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| Danny Boyle (from left to right) Noreen Boyle, and Marty McAndrew. |
The Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band are new to the bagpipe scene, being only 100 years old this year.
To put that in perspective, bagpipes are mentioned in the Bible, in Daniel, and were common throughout the ancient world.
"When Rome was burning, Nero was not fiddling," Noreen Boyle said. "He was playing the pipes."
Boyle has a bit of history herself. She played at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, twice, and this past weekend at the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade.
"I've been in the band for 62 years," said Boyle, 74. "I was 12 when I started. That's where I met my husband."
That's Danny Boyle, in the band only 58 years, whose parents hailed from Donegal. "We were born into it," he said.
The Great Highlands pipes they play have four parts: a bag, providing a continual supply of air; a blowpipe, to puff air into the bag; a chanter, with holes to finger the melody; and three drones, providing that distinctive continuous wail, called a "skirl."
"They'd 'send in the Irish,' hoping to scare the enemy, by having the pipes drone," said Rovers manager Marty McAndrew. "It's an unusual sound and carries in the mist. It was considered an instrument of war by the English — some people today still don't want a bagpipe in a church."
The bagpipes were indeed viewed as weapons of war — an English judge ruled so in 1746, condemning a man to hang for wielding them. They were deployed in battle in World War I, with Scottish pipers leading charges out of the trenches, suffering terrible casualties.
Nor can we overlook Bill Millin , who went ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in kilt and bonnet, armed with his pipes and dagger, marching up and down Sword Beach, playing "Highland Laddie." German snipers later reported they had him in their sights the whole time but did not fire, out of respect for the courage of the madman.
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