World music

Tom Peterkin (Rich heritage of melodies, Scotsman, 29 September) rightly draws attention to links between tunes associated with the Scottish Highland bagpipe and tunes in other parts of the world and in other musical traditions.

I became less dogmat-

ic about where tunes come from after a Chinese student thanked me for playing a Chinese tune at a university party. It turned out to be Frere Jaques which is the tune of a Chinese children’s song about tigers. I have no idea whether it started in France, in China or somewhere else. At the G8 summit in 2005 I was asked to play bagpipe outside the ‘ring of steel’ around Gleneagles Hotel to send a peaceful musical message to those inside.

When I could see a red flag I played The Red Flag (to the tune of the German hymn Tannenbaum); when I could see a Scottish flag I played Scots Wha Hae (tune in the French military music repertoire as Marche des Soldats de Robert Bruce); when no flags were moving I played a selection of nursery rhymes starting with Frere Jaques and got a round of applause from the police.

When I played the South African anthem God Bless Africa in Brittany I was told “That is a Breton tune”.

Though played at a different speed, the tune of that anthem is almost the same as the Danish children’s tune (widely used elsewhere) Little Peter Spider.