Mar 10
International Bagpipes Day
Piper to the Laird of Grant
Laird of Grant's Piper
Richard Waitt, 1714"O plaintive Pipes, endearing Drones, resound!
Raise faithful hearts, though brave men break and die!"
~ Ode to the Great Highland Pipes, Joseph Charles MacKenzie
This tartan was designed from the accompanying namesake portrait in the National Museum of Scotland titled "Piper to the Laird of Grant" by Richard Waitt, 1714. Museum notes for this painting state: "Oil on canvas painting of the Piper to the Laird of Grant, painted by Richard Waitt in 1714. William Cumming (c. 1687 - c. 1723) belonged to a family of Strathspey musicians who served the Lairds of Grant for about 170 years through seven or more generations. They were an important part of the clan chieftain's traditional retinue and William Cumming is symbolically provided with a uniform of livery, tartan, the bratach or heraldic banner, and with the chieftain's head house of Castle Grant in the background."
This tartan was designed from an estimated threadcount, taken from the portrait of William Cumming, Piper to the Laird of Grant, by Richard Waitt (1714).
The painting shows a fully developed piob mor (Great Highland bagpipe) with all three drones - the two tenordrones set into an older style fork-shaped stock. Note that the piper is holding the pipe bag under his right arm.
The subject of this painting, William Cumming (c. 1687 - c. 1723) belonged to a family of Strathspey musicians who served the Lairds of Grant for about 170 years through seven or more generations. They were an important part of the clan chieftain's traditional retinue and William Cumming is symbolically provided with a uniform of livery, tartan, the bratach or heraldic banner, and with the chieftain's head house of Castle Grant in the background.
For more on the details in this painting, click it!