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Keeping the kilt on

Colleen Porter tunes her bagpipes.

Colleen Porter has been following her family's Highland dancing tradition for decades; now she and her son are adding an extra tune to it.

By Shannon Lacroix
theclaw.ca

When bagpipes come to mind, the image of Scots wearing kilts and striding atop grassy hills comes to mind, but oddly enough, 15-year bagpipe veteran Colleen Porter doesn’t have any Scots blood at all. Her ancestors were Irish and English.

“I couldn’t find any Scottish blood; believe me, I tried,” she laughed.

Colleen Porter started out as a Highland dancer, following her family’s five-generation tradition by slipping on the shoes at the tender age of three.

“We had no choice; we didn’t know any better. And by the time we did, it was too late to change,” she joked about following the tradition.

Bagpipes have echoed around Porter from the time she was born 65 years ago because her family loved the sound. When she married and had her first child she wanted to continue hearing it, so when she moved to North Bay she opened her own Highland dance studio where she taught for decades and enjoyed working with kids.

“When little kids (as young as four) are taught little funny moments always come up,” Porter confessed.

She taught everyone from children to adults, most of which were happy to learn, making her job more fun.

“They had to be enthusiastic about what they were doing,” Porter recalled.

Her youngest son, Mark, was the first to keep up with playing the bagpipes and starting up wasn’t a small expense since the learning instrument, the chanter (a recorder-like instrument in preparation for the bagpipes) costs anywhere between $35 and $90 and the bagpipes themselves cost anywhere between $1,600 to $1,800 for used ones and as much as $25,000 for a new set.

In addition, there is also traditional clothing to be ordered: brogues (shoes), a white shirt, black jacket and tie, a glen (hat) and hose (socks). Finding all the necessary items can be difficult, but Porter was lucky when it came to the pipes - she had a friend in Buffalo, New York who had a Scottish shop. But for people who don’t have that connection, she suggests looking online or finding a store that sells Scottish items. There are some in Ontario, British Columbia, the east coast and in the U.S.

Porter decided to start playing the pipes because Mark had left home and she missed the sound.

“I didn’t hear him practise anymore, so I was like, ‘Hey maybe I’ll try it,’” she said.

Like her Highland dance students, Porter was eager to learn something traditional; in her case it was the bagpipes.

“I was keen to learn and I worked hard at it,” she said.

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Learning was a challenge for Porter because she began at an older age.

“It was hard because sometimes you would blow and you can’t get a squeak, but you say, ‘I’m not gonna let it get me,’ ” Porter recalled.

She said she appreciated the sound a lot more once she knew how to play and was constantly surrounded by it since she was teaching the traditional dance and learning to play at the same time. She had a family friend living in Sudbury teach her how to play the bagpipes at the time. Porter has many fond memories of the time they spent together trying to get her to play the difficult instrument.

“He was blind, and it was funny because he would say, ‘I may be blind, but I’m not deaf,’ every time I got a note wrong,” she laughed.

Porter retired, leaving the dance school in the hands of former students, giving her more time to practice the bagpipes, which she thinks are often misunderstood.

“People think they’re really loud, and they don’t know much about them,” she explained.

Although she misses teaching, she loves that she has more time to practice the instrument that she enjoys hearing so much. Porter doesn’t understand why people don’t appreciate the music, as she can’t get enough of it. While she listens to traditional bagpiping, she also enjoys ‘new-age’ bagpiping as well.

“I have a Red Hot Chili Peppers CD; I love it because they play the bagpipes in it. I think it’s awesome, great. Bagpipes should be used more often by bands in their songs,” Porter said.

She is now part of a competitive ‘teaching’ band called the Northern Caledonia Pipe Band which has members from as far as Timmins and Kirkland Lake. The North Bay members meet every other week, but the whole band meets only once a month to rehearse before competing either indoors (in gym-like areas during the winter) or outdoors (on fields during the summer). The next competition is in Spencerville, about 50 minutes south of Ottawa.

“We just want to walk on the field and show everyone we’re here,” she said.

Some of the members were lucky enough to attend the Pipe Band Worlds Competition in Scotland where a British Columbian team took home top prize.

“There’s something about the Scottish games that brings out the best in everyone. You see old friends; it’s a good feeling. You really think there’s nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon,” Porter said, beaming.

She added that seeing a Canadian band win it all is great, but she doesn’t measure success for her own band by the number of trophies, ribbons or rankings they take home.

“We walk in and expect to play well and feel good about ourselves and the band. We go for our personal best, not to win. If it comes, then bonus, but if not, then at least we played our personal best,” Porter said.

The band, which is only competing for its second year, is a grade five band which means it’s a starting band. The 17-member group is led by Porter’s son, Mark who is the pipe major. New members learn to play the same way experienced members did. They start off playing the chanter before graduating to bagpipes after a year or two if they want to be pipers.

Similarly, drummers begin with a small, drum-like instrument if they want to take that route. Once the members have memorized the tunes and become good at their respective practice instruments, they get to play the real thing.

“Bagpipes are probably one of the hardest instruments to learn. Anyone who learns the bagpipes has to have strength in them,” Porter said of the commitment required.

Regardless of how often she plays or how well her band competes, bagpipes will always have a special place in Porter’s heart.

“They’re traditional –not in every home – they’re special,” she said nodding firmly.