Lovers of Scottish harp music may have had a tricky time catching some of its melodic intricacies Saturday morning at the Ligonier Highland Games.
That’s because just up the hill, Sean Patrick Regan was playing modern and traditional Scottish melodies on the bagpipe. And while both instruments are beautiful, hearing them play different tunes at the same time is a little dissonant.
The 63rd annual Ligonier Highland Games took place Saturday all throughout Idlewild Park, with Scottish tradition honored and recognized through food, fiddle and friendly athletic competition.
Regan, a Carnegie Mellon graduate with a master’s degree in bagpipe performance, said many people are surprised to discover how few notes a bagpipe can technically play.
“It’s diatonic, meaning it’s only got nine notes,” he said. “But if you’re willing to bend a few notes, you can get a lot of sounds out of it.”
Rachel Keeler, a 1994 CMU graduate, said the university’s pavilion is missing one of its key components this year.
“We normally have Scottish heritage food, but our vendor went out out business,” she said.
Keeler is a big fan of the sheep-herding competition.
“There’s just so much to see,” she said.
That includes the wide variety of tartans, the pattern featured on kilts, caps and sashes worn by many in attendance and signifying membership in a historical Scottish family clan.
Scott Niggl of Kennerdale, Venango County has been attending the games for years, but this is the first year he was able to wear his clan’s accoutrements.
“I bought them here last year,” he said of his tartan and crest pin. “I’m Clan Cameron on my mother’s side.”
Niggl and his wife, Toni, were planning to meet up with his brother, who is attending the festival from Virginia.
Lisa Campbell and her 9-year-old son, Bash, of Level Green belong to Clan Campbell, and were wearing what she said was the “ancient” style of the clan’s tartan with light blues and greens.
“There’s some controversy between the ancient style and the Black Watch,” she said. “Some people said the Black Watch (made with darker shades of green and blue) is more of a military thing, so it’s not really representative of the clan.”
Wyatt Mackay, 75, guessed he’d been attending the games for about 60 of their 63 years in existence.
“I first started coming here as part of a bagpipe band when I was a teenager,” he said. “I love the meat pies and the band competition.”
For Nate Smith of Apollo, a member of the 42nd Highlanders that does World War I reenactments, the games are a peaceful, serene day.
“It’s really relaxing,” he said, “before we do a lot of our bigger, main events like the war reenactments.”
