"Scottish Bagpipes" Topic

Does anyone know the color of the "bag" on the bagpipes? The only picture I found in my library is from Funken's which has it a very dark grey or black.

Tartan.

While some were covered with tartan material, there are other period examples with nothing ( so brown/dark brown leather ) and others with solid color covers that appear to be wool or velvet.

So any color your Col. wants should be fine.

Bagpipe tartan, like the kilts, was sometimes soaked in fat to make them more water proof while on campaign. This caused them to turn a dark, almost black colour, which also went a dusty grey in dry weather conditions. The Black Watch museum has a WW1 kilt on display that has gone through this process and you can barely make out the tartan – and they mention that this was something that happened during the Napoleonic wars as well.

Soaked in fat? Would'nt that attract insects and rodents? Not something I'd like up my kilt nor near my bagpipes!! Bagpipes are seasoned, on the inside to make them more airtight, not waterproof.

I have quite a lot of pictures of piper with the bag cover made in facing colour cloth.

I have never heard this "kilts soaked in fat" story before, or encountered anyone who had ever done this. I wonder if this was a prank played on naive recruits?

No piper in his right mind would soak his bag cover in anything but spilled whisky.

I like that idea of a prank!

Leather is a dried, tanned, thick animal skin. It needs oils or fats to remain flexible. Try washing you skin with rubbing alcohol every 6 hours for a few days and watch it dry and crack. the alcohol extracts the oil from the skin. Does anyone remember polishing belts and shoes with a wax to help preserve them and keep them shiny?

Waxes, greases and oils are all similar "chemicals" that differ in their molecular weight and their softening point. (they soften over a wide range compared to other pure chemicals). They allow the protein in the leather to slide past each other without breaking. I expect that a liquid material would be best for something that required a lot of flexibility.

The definition of "A Gentleman" a man how can play the bagpipes but doesn't.