The bagpipe produces such an unusual sound: metallic, tinny, mechanical, it warms up with a whir like a machine, and when warmed up and played screeches. It is manic as jazz often is and has always conjured in me a bit of the the sound of madness if madness had a sound. It is instantly identifiable as the sound of a bagpipe, unmistakable, and evokes Scotland like no other sound.

"Scotland the Brave" is the most familiar of Scotland's bagpipe tunes to a non-Scot. What you don't get when just hearing it is what perfect march music it is. The beat is exactly in time with marching footsteps, with the swing of arms as Scots do in a military parade, and the beat is also that of a beating heart. You get a whole other appreciation for the tune when you see it performed during a march. Scotland the Brave march