The Call of the Bagpipes -- the Haunting by Amazing Grace

After 40 years of Legion membership it’s almost automatic to snap to attention and mark time when the first notes of the bagpiper is heard. I’ve marched in many a parade behind pipe bands.

Knowing some of this, @rebeccaryan dedicated one of the videos in her post, Part Two: Why My Home Town's Residents Love Bagpipes And Parades to myself and a few others. She noted that for one of those Steemians, @knarly327 the song Amazing Grace played in the video was his least favourite piece along with the pipes being his least favourite instrument.

I Love the Pipes and the Memories They Generate

What @rebeccaryan didn’t know was just how appropriate her dedication was. I’ve come to love the sounds of the pipes and drums over the years whether I’m in a parade behind them or watching it approach. These days, I do end up having to watch parades more than be in them.

In my younger days, it was traditional after a parade to gather back at the host branch to have a few brews, nibble some snacks and visit with fellow legionnaires.

Pipe bands don’t run on air and they could always use funds. At some point during the afternoon part of the band, a few pipers and drummers, would parade into the room bringing the legionnaires to their feet as we applauded them.

They would parade into a circle in the centre of the room playing their tunes. Someone would walk into the circle and put a bill down in front of one of the players and that would move others to follow, putting down 1s, 2s, 5s etc while the band played. Yes, in those days we had bills, not coins for our 1s and 2s.

Amazing Grace and My Late Husband

For my husband, Amazing Grace wasn’t just a song, it was an anthem. When he was in the room and it started to play, he stood and stood at attention. He never told me what was so special for him about the song. Having been a Korea War veteran and one of those who fought in the Battle of Kapyong, I guessed that it was a song of solace for him.

Disc jockeys got to know him and usually come to like him. He was one of those likeable characters who got funnier the more he had to drink without being a disagreeable drunk.

He would always ask for Amazing Grace to be played just before O Canada was played to end the evening. DJs got to the point, he didn’t have to ask, they just played it.

His Sole Request for His Funeral

My husband, Frank, died in August 1989 at the age of 58. The one request he had for his funeral was to have a lone piper play Amazing Grace at his graveside. I was able to make that arrangement. There was hardly a dry eye around that grave as the piper played.

I Wasn’t Finished With That Song

While I am not moved to treat the song as an anthem, I still feel a tug at my heart strings when I hear it. Sometimes more than others.

In the months that followed his death, and after I started getting out more, the DJs who had known him would spot me at an event and play it in silent tribute to their late friend. I would struggle to remain composed at their kind gesture.

Christ Church Tyendinga

Several months after his death I attended a parade and rededication service of the memorial plaque at Christ Church Anglican Church in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville. It is one of only six Royal Chapels outside the United Kingdom. Their rector at the time was also the much beloved chaplain for our Legion District.

The plaque was to honour the Mohawks who had died for our country during the wars.

While Comrade Sid thought maybe 50 Legionnaires would show up for the service, over 100 paraded from down the street to the church grounds and crowded inside. I was down at the back of the church, standing.

During the service, their choir, known as the Mohawk Singers, sang Amazing Grace in Mohawk. As they were singing, the strangest feeling came over me and I found my eyes drawn to a doorway at the front of the sanctuary to the right of the choir.

For just the briefest of moments I saw Frank standing there, at attention, in Legion uniform. I blinked and the image was gone. To this day and likely forever, I don’t know if I actually saw that image or imagined it. I leave the possibilities open.

Amazing Grace will always have a special place in my heart.

Thanks for the memories @rebeccaryan

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