was a few years before my time, but I understand that JFK was the one who was a fan of the pipes, which is one reason why the US Air Force Pipe Band was asked/allowed (?) to play at the interment, in addition to members of the Black Watch Pipe Band, who had just been in DC a few weeks earlier. I don't know if other members of the family were aficionados of the GHB or not.

[Larry124]

Slightly off-topic...

From Thomas Childs on the Bob Dunsire Bagpipe Forums:

The piper [at Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s funeral] was P/M Iain Massie, former Royal Scots Dragoon Guards piper and currently P/M & instructor to Worcester Kilties. I know he played Mist Covered Mountains for part of the procession. This tune was chosen because it was the same tune piped for JFK's funeral back in 1963.

[macwilkin]

Given that the Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB) is a Scottish instrument, not Irish, I'm not really surprised there weren't any. (At least not officially. There may have been one or two pipers here & there along the route - in Boston &/or DC - that played, but the TV didn't pick them up.)

He was a few years before my time, but I understand that JFK was the one who was a fan of the pipes, which is one reason why the US Air Force Pipe Band was asked/allowed (?) to play at the interment, in addition to members of the Black Watch Pipe Band, who had just been in DC a few weeks earlier. I don't know if other members of the family were aficionados of the GHB or not.

There were also contingents of from the Black Watch and the Irish Defence
Forces at JFK's funeral.

[Woodsman]

I read in the paper that at Edward Kennedy's funeral there was bagpipe music by a man in a tux. There were no phots though.

[KFCarter]

I watched a good bit of the graveside ceremony and did not hear any piping.

One extraordinary thing did happen though: as the ceremony drew to a close it became too dark for the tv cameras to read the gravesite. They chose to show shots of the bugler silhouetted by an illuminated facade, and shots of the Washington Monument with a distant thunderstorm behind it. What was truly amazing was that the correspondents had the good grace to STOP TALKING to allow the audience to simply take in the moment. The bugler played TAPS with no accompanying "chatter". We heard Kennedy's grandchildren speak and the sound of cicadas without anyone telling us how we should feel. An actual moment of restraint from the "talking heads". Didn't know that was still possible. It was a memorable experience.

[-B-]

I was a bit shocked at the grave side ceremony as there was no echo of taps this is standard practice even for a privet current or retired. During the 80's and 90's I did many a service playing taps always with an echo, sometimes there were two players others just me giving my own echo.