A dram fine solution
AS a young piper in the 1960s, before artificial bagpipe bags were in common use, we concocted our own seasoning for the then leather bags. This often contained melted brown sugar and other pantry products – but always a healthy dollop of whisky. This certainly gave a pleasant scent to any “breathe back” and may well have killed off any spore growth (“Playing the bagpipes could prove fatal, research reveals”, The Herald, August 23).
Greer Murray,
The Hirsel, Greenfield Avenue, Ayr.
TWO remarks anent your article on pipers. First, pipers do not inhale air from the bag. Secondly, the only fatalities should be among those who say “skirl”.
Jim Butler,
12 Graystones, Kilwinning.
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