Are bagpipes in danger of becoming extinct?

By Elizabeth Hunter

Bagpipes are “critically endangered” after becoming one of the bottom five bought instruments, experts warn.

The famous Scottish pipes joined kazoo, bassoon, tenor horn, oboe and flugelhorn as the least bought instruments of 2024.

Bagpipes have been played in Scotland since at least the 1500s, with the first clear reference found in a French report of the Battle of Pinkie in 1547.

Still used throughout the world to mark occasions like weddings and funerals, experts now fear that the bagpipes may fall out of use if trends continue.

New figures show the 2024 slump is the the second year running bagpipes have been in the bottom five instrument purchases.

It comes despite a 6 percent rise in musical buys overall - which many attribute to previous growth during lockdowns.

The Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT) charity warned in a 2019 report of a “silent decline” in bagpipe learning.

A spokesperson said: "When bands in our towns and communities vanish quietly, and when there is no tuition in local schools either, we lose a precious cycle of teaching and learning.”