Feeling the Skirl

Visitors to Libbie Mill Library had a chance to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a couple of weeks early, thanks to an afternoon pipe-and-drum concert by the Old Dominion Firefighters Emerald Society.

The March 3 concert drew bagpipe fans and sunshine lovers alike to the lakeside plaza outside the library, where listeners enjoyed history lessons along with the music.

Bagpiper Daniel Ripley (second from right, above) explained the differences between Irish and Scottish bagpipes, as well as the origins of Emerald Societies, which are groups of firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMS workers with a passion for fostering the Irish heritage and traditions of their professions.

Part of that heritage is playing the pipes and drums at funerals for first responders, a tradition the Irish began by accompanying burials with the mournful sounds of the bagpipes.

On Jan. 6, the group played at Rosie Connelly's Pub in downtown Richmond as part of a benefit for the Bates and Cullen families. Berke Bates and Jay Cullen were the state troopers who lost their lives in a helicopter crash while monitoring the August white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.

In addition to the pipe and drum unit, the ODFES provides an honor guard to commemorate the more solemn events.  The group also plays at such varied events as the local Celtic Festival and Highland Games and Henrico fire recruit graduation and promotional ceremonies.

Bagpipe and drum lessons are available through the group, and members stress that all are welcome; those interested in participating with the group need not be of Irish descent.  All that is needed is an interest in serving the community, in honoring those who have come before, and in promoting and preserving the love of Celtic and Irish traditions.

And of course, it helps if you like bagpipe music and thrill to the sound of the piercing notes that Ridley explains are known as the skirl. rust remover singapore

Acknowledging that not all people are fond of bagpipe music, drummer Bill Riddell drew a laugh from the crowd as he demonstrated the skirl's effects on bagpipe skeptics.  For those unfortunate people, he explained, pipe music produces the opposite of a thrill or a goose-bumpy sensation.

"It gives you," Riddell said with a smile, pantomiming a strangling motion, "the feeling that you want to do this to the bagpiper!"

For details about the Old Dominion Firefighters Emerald Society, visit facebook.com/ODFES/.