Scots in Richmond are helping the community learn about bagpiping and drumming.  People of all ages participate in bagpipe bands and perform at community events, the Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival, and parades.  Many bands offer free lessons and they hope their music will help promote the Scottish culture. Every Monday night the St. Andrew’s Legion Pipes and Drums band gathers at a church to prepare for their next event. The band members separate in different rooms at practice based on their level of expertise, and help each other learn new songs.  The band offers a structured program for anyone to learn how to play and march to the pipes. 

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Piping with pride

 

Tim Batten is a professional bagpiper who dedicates his life to teaching others the bagpipes and promoting the Scottish culture.

Every Monday night is booked on Tim Batten’s calendar.   

High notes, drones, and squeaks fill the air during the weekly bagpipe practice as beginners run through chords and advanced players march in step with the music.  

“It’s my life. A good majority of these people in this band, the nucleus of the group, have been together since it started. It’s like a family,” said Batten.

Batten, 41, is president of St. Andrew’s Legion Pipes and Drums, which practices Monday nights at Westhampton United Methodist Church in Richmond. The weekly lessons and marches began in 2001 when Batten decided to start a new bagpipe performance group.  

Growing up in Albemarle County, Batten knew from a young age that his family roots began in Scotland where his mother was born. His father has a Scottish ancestry as well, and Batten’s long red hair and his passion for the bagpipes leave little room to question that he is a “pure blood Scot” as he describes himself.  

His love of the bagpipes started when his mother gave him the instrument when he was 12 years old.  In school the pipes were not part of the band so he focused on other instruments, including the trombone. He excelled in music.

He returned to the bagpipes when he came out of the Marine Corps in 1996.  “It was then that I reached and grabbed the bagpipes again and that I told myself that this time I’m not putting them down.”

Between practices and performances, Batten also teaches bagpipe lessons, and performs as a solo professional piper at public events and weddings. 

When his bagpipes aren’t under his arm, he schedules the band’s events, promotes the band, maintains its Web site and blog, and sells kilts. He is a full-time professional bagpiper and says it is all about promoting the Scottish culture and bringing everyone together.

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The Virginia Scots Guard is a new bagpipe and drum band in Richmond. Seasoned bagpipers lead the group and new members learn the notes fast.  From 7 to 78-years-old, the band members say they are a family. Spouses join the band together and parents bring along their kids. In addition to practices and performances they also enjoy Celtic dinners and group outings. They perform around the country and members say their participation with other bands in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race in Charlotte, N.C., was a highlight they won’t forget. Each event is a chance to share memories and pipe and drum with Scottish pride.  

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His band performs every October at the Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival.

“My perfect day would be a day at the Highland games when everyone’s happy and all the clans were getting along,” said Batten with a laugh.  He describes a clan as a number of families who claim a common ancestor.

Despite any differences among the clans, Batten looks for connections that bring the Richmond Scottish culture together.  He recently discovered that a fellow piper is his distant cousin.  They played together for a year before they realized they were related.  A majority of the St. Andrew’s members have a Scottish ancestry.

Batten enjoys working on genealogy projects and learning more about the connections among the clans, Scotland, and his ancestors.

“Tim is a walking encyclopedia of Scotland and bagpipes,” said Don Milligan, a senior drum major for St. Andrew’s.    

Their friendship started when Batten called Milligan within the first week of starting the new band and asked him to join.

“We’ve been together for eight years. Fifty-two weeks each year,” said Milligan, who is Batten’s right hand. “We are kind of joined at the hip.  I see more of him than I see of my wife.”

Between practices, Batten schedules the band for about 50 events a year. “There’s a whole lot of work that people don’t realize he does. There’s a lot Tim does to keep things running smoothly for this band,” said Milligan.

Batten describes the dedication of his band members and the strengths of his lead pipers before he mentions his performances for presidents, vice presidents, and celebrities.

Between his own band and trips to Scotland, Batten also finds time to help local firefighters start their own bagpipe group.  Richmond Firefighter Tim Butler said that Batten has been a tremendous help to him and his fellow firefighters.   “He offered to help us right away. He was willing to do whatever he could to help us get started, recruit more members, and learn how to perform” said Butler.

Butler and other local firefighters now attend St.Andrew’s practices on Mondays to learn the beginning notes and steps towards creating a bagpipe band.  

Keith Porter is also part of the beginner class.  More than year ago he decided he wanted to learn to play the bagpipes and joined St. Andrew’s.  He admires Batten. “I would follow him into battle if we were in that situation,” said Porter.  With about 15 other beginners, Porter learns the basics of piping each week and enjoys listening to Batten’s colorful stories about Scotland and its history.  

“The bagpipes are called the instrument of war,” said Batten.  His band reflects the look and sound of a military piper group in Scotland.

Batten doesn’t play his bagpipes at battles, of course, but that doesn’t mean his days are always happy or easy.  He calls his work at funerals part of his public service to make sure “that a person’s memory is honored with music.”

“You’re there to do a job at each funeral service.  You’re going to play your heart and soul out for that poor widow sitting in the seat there at the casket as much as you’re going to play for any dignitary,” said Batten.

Batten realized he could perform in almost any situation when he was asked to play at the burial ceremony of one of his childhood friend’s fathers.  The site of the service was less than 10 feet from his mother’s grave.  “That was the moment I realized what I was meant to be,” said Batten.

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Facts about Scottish Culture in Richmond

 

The Scottish culture in Richmond is strong and alive.  Associations, dance groups, bagpipe bands, and Celtic dinners keep the local Scots connected with each other.  Many Scottish-Americans in Richmond participate in the Virginia Renaissance Faire in June, the Celtic Festival at Gayton Kirk Presbyterian Church in September, the Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival in October, and the local Christmas parade. The St. Andrew’s Society and the Richmond Scottish Association are open to new members and they offer help to others researching their ancestral roots from Scotland. There are many opportunities in Richmond to play the bagpipes and drums, taste haggis and sausage rolls, partake in Celtic games, or put on a kilt.  The Scottish-American life is not only open for Scots, but for any Richmond resident to explore. 

 (Reported in July 2008)