pipes|drums’ Top 10 news stories of 2014

We do declare

July 21st: American pipers scrambling for CITES permits before heading to Glasgow

August 4th: Confiscated! Two vintage bagpipes seized at US border

The ever-officious US government seemed to go haywire for a spell over the summer, cracking down on contraband of all types as it strived to enforce protection of endangered species. Only weeks after we reported on the cumbersome process for getting ivory-mounted pipes through American customs, two US pipers got nabbed at the Canadian border, having their antique instruments confiscated. But when it became apparent that the pipers alerted agents to their ivory-adorned pipes the piping and drumming world collectively admired their honesty but had a hard time accepting their naïveté. After a social media blitz, online petitions, the intervention of grandstanding politicians, and all manner of hoo-ha that was bordering on the unseemly, the instruments were returned to the poor pipe-less souls, and world order was restored. Since then it appear that that US government has softened its stance on antique musical instruments. Our August 4th story was picked up around the world, catching the interest of mainstream media, and was our most-read, most-searched, and most-shared piece in the history of pipes|drums.