Talk:Pìobaireachd

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[edit] Ancient?

Why is pìoraireachd referred to as "ancient" multiple times in this article? That is a rather slippery term, but none of the evidence here points to it being older than the late Renaissance, which generally does not qualify as "ancient"?

My suspicion is that the term represents the "bagpipes are an ancient Celtic heritage" story put forth in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and still maintained by many. I am going to edit this word out. If someone has a justification for reverting, please do so, but explain why the term is justified or, better yet, use more precise terminology than ancient, which is very imprecise.

Also, given the use of dates in this article, some sort of citation is needed for the statements of fact. For instance, it states that most pìoraireachd was composed prior to 1745. How do we know that? I presume it has something to do with the Jacobite Rising, but the connection is obscure at present. +Fenevad 13:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if anyone has done any serious analysis of composition dates: it would be a fairly pointless endeavour as so much of the repertoire is undated. It seems a reasonable guess, though, that the split is about 50/50 pre and post c.1750 (there is no connection with the Jacobite Rising), the bulk being of 18th century origin. Some of the tunes have potential connections to events in the 14th and 15th centuries, although there is no evidence for their antiquity (other than internal). It is also possible that original melodies were later adopted for the pipe.

As for the use of the word 'ancient', most of the piping literature uses that term simply because of the time scale compared with the serious development of the light music. If it is inconsistent with the rest of the encylopedia, then there is no great reason to keep it. Calum 17:17, 13 January 2007 (UTC)