To demonstrate how serious we are about having you Bagpipe Lovers and Highland Games enthusiasts along for our merry little jaunt, yer auld Uncle Fergus has asked Richard Washington to share with ye here the full text of his introductory remarks for the Bagpipers' Internet Companion book, the idea of which was later shelved --- only to resurface as this website. Enjoy!
Strap on your sporrans, boys and girls --- because the Boswell has returned to the building!
There are many reasons why I, Richard Washington --- Boswell, Leprechaun and occasional good luck charm to the Men of the Pipes and Drums of the New York City Fire Department Emerald Society --- would want to do another bagpipe book. But frankly, I myself can only cite one reason.
Boredom.
Look, I'm not in the mood to lie to you: I hate it when I'm not around the FDNY Emeralds' Pipe Band. They and I went through virtually all of 1997 without one New York City Firefighter being killed in the line of duty. Strictly speaking as a bagpipe groupie (and you better believe I'm proud of it!), it's enough to make a man swear off Diet Coke!
The bottom line, folks, is I'm never happy unless someone brings along a set of bagpipes the better to liven up an otherwise dull occasion. This is why, every year, whenever I'm able to do so, I join the members of the Amityville American Legion Post 1015 Highlanders for their annual Legion Hall Tartan Ball, which has been a tradition of the Amityvillers' since their Pipe Band was formed back in 1952.
And yet, there exists a further motivation for the writing of this new book: The Internet.
And again, I shall not lie to you: the World Wide Web has completely seduced me; indeed, I would go so far as to say that it has actually dared me to make love to it! Time and again, I have happily accepted that challenge.... and the results, believe me, have consistently proven stimulating.
What if there were a way, I thought to myself recently, to bring the worlds of the Highland Bagpipe and the World Wide Web together in a single reference work? I mean, let's face it: there are other bagpipe groupies out there who are as hopelessly devoted to bagpiping per se as I am; and yet, in terms of surfing the 'net, it becomes apparent that no significant book, periodical or other publication exists that can suitably satisfy their cyberspace needs.
Who better, then, than yours truly to step up to the challenge of putting together a definitive compendium that combines the splendor of the pipes with all the amazing probabilities that the Internet has to offer? Still, I realized that, when I first conceived this project, I would find myself marching on familiar turf, of sorts: Boswell of the Band, if I remember correctly, took me all of seven years to research and write.
I knew I wasn't gonna be able to give everybody the big encore the folks wanted out of the ol' Boswell.... which eventually made me realize that I would need to take on a partner this time out.
Oh, not that it was really worth anything, historically, mind you. Indeed, I found myself feeling right at home with this guy. He's a man who is as fiercely appreciative of the magic of Scotland, and by extension, of the skirlin' o' the pipes, as I am. It's just that my co-author in this instance happens to be....... well, dead.
It's a long and completely weird story, which he himself will share with you in a moment --- but this much you have to admit:
In the almost 40 or so years I've been on the Planet, I have yet to see anyone else take so much joy and comfort in the wonder and splendor of a nation of about 7.2 million people, approximately 80 to 90% of whom are, like me, absolutely bonkers for bagpipes!
Nevertheless, I figured he'd be the perfect fellow who could serve as your guide on a voyage through cyberspace, as seen from a uniquely unexpected perspective: that of a professional Highland Piper. And because he himself played the Highland Pipes --- that is to say, during the days when he walked amongst us mere Mortals --- well, I knew that there was only one thing that could guarantee that his participation in this project would be a worthwhile one.
I let him have star billing, so to speak.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is now my very pleasant duty to leave you in the company of one of Scotland's (and America's) most renowned and beloved old-style Highland Pipers: Pipe Major Fergus MacAndrich Lochinvar Gordon (Retired), last of the American-born descendants of the Gordons of Lochinvar..... better known --- at least, to the children of Port Washington, New York, with whom he was often to spend many happy years --- as "Uncle Fergus."
Well, friends, that's how Richard Washington introduced me --- and thus, the idea for our book entitled "Uncle Fergus' Bagpipers' Internet Companion." And even though, in the end, the book concept eventually blossomed into the website ye're now browsin', me story is nonetheless a most unusual tale, to say the least (though I wouldna be usin' so trivial a word as "weird," Richard me lad!). It begins the moment ye click here. Or, if ye like, ye can haste ye back to me Main Page.