Welcome

Thank you for visiting!  If you have intentionally sought out a Ceremonial Bagpiper, or my site to find an authentic, Scottish Ceremonial Piper , not quite knowing how to go about it. RELAX, and CONGRATULATIONS! You have done it!

Most people often ask how to go about finding a good bagpiper. The truth is that you have just found one. That being said, you should always base your decision on the things most important to you. Make sure the bagpiper is professional, polished, and capable of playing the bagpipes to your high standards. Check out all of the music files and photographs you can get from each of your choices and don’t be shy about asking for references. (The Photo above is from a 9/11 Memorial with Marine Escort as Jeff Linn performs “Amazing Grace” on the Great Highland Bagpipes.)

A wee bit ’bout me…

I am Jeff Linn. I am a Scottish American, Ceremonial Piper that specializes in Ceremonial Events across the United States. I am located in Groveport, Ohio and serve an area that covers most of the State.
I am here for the primary purpose of being YOUR PERSONAL SCOTTISH CEREMONIAL PIPER.
I began playing music professionally in 1963. It has taken me from the heartland of Ohio to the California Coast, north to Canada, south to Florida and back again. In that time I have played a lot of music on a myriad of instruments, but no instrument has had as strong an impact on my life as the Great Highland Bagpipes of Scotland. There is a spiritual side to playing the bagpipes unlike any other instrument I have ever heard.

I remember the first time playing the bagpipes, standing on a mountain top,  with the highland wind to my face. It was as though my ancestors were right there with me, nudging me, inspiring me to push further, and to be the best bagpiper I could be. I never forgot that experience, and I never will. Piping is as much a part of me as an arm or a leg. The Great Highland pipes are not what i do…it’s who I am, and I will be a bagpiper until the day I am put in the ground and another piper ultimately pipes me home.

Our Family home is in Kilwinning, Scotland, a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about 21 miles south of Glasgow and known as “The Crossroads of Ayrshire”. It is where a number of the boats come across from Ireland…and it has always been a beautiful place, even now. That doorway has been standing there, now mostly in ruin, with our name carved in the stone over the door since 1107 A.D.

The Great Highland Bagpipes

Remember the first time you heard them? I’m sure you do. You may have heard them echoing off city walls on Saint Patrick’s Day, parading past in a sea of multicolored tartans. Perhaps it was a wedding, or the funeral of a loved one, and you have never forgotten those haunting melodies played on ancient mystical instruments.

The Highland Bagpipe is one of the oldest instruments in the world, originating around the year 100 AD. The bagpipes were first used to inspire the Scottish soldiers as they fought. The sound also scared the enemy to death, so its proper name is the Great Highland Warpipe.

The bagpipes have existed in one form or another for longer than history records. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, bagpipes were common all over Europe. During the latter days of knights in shining armor on into the eighteenth century, the clan chiefs in Scotland, with their great kilts and huge claymore swords, carried the responsibility of supporting a piper for local festivities and for playing for the chief’s own enjoyment. Three types of music evolved: piobaireachd, the great music of the highland bagpipe; and the music we call “light music,” which was played for dances – jigs, reels, and strathspeys. Many of the clans adopted tunes of both types as their own. Warring clans would be led into battle inspired by the pipers playing their battle tune.

The Scots fought long against domination by the English. The noise of the pipes together with the fierce war cries of the kilted “savages” of the north would strike fear into the hearts of the English soldiers. The Scots were finally disastrously defeated at the famous battle of Culloden in 1745. The English, determined to rid themselves of a thorn in their side forever, passed laws prohibiting playing of the bagpipe and wearing of the kilt on pain of death. It was not until the 1800s that the ban was lifted.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has her personal piper play outside her window every morning, through rain, sleet, or snow. In the evening, the Queen’s piper plays around the dinner table if guests are present. The tune is the often the same “Highland Cathedral”.

My purpose here is to keep the Scottish bagpipe tradition alive, where ever that call may take me. Whatever the reason you find yourself at my webpage, I look forward to being your personal Scottish Ceremonial Bagpiper.