Highland Games – Bagpipers

When I first entered the Scottish Games, I was immediately greeted with the sounds of this bagpipe and drum corps band. The leader with the baton, would stand perfectly still until the song was about to end, then he would raise the baton over his head and wave it gently for a few beats before slamming it to the ground ending the performance. I knew my time was limited, so I started sketching immediately. The group performed about 3 songs before they wrapped things up and disbanded. I was far from finished so I entered the park area following my ears, and headed straight to the Piping Station. Here bag pipers were all standing around rehearsing. I used these individuals to add details to my sketch which had already been blocked in from the first groups performance. As I sketched, a bagpiper approached ma and asked “Excuse me sir, you’re not a Steward Check are you?” I of course replied “No” since I didn’t know what a Steward Check was. Looking around I finally realized that there were Stewards seated in small tented areas who were judging individual bagpiper’s performances. The performer would play his pipes marching back and forth in front of the Steward. The pipers who were waiting would talk nervously to each other anticipating their turn. I added the background from the bagpipe station rather then the parking lot where I first saw this group. There were hundreds of bagpipers at the Highland Games. You could here them from where ever you were all day long.