There's a new piper in town

Aug 18, 2011

Photo: Retired soldier and piper Jeff Donnelly

In roughly 10 days’ time, Jeff Donnelly of Parham will become the Sharbot Lake Legion’s official piper and he will play at all the official ceremonies, both at the Legion and in and around the community. Jeff is a retired soldier and piper who served in the Second Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, New Brunswick. He has served and piped all over the world during his 25-year career, and has played not only all over Canada, but also in Britain at Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, all over Europe in 1996 including in Holland, France and Russia for the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Europe, as well as in Cyprus, Bosnia and Egypt. Donnelly learned to play the bagpipes at 15 years of age and recalled his mom telling him that as a youngster he was always drawn to pipe bands and would always place himself right beside them at parades.

Playing the bagpipes requires a lot of lung power and mental aptitude as well, since you have to memorize all of the music you play. Jeff plays specifically the Great Hyland bag pipes, a reed instrument that is comprised of one double-reeded blow or chanter pipe, which provides the melody, and three drone pipes made up of two tenor pipes and one bass pipe. The chanter has eight holes, which are played with the fingers, and which give the instrument a range of just over one octave. Jeff's pipes are a Hendersen make, which are made from a very dense and durable African black wood with decorative silver and ivory ornaments. The next time you hear bagpipes playing Scotland the Brave, Green Hills or The Battle’s Over in or around Sharbot Lake, there's a good chance you will be hearing retired soldier and piper Jeff Donnelly.