Thanks for the info. I thought it was only the Scots and the Hibernerian Irish and Spanish types who made such a big deal about bagpipes.
As to their sound, glad you like it, though I am of Scots Irish ancestry I think I would have to be born in Scotland, where I guess they are accostomed to them from an early age on, for me to be so endeared.
And not just the bagpipes, what of their kilts? Did they, like the bagpipes, as you say, come from Europe? Again, who else in the world but the Scots makes such a big deal about the wearing of kilts?
The kilts underscores my earlier comment: the Scots must be ultra conservative to preserve such ancient things as bagpipes and kilts - going back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.