User talk:O'Cobhaith

Hi there - just a note re your edit to Piobaireachd. The belief that the bagpipe was banned at some point after the '45 is a common one, widely taught, but it is not substantiated by any historical record. The first reference to the supposed ban is in the introduction to Donald MacDonald's piobaireachd book, published in 1812. Whoever wrote that intro (it certainly wasn't MacDonald) introduced that myth, and it has been with us ever since. If you look at the text of the Disarming Act, which banned highland dress, etc, there is no reference to bagpipes at all, and not even a hint that they were implied. The famous court case of Peter Reid had nothing to do with pipes and the "weapon of war" comment was a passing aside. Except for that case, there isn't a shred of evidence that anyone was prosecuted for piping. Anyway, welcome to Wikipedia, and please don't be put off by people like me :p Calum (talk) 08:14, 27 August 2009 (UTC)