Storytelling is one of the many age old rituals that take place when people gather and drink whisky.
As part of Fable Whisky’s identity, I was commisioned to create the first set of illustrations and animation short to accompany the release of the bottle. The idea being that as you sample the whisky you also submerge yourself in the story. For this, they chose a legend that really represents the mystery and rugged beauty of Scotland: The Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay
when i dipped my toes into the waters of DMing a dnd campaign i made around 20 or so npcs one of which the players latched on to really quickly being this one!
meet Essa a very shy woman with a very special magical item, the bagpipes of holding, these bagpipes work as a bag of holding (of course) and they have special compartments (4 to be precise) which store finesse or ranged weapons each, and as you can see in the image, when Essa plays the right notes, depending on which compartment she activates, either a projectile shoots out of one of the pipes, or a finesse weapon makes a violent thrust motion stabbing the target, to be able to use the combat features of this item you need to have expertise in performance, otherwise this item is a fancy bagpipe that you can play at parties giving you advantage on performance rolls and use for your grocery shopping.
Essa is from a tiny village of elite bard artisans and musicians, she is the first kid that was born out of said comunity of elite people, she was entrusted with this giant responsibility to explore the world and make a name for herself before becoming a champion and returning with the highest expectations to her family and community. you can maybe understand why she looks nervous most of the time, or why shes running out of air in the middle of combat.
Print by Félix Bracquemond (1871). Three-quarter portrait in profile sitting on a stool at desk, possibly drawing on a woodblock. Bagpipes hanging behind to the left.
Very often I find people saying that something is bad because they’re comparing it to something that seems similar on a surface level, but ultimately serves a different function. If they knew and considered what the thing is actually used for, they could easily reassess their original stance and agree that the thing is very good for the intended purpose.
For an example, let’s take the bagpipes. Of course, they are first and foremost a musical instrument. But if you compared it to a piano or a clarinet, measuring how well it goes for playing soothing chamber music, naturally it would sound fucking awful. But that is not what bagpipes are meantfor. Bagpipes are an instrument of war, to be played out on the rolling hills before battle, for two purposes:
To inspire your brethren and fill their hearts with courage, to rouse their spirits and fill them with conviction that this battle is worth fighting, that this war is worth winning, whatever the cost. To make them want to fight side-by-side with their brothers in arms. To make them want to die, if they must.
To make your enemies want to die.
Bagpipes are for increasing Mystery. If you play them in a non-visible location, your neighbors have to go on a quest to find the source of the cool noise.
There is no release date on the album (either on the album cover, the actual vinyl record, or the insert). I do know that the subsequent album was released in 2001, so this album is older than 2001. When I looked online, there were two dates listed (depending on the website): 1998 and 2000.
I find myself running into interesting Irish words very frequently, and one I found recently I quite liked was plobaireacht, meaning “blubbering, spluttering or babbling, particularly trying to speak, but being unable to while crying.”
I couldn’t come up with much of an etymology, but this looks a lot like another word piobaireachd,(which is a Scottish Gaelic term that has also been adopted into English), meaning “bagpipe music.” I don’t think the two are related in the slightest, but I suppose bagpipes might also make you difficult to understand whilst trying to speak.
The following extract was handed to me by Dave Chapman (Research and Volunteer Co-ordinator at the museum) via Richard Coomber. It vividly details the horrific nature of the Battle of Arras and the significance of the bagpipes during one particular moment of conflict:
Private Walter Teale, of 19 Fletton Terrace, Undercliffe, has been through some heavy engagements at the front with the famous Cameron Highlanders. He was wounded in the Somme battle on the 17th of last August, being injured in the fingers and shoulders.
After a spell in Nottingham Hospital he re-joined his regiment and took part in the great Arras battle and was wounded again on the Bapaume Road, on March 3rd. This time he was sent to the hospital at Clacton-on-Sea and having now recovered, he went to the front for the third time last Tuesday.
Speaking of the Arras battle he says:
“We did about an 18 mile march during the night and opened the ball in a new place at 5 a.m. For five days a torrent of shell fire had been raging at this spot and the ground was ripped and torn and furrowed with the Huns’ big guns, and the air was sulphurous almost to the point of suffocation. When the order was given for our men to go over the top, we did so with right goodwill.
After mounting the parapet we advanced steadily across the shell-swept zone, picking our way between the shell craters and eventually lined up on the slope of the enemy’s parapet before taking part in the last grim struggle. We could see the Germans taking aim at us from behind their defences and then the Highland pipers struck up the Cameron march, which sent an exultant thrill through all our men. I believe it was the music at that moment which made it possible for us to go through the terrible ordeal that followed.
Anyhow, we dashed for the Huns, over the wires, over shell holes, past mined patches and death traps, and faced a torrent of fire aimed at us. At the top of the parapet men gripped each other in deadly embrace. Dead and wounded fell, some sticking on the barbed wire and others rolling down the slope.
The Germans spared neither men nor munitions in their desperate efforts to throw us back. As far as we could see, they were lined along the front, shoulder-to-shoulder, and behind them was another line of reserves ready to be moved up to fill vacancies in the first. Further back still was another line ready to relieve the others when the strain became too great. Of course, we had no such luck as a double-line of reserves. After a desperate struggle we smashed through their first line, though they tried hard to close up the gap we had made by sending forward more men. With us it was a question of holding on or dying where we were. The Germans were furious at our success and hurled their best troops against the Highlanders but we were immoveable and victory remained with us at the end.”
