The national instrument of Scotland, the Bagpipe, or "piob-mhor" in Gaelic (the great pipe) does not have its origins in Scotland. The bagpipe has its origins in the Middle East and moved into Europe.

The first documented bagpipe was discovered on a Hittite slab at Eyuk. This sculptured bagpipe has been dated to about 1,000 B.C.

A Biblical reference of the bagpipe is in Genesis and in the third Chapter of Daniel. It calls the "symphonia" in Nebuchadnezzar's band and is believed to have been an early bagpipe.

Early pipes or "Pan pipes", without a bag or reservoir, were perhaps the second musical instrument to advance. Early pipes used natural materials with a natural bore (hollow reeds, corn stalks, bamboos, etc.) and have not survived, only in historical references.

The next evolution was the Roman bagpipe; called the "tibia utricularis". This instrument introduced a major innovation - the addition of the reservoir. There are Roman coins from this period showing Nero playing the bagpipe, not the fiddle.

One early bagpipe, the "Dudel-Sack" gave rise to a number of European, Asian and African folk bagpipes, namely, the Volynka (U.S.S.R.), the Bock (German), the Zukra (North Africa), the Gaita (Portugal and Spain), the Zampogna (Italy), the Cornemuse (France), the Moshug (India), the Zumarah (Egypt), and Flemish, Polish, Greek and Hungarian examples.

A large and completely documented collection of these instruments can be found in the Musical Instrument section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Additionally, examples of early folk bagpipes are found in the paintings of Breughel, Teniers, Jordaens and Durer.

Most Americans are familiar with traditional Scottish Highland Bagpipes. These pipes have the standard three drones that come out the top of the bag and produce a constant sound, a single chanter with only nine notes of the pipe scale produce the music you hear.

The reservoir or bag is made from sheep or elk skin which the piper operates or presses with his arm when he needs to take a breath. This is what makes pipe music free from pauses.

Highland Pipes are only one of over thirty different types of bagpipes that have been in use throughout the world.

The Spanish, French, Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Tunisians, Indians, Greeks, and countless other cultures have developed bagpipes of their own. These bagpipes have any number of drones, some with up to eight coming out of the top, bottom, or side of the bag. Among the more famous bagpipes outside the British Isles are the Spanish Galicia which is like the Scottish bagpipe as far as the bag and air supply, but only has one drone.

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