The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, May 01, 1980, Image 3

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    A&Mstudent bagpipes his cares away
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1980
Page 3
by CAROLYN TILLER
Battalion Reporter
Sun-bathers on Keathley “beach”
are getting a taste of a classy side of
musical entertainment. Along with
the usual quadraphonic sounds of
Ronnie Milsap and Styx streaming
out of nearby dorms, classical bag-
jipe music flows from behind the
rackstop of softball field No. 9.
That’s where Mike Bearrow, a
sophomore mechanical engineering
student at Texas A&M University, is
frequently seen (and heard) being
melodious.
“I’ve always really loved to per
form,” Bearrow said. T am really a
big ham. It probably has something
to do with the bagpipes, because if
someone appreciates it. I’ll play all
day long.”
The northside intramural fields
are trafficked by lots of people — a
perfect opportunity for Bearrow to
perform for an audience or, on a
quieter day, to enjoy his music by
himself.
During their Parents’ Day picnic,
Fowler residents had no trouble get-
Scotland? Not quite, but Mike Bearrow, a sophomore mecha
nical engineering major from Houston, brings the sounds of
Scotland to Texas A&M University when he plays his bagpipes
on the field next to Keathley Hall. Bearrow took bagpipe
lessons from a Scotsman in Houston and now plays lor relaxa
tion and competition. Photo by Sharon Renfrow
ting Bearrow to do an impromptu
act.
Bearrow has been playing the
pipes since he was 11. He began
when one of his father’s business
associates, who is from Scotland, de
cided to start a bagpipe band in
Houston. Bearrow and three others
were trained for the band.
Bearrow explained bagpipers do
not begin learning on the complete
instrument. They start with a chan
ter, which is somewhat similar to an
instrument called a recorder.
He said it takes about six months
before the piper actually learns a
tune.
“It was very difficult because it
was kind of boring at the first, ” Bear
row said.
“I guess it was actually two and a
half years before I got my bagpipes,”
he said. “I sent for them and got
them from Scotland because that’s
the only place that they make them.”
Bearrow now plays marches, jigs,
reels, horn-pipes, waltzes, dirges,
slow marches and piobiareachd (clas
sical bagpipe music).
He said he began competing on
the chanter, but the first couple of
years were disappointing.
“The first two or three years of
competition, I didn’t ever win any
thing,” he said. “I really felt like
crying after the competitions, some
times because I really felt that I was
as good as the winners and maybe
better.”
But Bearrow never became dis
couraged enough to quit. After about
three years, he won his first prize.
“Since then, I’ve never gone to
competition without winning some
thing,” he said.
Bagpipers compete under the
categories chanter, novice, interme
diate, amateur and open. Bearrow is
now in the amateur and open cate
gories.
HAPPY
COTTAGE
Gift Shoppe
has moved to
809 E. 29th
Bryan
He goes to about five or six com
petitions a year. On May 15, he will
compete in the Houston Highland
Games.
“I get on to myself if I’m doing
anything just mediocre,” he said.
“Either I like to play my pipes a lot or
I don’t want to play them. I hate to go
out and not play well.”
Besides individual competition in
bagpiping, Bearrow is a member of
one of the three bagpipe bands in
Houston. His band, the Houston
Scottish Pipes and Drums, plays at
yacht clubs, private parties, benefits
and other engagements.
Bearrow has been to Canada, Hol
land, Germany, Sweden and all over
the United States with the bagpipes.
His band is the only bagpipe band
hired for the Texas Renaissance Fes
tival each year.
“I’ve gone to lots of neat places
with the bagpipes that I would have
never been able to go to if I hadn’t
been playing,” he said.
The band members wear kilts,
feather bonnets, tartan hose and
wing-tip shoes with spats.
“It does take a lot of getting used
to, especially when you’re younger,
because everyone thinks you’re a
fruit,” Bearrow said.
Show Mom how
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MAY U
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Re-elect
B. H. Dewey Jr.
"THE PEOPLE'S JUDGE'
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Place 1
(Bryan, Harvey and Steep Hollow)
Graduate
Bryan High School, Texas A&M University,
University of Texas Law School.
Lawyer " Practicing law in Brazos Co. since 1941.
Veteran " 41 months service in World War II.
Legislator - 1953-1962.
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Sat., May 3
Paid Pol. Adv. By B. H. Dewey, Jr., Treas.
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