The bagpipe, the musical instrument symbolic of Scotland and also known as the “Great Highland Bagpipe,” arrived there from Cremona 500 years ago. What until the mid-20th century was considered a legend is now established history. This was explained this afternoon in the crowded PalaTorrone in Piazza Roma by Fabrizio Loffi, author of the book Cremona e i McCrimmon. L’incredibile viaggio della cornamusa dal Po alle Highland (Cremonasera Publishers, with a cover by artist Maddalena Franguelli), prompted by questions from journalist and musicologist Roberto Fiorentini. The documents long sought by various Cremonese scholars to support the legend have now all been found and are published in the volume available in Cremona’s bookstores.

I recall a conversation in Piazza del Comune with the writer Giampaolo Dossena (who passed away in 2009) and journalist Antonio Leoni beneath the Torrazzo, as we looked at the marble tile still visible on the Palazzo degli Agricoltori, near the corner with Via Solferino. A tile from the 15th century depicting a bagpipe player. Dossena captivated us with the story of the mysterious journey of the bagpipe from Cremona to Scotland—a tale he also wrote about in his book Guide to a Legendary, Mysterious and Fantastic Cremona—lamenting his inability to complete the story and its legend with adequate documentation. He, the first to popularize word games in his columns for Italy’s major newspapers. Now, as Fabrizio Loffi has revealed, the documents exist—ancient records that confirm both legend and tradition. Cremona, therefore, is not only the capital of violins and the birthplace of Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri, but also the origin of a musical tradition that crossed national borders to become a heritage and symbol of Scotland.

Loffi’s account began with Thomas Pearston, secretary of the College of Piping in Glasgow, who on December 30, 1951, wrote to the Provincial Tourist Board of Cremona to obtain confirmation of what was known in Scotland about the Cremonese origin of the MacCrimmons. No local historian had ever investigated the matter. The request from Mr. Pearston caused great surprise, and the Scottish researcher received little assistance from local authorities. These were the years in which, thanks to Professor Alfredo Puerari, Cremona was rediscovering its great violin-making tradition. A few years later, stimulated by Pearston’s work, Agostino Cavalcabò dedicated himself to researching Cremonese pipers, producing an interesting article published in the Bollettino Storico Cremonese in 1961, left unfinished due to the author’s passing.

Loffi went on to say that in 1826, Scottish captain Neil MacLeod (of a powerful clan and protector of the best-known family of bagpipe players, the McCrimmons) wrote a history of the bagpipe and of the MacCrimmon family, asserting their Cremonese origin. However, he was forced to halt publication after the text was deemed offensive toward the Scottish clergy. The tradition of the MacCrimmons’ Cremonese origins had nonetheless been widespread in Scotland since the 17th century.

New elements emerged from the discovery of a series of letters by Simon Fraser, published at the beginning of the last century in the Oban Times and later reprinted in the journal The International Piper over several months between 1980 and 1981. These letters provided new evidence that today strengthens the hypothesis of a Cremonese origin of the bagpipe.

And the bagpipe is said to have reached the Highlands thanks to a heretic, Pietro Bruno, who fled Cremona due to persecution and, in the early 16th century, found refuge and hospitality in Ireland with the musician MacKinnon. Bruno is said to have married MacKinnon’s daughter, becoming the progenitor of the most important dynasty of Scottish pipers. Seeking to express his spirituality, Pietro Bruno—traced by Loffi in archival sources—allegedly created a new type of musical notation imbued with deep religiosity, concealing within its notes a strongly heretical message inspired by early Christianity, intended to be played on the bagpipe. Fiorentini then recalled the many images of bagpipe players that can still be found in Cremonese churches: in the Cathedral, in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Soncino, and the most recently discovered one in San Sigismondo.

The event concluded with a surprise: the entrance of the Heart of Italy Pipe Band from Nonantola into the PalaTorrone, bringing, to warm applause, the tradition of Scottish sounds into the heart of the city, giving life to the words of the two speakers.

Photo by Francesco Sessa Ventura.