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125-513: Fiesta is the city's biggest festival, with an economic impact of $ 340 million for the city. More than three million people take part, in more than 100 events that take place all over the city and beyond. The festival began in 1891, when local women decorated carriages, baby buggies and bicycles with live flowers, met in front of the Alamo , and threw flowers at one another, thus inspiring the name "Battle of Flowers." Soon, other activities were added to

250-454: A pan flute played along with a friction drum . Several authors identify the ancient Greek askaulos (ἀσκός askos – wine-skin , αὐλός aulos – reed pipe) with the bagpipe. In the 2nd century AD, Suetonius described the Roman emperor Nero as a player of the tibia utricularis . Dio Chrysostom wrote in the 1st century of a contemporary sovereign (possibly Nero) who could play

375-659: A 13th-century manuscript of northern French origin. Although evidence of bagpipes in the British Isles prior to the 14th century is contested, they are explicitly mentioned in The Canterbury Tales (written around 1380): A baggepype wel coude he blowe and sowne, /And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne. Bagpipes were also frequent subjects for carvers of wooden choir stalls in the late 15th and early 16th century throughout Europe, sometimes with animal musicians. Actual specimens of bagpipes from before

500-423: A 30-day option on the property, wherein the group would pay $ 500 up front, with $ 4,500 due at the conclusion of the 30 days, with an additional $ 20,000 due on February 10, 1904, and the remainder paid in five annual installments of $ 10,000. Driscoll paid the initial $ 500 deposit out of her personal funds, and when fundraising efforts fell far short (only raising slightly over $ 1,000 of the needed $ 4,500), Driscoll paid

625-598: A Breton interpretation known as the bagad . The pipe-band idiom has also been adopted and applied to the Galician gaita as well. Bagpipes have often been used in various films depicting moments from Scottish and Irish history; the film Braveheart and the theatrical show Riverdance have served to make the uilleann pipes more commonly known. Bagpipes are sometimes played at formal events at Commonwealth universities, particularly in Canada. Because of Scottish influences on

750-467: A bag, a chanter , and usually at least one drone . Many bagpipes have more than one drone (and, sometimes, more than one chanter) in various combinations, held in place in stocks—sockets that fasten the various pipes to the bag. The most common method of supplying air to the bag is through blowing into a blowpipe or blowstick. In some pipes the player must cover the tip of the blowpipe with the tongue while inhaling, in order to prevent unwanted deflation of

875-564: A constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe , Northern Africa , Western Asia , around the Persian Gulf and northern parts of South Asia . The term bagpipe is equally correct in the singular or the plural, though pipers usually refer to the bagpipes as "the pipes", "a set of pipes" or "a stand of pipes". A set of bagpipes minimally consists of an air supply,

1000-653: A distinct class. In the early part of the second millennium, representation of bagpipes began to appear with frequency in Western European art and iconography. The Cantigas de Santa Maria , written in Galician-Portuguese and compiled in Castile in the mid-13th century, depicts several types of bagpipes. Several illustrations of bagpipes also appear in the Chronique dite de Baudoin d’Avesnes ,

1125-404: A high of 328 in 1756 to a low of 44 in 1777. The new commandant general of the interior provinces, Teodoro de Croix , thought the missions were a liability and began taking actions to decrease their influence. In 1778, he ruled that all unbranded cattle belonged to the government. Raiding Apache tribes had stolen most of the mission's horses, making it difficult to round up and brand the cattle. As

1250-645: A large painting made in 1969 called Humanscape #58 (San Antonio Circus) . Cordova proposes a change of date and a "decoupling" of Fiesta from commemorations of battles: "Keep the party, lose the war." Laura Hernández-Ehrisman, author of "Inventing the Fiesta City: Heritage and Carnival in San Antonio," says Fiesta will be divisive as long as it is connected to the Texas Revolution. Several people interviewed by Madalyn Mendoza underscore

1375-632: A large plaza and anchored by an ancient chapel". Unable to reach an agreement, Driscoll and several other women formed a competing chapter of the DRT named the Alamo Mission chapter. The two chapters argued over which had oversight of the Alamo. Unable to resolve the dispute, in February 1908 the executive committee of the DRT leased out the building. Angry with that decision, de Zavala announced that

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1500-1150: A long, slow decline that continued, in most cases, into the 20th century. Extensive and documented collections of traditional bagpipes may be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the International Bagpipe Museum in Gijón , Spain, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford , England and the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum in Northumberland, and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona . The International Bagpipe Festival  [ cs ]

1625-642: A major donor to the Democratic Party to undermine him. At the time, Colquitt was considered running for U.S. Senate . She told the New York Herald Tribune that "the Daughters desire to have a Spanish garden on the site of the old mission, but the governor will not consider it. Therefore, we are going to fight him from the stump. ... We are also going to make speeches in the districts of State Senators who voted against and killed

1750-773: A new community in Texas. The group erected a temporary mud, brush, and straw structure near the headwaters of the San Antonio River . This building would serve as a new mission, San Antonio de Valero, named after Saint Anthony of Padua and the viceroy of New Spain , the Marquess of Valero . Alarcón, acting in his capacity as "General of the Provinces of the Kingdom of the New Philippines ," formally entrusted

1875-547: A part of a bagpipe is a chanter found in 1985 at Rostock , Germany, that has been dated to the late 14th century or the first quarter of the 15th century. The first clear reference to the use of the Scottish Highland bagpipes is from a French history that mentions their use at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. George Buchanan (1506–82) claimed that bagpipes had replaced the trumpet on the battlefield. This period saw

2000-500: A pipe ( tibia , Roman reedpipes similar to Greek and Etruscan instruments) with his mouth as well as by tucking a bladder beneath his armpit. Vereno suggests that such instruments, rather than being seen as an independent class, were understood as variants on mouth-blown instruments that used a bag as an alternative blowing aid and that it was not until drones were added in the European Medieval era that bagpipes were seen as

2125-590: A princess and 24 duchesses — 12 from San Antonio and 12 from out of town. Coronations of local "royalty", a carnival and other activities became the forerunners of today's fiesta. In 2016, Fiesta celebrated its 125th birthday with special events and ceremony. Today, more than 100 local nonprofit groups, members of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, stage more than 100 events over 17 days with the help of some 75,000 volunteers. Fiesta events include three major parades—two along Broadway and past

2250-406: A result, when the ruling took effect, the mission lost a great deal of its wealth and was unable to support a larger population of converts. By 1793, only 12 Indians remained. By this point, few of the hunting and gathering tribes in Texas had not been Christianized . In 1793, Misión San Antonio de Valero was secularized. Shortly after, the mission was abandoned. Most locals were uninterested in

2375-544: A satirical musical and comedy review for adults, was first staged by theatrical director Joe Salek in 1951. This mockery of solemn Fiesta coronations was inspired when he witnessed the coronation of the Order of the Alamo's Queen in 1950. After a wardrobe malfunction caused its cancellation for several years, it was revived in 1982. Residents and visitors can get souvenir pins and medals from various dignitaries, organizations, and from Fiesta royalty. The Battle of Flowers Parade

2500-540: A syndicate wanted to buy the chapel and tear it down. She then barricaded herself in the Hugo and Schmeltzer building for three days. In response to de Zavala's actions, on February 12, Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell ordered that the superintendent of public buildings and grounds take control of the property. Eventually, a judge named Driscoll's chapter the official custodians of the Alamo. The DRT later expelled de Zavala and her followers. Driscoll offered to donate

2625-455: A wholesale grocery store. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) formed in 1891 and began trying to preserve the Alamo. Adina Emilia De Zavala and Clara Driscoll successfully convinced the state legislature in 1905 to purchase the remaining buildings and to name the DRT as the permanent custodian of the site. Over the next century, periodic attempts were made to transfer control of

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2750-522: Is an airtight reservoir that holds air and regulates its flow via arm pressure, allowing the player to maintain continuous, even sound. The player keeps the bag inflated by blowing air into it through a blowpipe or by pumping air into it with a bellows. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials including Gore-Tex have become much more common. Some synthetic bags have zips that allow

2875-606: Is another annual event, featuring the USAF Band of the West. Two evenings of concerts are put on in downtown San Antonio featuring classical, jazz, and rock/popular music. Music offered includes Tejano , jazz , mariachi , rock , big band , classical , and pop . History events are held at the Pilgrimage to the Alamo or This Hallowed Ground. Sporting events include races, soccer , rugby , and lacrosse . Cornyation,

3000-479: Is at risk from environmental factors, however. The limestone used to construct the buildings was taken from the banks of the San Antonio River. It expands when confronted with moisture and then contracts when temperatures drop, shedding small pieces of limestone with each cycle. Measures have been taken to partially combat the problem. In 1988, a theater near the Alamo unveiled a new movie, Alamo ...

3125-662: Is held every two years in Strakonice , Czech Republic . During the expansion of the British Empire , spearheaded by British military forces that included Highland regiments , the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe became well known worldwide. This surge in popularity was boosted by large numbers of pipers trained for military service in World War I and World War II . This coincided with a decline in

3250-661: Is known by the name " mezwed ". It is used in the Tunisian pop music genre, also called mezwed , that is named after the instrument. Since the 1960s, bagpipes have also made appearances in other forms of music, including rock, metal, jazz, hip-hop, punk, and classical music, for example with Paul McCartney 's " Mull of Kintyre ", AC/DC 's " It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) ", and Peter Maxwell Davies 's composition An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise . Periodicals covering specific types of bagpipes are addressed in

3375-460: Is smaller than the rest and usually consists of a small tube that is made out of metal or a chicken or duck feather. Uncovering the flea-hole raises any note played by a half step, and it is used in creating the musical ornamentation that gives Balkan music its unique character. Some types of gaida can have a double bored chanter, such as the Serbian three-voiced gajde. It has eight fingerholes:

3500-594: Is structurally between a kaba and dzhura gaida and described as a medium pitched gaida. In Southeastern Europe and Eastern Europe bagpipes known as gaida include: the Albanian : gajde, mishnica, bishnica , Aromanian : gaidã , Bulgarian : гайда ( gaida ), Greek : γκάιντα ( gáida ) τσαμπούνα ( tsaboúna ) or ασκομαντουρα ( askomandoura ), Macedonian : гајда ( gajda ), Serbo-Croatian : gajda/гајда , Turkish : gayda also tulum and Ukrainian : gayda / ґайда . In Tunisia, it

3625-549: Is suitable for use as dance music. Numerous types of bagpipes today are widely spread across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa as well as through much of the former British Empire . The name bagpipe has almost become synonymous with its best-known form, the Great Highland bagpipe , overshadowing the great number and variety of traditional forms of bagpipe. Despite the decline of these other types of pipes over

3750-732: Is the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Elks, the Muslims, or the Water Buffalo Club. Texas legislator Ron Wilson , who wished to transfer oversight of the Alamo to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Shortly after that, San Antonio representative Jerry Beauchamp proposed that the Alamo be transferred from the DRT to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department . Many minority legislators agreed with him. However,

3875-508: Is the oldest Fiesta event and is organized entirely by women. The parade attracts crowds of more than 350,000 on the second Friday of Fiesta. It is the only major parade in the U.S. conceived and produced entirely by women, all of whom are volunteers. The women, dressed in yellow on parade day and wearing yellow hats, direct operations with the assistance of the Army National Guard . Several school districts within San Antonio treat

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4000-846: The Breton biniou , the Balkan gaida , the Romanian cimpoi , the Black Sea tulum , the Scottish smallpipes and pastoral pipes , as well as other varieties. Bulgaria has the Kaba gaida , a large bagpipe of the Rhodope mountains with a hexagonal and rounded drone, often described as a deep-sounding gaida and the Dzhura gaida with a straight conical drone and of a higher pitch . The Macedonian gaida

4125-542: The International Space Station in November 2015. Traditionally, one of the purposes of the bagpipe was to provide music for dancing. This has declined with the growth of dance bands, recordings, and the decline of traditional dance. In turn, this has led to many types of pipes developing a performance-led tradition, and indeed much modern music based on the dance music tradition played on bagpipes

4250-471: The Mexican War of Independence , parts of the mission frequently served as a political prison. Between 1806 and 1812 it served as San Antonio's first hospital. Spanish records indicate that some renovations were made for this purpose, but no details were provided. The buildings were transferred from Spanish to Mexican control in 1821 after Mexico gained its independence. Soldiers continued to garrison

4375-668: The Republic of Texas legislature passed an act returning the sanctuary of the Alamo to the Roman Catholic Church. By 1845, when Texas was annexed to the United States, a colony of bats occupied the abandoned complex and weeds and grass covered many of the walls. As the Mexican–American War loomed in 1846, 2000 United States Army soldiers were sent to San Antonio under Brigadier General John Wool . By

4500-535: The United States have also adopted the tradition of fielding pipe bands. In recent years, often driven by revivals of native folk music and dance, many types of bagpipes have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and, in many cases, instruments that had fallen into obscurity have become extremely popular. In Brittany , the Great Highland bagpipe and concept of the pipe band were appropriated to create

4625-401: The flower parade , including balls, parties and a carnival. The celebration's name changed over the years from Carnival to Spring Carnival to Fiesta San Jacinto and, in 1960, to Fiesta San Antonio. The Battle of Flowers Parade Association began crowning a Carnival Queen in 1895. In 1909, local businessman John Carrington established The Order of the Alamo with the purpose of crowning a queen,

4750-399: The tonic note of the chanter). Exceptions are generally those pipes that have a double-chanter instead. A drone is most commonly a cylindrically bored tube with a single reed, although drones with double reeds exist. The drone is generally designed in two or more parts with a sliding joint so that the pitch of the drone can be adjusted. Depending on the type of pipes, the drones may lie over

4875-435: The 18th century are extremely rare; however, a substantial number of paintings, carvings, engravings, and manuscript illuminations survive. These artefacts are clear evidence that bagpipes varied widely throughout Europe, and even within individual regions. Many examples of early folk bagpipes in continental Europe can be found in the paintings of Brueghel, Teniers, Jordaens, and Durer. The earliest known artefact identified as

5000-416: The 8-foot (2.4 m) high walls. The walls were built 2 feet (60 cm) thick and enclosed an area 480 feet (150 m) long (north-south) and 160 feet (49 m) wide (east-west). For additional protection, a turret housing three cannon was added near the main gate in 1762. By 1793, an additional one-pounder cannon had been placed on a rampart near the convent. The population of Indians fluctuated from

5125-786: The Alamo Chapel. In 1931, Driscoll persuaded the state legislature to purchase two tracts of land between the chapel and Crockett street. In 1935, she convinced the city of San Antonio not to place a fire station in a building near the Alamo; the DRT later purchased that building and made it the DRT Library. During the Great Depression , money from the Works Progress Administration and the National Youth Administration

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5250-717: The Alamo from the DRT. In early 2015, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush officially moved control of the Alamo to the Texas General Land Office . The Alamo and the four missions in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 5, 2015. In 1716, the Spanish government established several Roman Catholic missions in East Texas . The isolation of

5375-523: The Alamo never was built by a military people for a fortress." Letter, dated January 18, 1836, from engineer Green B. Jameson to Sam Houston, commander of the Texian forces. With Cos's departure, there was no longer an organized garrison of Mexican troops in Texas, and many Texians believed the war was over. Colonel James C. Neill assumed command of the 100 soldiers who remained. Neill requested that an additional 200 men be sent to fortify

5500-622: The Alamo to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). In response to pressure from Hispanic groups, state representative Orlando Garcia of San Antonio began legislative hearings into DRT finances. The DRT agreed to make their financial records more open, and the hearings were canceled. [The Alamo is] one of the most important historical structures in the state. It belongs to everyone, or at least it should. ... [It] shouldn't be managed by any private group–I don't care if it

5625-401: The Alamo's walls, dug musket rounds out of the holds, and knocked off stone carvings". Pieces of the debris were sold to tourists, and in 1840 the San Antonio town council passed a resolution allowing local citizens to take stone from the Alamo at a cost of $ 5 per wagonload. By the late 1840s, even the four statues located on the front wall of the chapel had been removed. On January 13, 1841,

5750-564: The Alamo, and expressed fear that his garrison could be starved out of the Alamo after a four-day siege. However, the Texian government was in turmoil and unable to provide much assistance. Determined to make the best of the situation, Neill and engineer Green B. Jameson began working to fortify the Alamo. Jameson installed the cannons that Cos had left along the walls. Heeding Neill's warnings, General Sam Houston ordered Colonel James Bowie to take 35–50 men to Béxar to help Neill move all of

5875-720: The Alamo, and a boat parade at the San Antonio River Walk (where the "floats" actually float). Louisiana cuisine is sold at "A Taste of New Orleans" in Brackenridge Park , and oysters and other foods are offered at St. Mary's University 's Fiesta Oyster Bake. There are music (six performance stages) and cultural events, lasting two days. A Night in Old San Antonio (NIOSA) is a four-evening block party at La Villita downtown. Fiesta in Blue

6000-475: The Alamo, citing that they had done nothing to restore the property since gaining control. He also announced an intent to rebuild the convent. Shortly thereafter, the legislature paid to demolish the building that had been added by Hugo and Schmeltzer and authorized $ 5,000 to restore the rest of the complex. The restorations were begun, but not finished, as the appropriations fell short of the costs. Driscoll, upset over Colquitt's decisions, used her influence as

6125-462: The Alamo. On February 23, the Mexican Army, under the command of President-General Antonio López de Santa Anna , arrived in San Antonio de Béxar intent on recapturing the city. For the next thirteen days, the Mexican Army laid siege to the Alamo , during which work continued on its interior. After Mexican soldiers tried to block the irrigation ditch leading into the fort, Jameson supervised

6250-686: The Alamo. Twiggs elected to surrender and all supplies were turned over to the Texans. Following the Confederacy's defeat, the United States Army again maintained control over the Alamo. Shortly after the war ended, however, the Catholic Church requested that the army vacate the premises so that the Alamo could become a place of worship for local German Catholics. The army refused, and the church made no further attempts at retaking

6375-493: The Anglo-Norman invasion; another mention attributes their use to Irish troops in Henry VIII's siege of Boulogne . Illustrations in the 1581 book The Image of Irelande by John Derricke clearly depict a bagpiper. Derricke's illustrations are considered to be reasonably faithful depictions of the attire and equipment of the English and Irish population of the 16th century. The "Battell" sequence from My Ladye Nevells Booke (1591) by William Byrd , which probably alludes to

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6500-433: The Balkans, and in Southwest Asia. A chanter can be bored internally so that the inside walls are parallel (or "cylindrical") for its full length, or it can be bored in a conical shape. Popular woods include boxwood , cornel , plum or other fruit wood. The chanter is usually open-ended, so there is no easy way for the player to stop the pipe from sounding. Thus most bagpipes share a constant legato sound with no rests in

6625-414: The Catholic Church was the rightful owner of the chapel. While litigation was ongoing, the army rented the chapel from the Catholic Church for $ 150 per month. Under the army's oversight, the Alamo was greatly repaired. Soldiers cleared the grounds and rebuilt the old convent and the mission walls, primarily from the original stone which was strewn along the ground. During the renovations, a new wooden roof

6750-466: The DRT custodian of the Alamo. The bill passed, and Driscoll received all of her money back. Driscoll and de Zavala argued over how best to preserve the building. De Zavala wished to restore the exterior of the buildings to a state similar to its 1836 appearance, focusing on the convent (then called the long barracks), while Driscoll wanted to tear down the long barracks and create a monument similar to those she had seen in Europe: "a city center opened by

6875-399: The Fiesta Carnival. April 18–28, 2024, April 24-May 4, 2025, April 16–26, 2026, April 15–25, 2027, April 20–30, 2028. See also: List of museums in Central Texas Alamo Mission in San Antonio The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas , United States. It was

7000-444: The Irish wars of 1578, contains a piece entitled The bagpipe: & the drone . In 1760, the first serious study of the Scottish Highland bagpipe and its music was attempted in Joseph MacDonald's Compleat Theory . A manuscript from the 1730s by a William Dixon of Northumberland contains music that fits the border pipes , a nine-note bellows-blown bagpipe with a chanter similar to that of the modern Great Highland bagpipe . However,

7125-411: The Long Barracks was still standing, and the building that had contained the south wall gate and several rooms were mostly intact. The Texians briefly used the Alamo as a fortress in December 1836 and again in January 1839. The Mexican army regained control in March 1841 and September 1842 as they briefly took San Antonio de Bexar. According to historians Roberts and Olson, "both groups carved names in

7250-410: The Mexican army's defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto and the capture of Santa Anna, the Mexican army agreed to leave Texas, effectively ending the Texas Revolution. As Andrade and his garrison joined the retreat on May 24, they spiked the cannons , tore down many of the Alamo walls, and set fires throughout the complex. Only a few buildings survived their efforts; the chapel was left in ruins, most of

7375-409: The Mexican soldiers involved in the final assault, which historian Terry Todish stated was "a tremendous casualty rate by any standards". Following the battle of the Alamo, one thousand Mexican soldiers, under General Juan Andrade, remained at the mission. For the next two months, they repaired and fortified the complex, however, no records remain of what improvements they made to the structure. After

7500-400: The Northumbrian smallpipes, the piva and the left chanter of the surdelina ) have closed ends or stop the end on the player's leg, so that when the player "closes" (covers all the holes), the chanter becomes silent. A practice chanter is a chanter without bag or drones and has a much quieter reed, allowing a player to practice the instrument quietly and with no variables other than playing

7625-427: The Price of Freedom . The 40-minute-long film would be screened several times each day. The movie attracted many protests from Mexican-American activists, who decried the anti-Mexican comments and complained that it ignored Tejano contributions to the battle. The movie was re-edited in response to the complaints, but the controversy grew to the point that many activists began pressuring the legislature to move control of

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7750-410: The Republic of Texas (DRT) organized in 1892 with one of their main goals being to preserve the Alamo. Among its early members was Adina Emilia De Zavala , granddaughter of the Republic of Texas Vice-president Lorenzo de Zavala . Shortly before the turn of the 20th century, Adina de Zavala convinced Gustav Schmeltzer, owner of the convent, to give the DRT first option in purchasing the building if it

7875-471: The San Antonio mayor, Henry Cisneros , advocated that control remain with the DRT, and the legislature shelved the bill. Several years later, Carlos Guerra, a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News , began writing columns attacking the DRT for its handling of the Alamo. Guerra claimed that the DRT had kept the temperature too low within the chapel, a situation which caused the formation of water vapor , which when mixed with automobile exhaust fumes damaged

8000-413: The Spanish colonies." In the 19th century, the mission complex became known as "the Alamo". The name may have been derived from a grove of nearby cottonwood trees, known in Spanish as álamo . Alternatively, in 1803, the abandoned compound was occupied by the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras , from Álamo de Parras in Coahuila . Locals often called them simply the "Alamo Company". During

8125-424: The Texians, including Dickinson, Gregorio Esparza , and Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death. Texian Robert Evans was master of ordnance and had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder. If he had succeeded, the blast would have destroyed

8250-414: The Texians. The last of the Texians to die were the eleven men manning the two 12 lb (5.4 kg) cannon in the chapel. The entrance to the church had been barricaded with sandbags, which the Texians were able to fire over. A shot from the 18 lb (8.2 kg) cannon destroyed the barricades, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. With no time to reload,

8375-482: The United Kingdom and Commonwealth Nations such as Canada , New Zealand and Australia , the Great Highland bagpipe is commonly used in the military and is often played during formal ceremonies. Foreign militaries patterned after the British army have also adopted the Highland bagpipe, including those of Uganda , Sudan , India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Jordan , and Oman . Many police and fire services in Scotland , Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong , and

8500-509: The amendment" to return control of the mission to the DRT. Subsequently, while Colquitt was out of state on a business trip, Lieutenant Governor William Harding Mayes allowed the removal of the upper-story walls of the long barracks from the convent, leaving only the one-story walls of the west and south portions of the building. This conflict became known as the Second Battle of the Alamo. Upon their deaths in 1945 and 1955, Driscoll and de Zavala, respectively, had their bodies laid in state in

8625-474: The artillery and destroy the fortress. There were not enough oxen to move the artillery to a safer place, and most of the men believed the complex was of strategic importance to protecting the settlements to the east. On January 26, the Texian soldiers passed a resolution in favor of holding the Alamo. On February 11, Neill went on furlough to pursue additional reinforcements and supplies for the garrison. William Travis and James Bowie agreed to share command of

8750-406: The bag, but most blowpipes have a non-return valve that eliminates this need. In recent times, there are many instruments that assist in creating a clean air flow to the pipes and assist the collection of condensation. The use of a bellows to supply air is an innovation dating from the 16th or 17th century. In these pipes, sometimes called " cauld wind pipes ", air is not heated or moistened by

8875-470: The balance of the $ 4,500 from her own pocket. At the urging of both Driscoll and de Zavala, the Texas Legislature approved $ 5,000 for the committee to use as part of the next payment. The appropriation was vetoed by Governor S. W. T. Lanham , who said it was "not a justifiable expenditure of the taxpayers' money". DRT members set up a collection booth outside the Alamo and held several fundraising activities, collecting $ 5,662.23. Driscoll agreed to make up

9000-408: The buildings. Visitors were often more impressed. In 1828, French naturalist Jean Louis Berlandier visited the area. He mentioned the Alamo complex: "An enormous battlement and some barracks are found there, as well as the ruins of a church which could pass for one of the loveliest monuments of the area, even if its architecture is overloaded with ornamentation like all the ecclesiastical buildings of

9125-455: The chanter. The term chanter is derived from the Latin cantare , or "to sing", much like the modern French verb meaning "to sing", chanter . A distinctive feature of the gaida's chanter (which it shares with a number of other Eastern European bagpipes) is the "flea-hole" (also known as a mumbler or voicer , marmorka ) which is covered by the index finger of the left hand. The flea-hole

9250-480: The church. Santa Anna ordered that the Texian bodies be stacked and burned. All, or almost all, of the Texian defenders were killed in the battle, although some historians believe that at least one Texian, Henry Warnell, successfully escaped. Warnell died several months later of wounds incurred either during the final battle or during his escape. Most Alamo historians agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. This would represent about one-third of

9375-606: The city of San Antonio, which is why they have this fake monarchy, and they have pseudo military." She concludes that Fiesta "does celebrate white supremacy." Writer and producer John Phillip Santos , who characterizes the annual visits made by King Antonio (crowned by the Cavaliers) to his childhood schools as "ostentatious," "distant," and "aggressive," says Fiesta rituals did not include the Mexican American community. Artist Mel Casas (1929-2014) mocked Fiesta queens in

9500-487: The complex until December 1835, when General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered to Texian forces following a two-month siege of San Antonio de Béxar during the Texas Revolution . In the few months that Cos supervised the troops garrisoned in San Antonio, he had ordered many improvements to the Alamo. Cos's men likely demolished the four stone arches that were to support a future chapel dome. The debris from these

9625-488: The complex. They abandoned the Alamo in 1876 when Fort Sam Houston was established in San Antonio. About that time, the Church sold the convent to Honore Grenet, who added a new two-story wood building to the complex. Grenet used the convent and the new building for a wholesale grocery business. After Grenet's death in 1882, his business was purchased by the mercantile firm, Hugo & Schmeltzer, which continued to operate

9750-466: The compound for several months. The defenders were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. As the Mexican Army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings. For the next five years, the Alamo was periodically used to garrison soldiers, both Texian and Mexican, but was ultimately abandoned. In 1849, several years after Texas

9875-530: The creation of the ceòl mór (great music) of the bagpipe, which reflected its martial origins, with battle tunes, marches, gatherings, salutes and laments. The Highlands of the early 17th century saw the development of piping families including the MacCrimmonds , MacArthurs, MacGregors , and the Mackays of Gairloch . The earliest Irish mention of the bagpipe is in 1206, approximately thirty years after

10000-534: The day of the Battle of Flowers as a local holiday and consequently don't hold classes. The Fiesta Flambeau Parade starts at sunset on the second Saturday of the festival. Dating from 1948, the parade is illuminated by thousands of lights on the dancers, the band instruments, the horses, the cars, and the floats. An estimated crowd of 600,000 filled the parade route in 2011 to watch the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. Art historian Ruben C. Cordova documents

10125-477: The deeply racist remarks made by central figures in the Texian revolt against Mexico, and questions why the victory over Mexico is celebrated with Mexican music, food and drink. In their place, he sardonically suggests some unappetizing Anglo-Celtic foodstuffs and " Riverdancing on the Riverwalk " to the tune of bagpipes and banjoes. Fiesta has also been criticized for the racially exclusionary membership of

10250-425: The difference, as well as agreeing to pay the final $ 50,000. After hearing of her generosity, various newspapers in Texas dubbed her the "Savior of the Alamo". Many groups began to petition the legislature to reimburse Driscoll. In January 1905, de Zavala drafted a bill that was sponsored by representative Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. (father of future US President Lyndon Baines Johnson ), to reimburse Driscoll and name

10375-484: The digging of a well at the south end of the plaza. Although the men hit the water, they weakened an earth and timber parapet near the barracks, collapsing it and leaving no way to fire safely over that wall. The siege ended in a fierce battle on March 6. As the Mexican Army overran the walls, most of the Texians fell back to the long barracks (convent) and the chapel. During the siege, Texians had carved holes in many of

10500-479: The door to hold statues. The lower-level niches displayed Saint Francis and Saint Dominic , while the second-level niches contained statues of Saint Clare and Saint Margaret of Cortona . Carvings were also completed around the chapel's door. Up to 30 adobe or mud buildings were constructed to serve as workrooms, storerooms, and homes for the Indian residents. As the nearby presidio was perpetually understaffed,

10625-532: The end of the year, they had appropriated part of the Alamo complex for the Quartermaster's Department. Within eighteen months, the convent building had been restored to serve as offices and storerooms. The chapel remained vacant, however, as the army, the Roman Catholic Church, and the city of San Antonio bickered over its ownership. An 1855 decision by the Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed that

10750-435: The first civilian community in Texas, San Antonio de Béxar , which later developed into the present-day city of San Antonio, Texas. Within a year, the mission moved to the western bank of the river, where it was less likely to flood. Over the next several years, a chain of missions was established nearby. In 1724, after remnants of a Gulf Coast hurricane destroyed the existing structures at Misión San Antonio de Valero,

10875-523: The hide. The simplest methods involve just the use of salt, while more complex treatments involve milk , flour , and the removal of fur. The hide is normally turned inside out so that the fur is on the inside of the bag, as this helps to reduce the effect of moisture buildup within the bag. The chanter is the melody pipe, played with two hands. All bagpipes have at least one chanter; some pipes have two chanters, particularly those in North Africa, in

11000-477: The importance of severing Fiesta from the war it was invented to commemorate. Overseeing the festival is a single nonprofit organization , the Fiesta San Antonio Commission. The sponsoring organizations must meet the commission's criteria before receiving approval and being invited to join. The commission is governed by an all- volunteer board of community leaders and representatives from its nonprofit participating member organizations. The group works throughout

11125-677: The last few centuries, in recent years many of these pipes have seen a resurgence or revival as musicians have sought them out; for example, the Irish piping tradition , which by the mid 20th century had declined to a handful of master players is today alive, well, and flourishing, a situation similar to that of the Asturian gaita , the Galician gaita , the Portuguese gaita transmontana , the Aragonese gaita de boto , Northumbrian smallpipes ,

11250-531: The limestone walls. These allegations prompted the legislature in 1993 to once more attempt to transfer control of the Alamo to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. At the same time, State Senator Gregory Luna filed a competing bill to transfer oversight of the Alamo to the Texas Historical Commission . Bagpipes This is an accepted version of this page Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from

11375-500: The mission on May 1 to Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares in a foundation document, still preserved. The mission was located near a community of Coahuiltecans and was initially populated by three to five Indian converts from Mission San Francisco Solano near San Juan Bautista. One mile (two km) north of the mission, Alarcón built a fort, the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar . Close by, he founded

11500-523: The mission was built to withstand attacks by Apache and Comanche raiders. In 1745, 100 mission Indians successfully drove off a band of 300 Apaches which had surrounded the presidio. Their actions saved the presidio, the mission, and likely the town from destruction. Walls were erected around the Indian homes in 1758, likely in response to a massacre at the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá . The convent and church were not fully enclosed within

11625-433: The mission was moved to its current location. At the time, the new location was just across the San Antonio River from the town of San Antonio de Béxar and just north of a group of huts known as La Villita. Over the next several decades, the mission complex expanded to cover 3 acres (1.2 ha). The first permanent building was likely the two-story, L-shaped stone residence for the priests. The building served as parts of

11750-540: The missions—the nearest Spanish settlement, San Juan Bautista, Coahuila was over 400 miles (644 km) away—made it difficult to keep them adequately provisioned. To assist the missionaries, the new governor of Spanish Texas , Martín de Alarcón , wished to establish a waystation between the settlements along the Rio Grande and the new missions in East Texas. In April 1718, Alarcón led an expedition to found

11875-400: The money required to tear down the convent, build a stone wall around the Alamo complex, and convert the interior into a park. The legislature postponed a decision until after the 1910 elections after which Texas had a new governor, Oscar Branch Colquitt . Both de Zavala and Driscoll spoke, and Colquitt toured the property; three months later, Colquitt removed the DRT as official custodians of

12000-525: The most elite organizations associated with Fiesta. The Order of the Alamo and the Texas Cavaliers hold rituals in the Alamo church and crown royalty from their own membership, "who preside over brown subjects." Lilliana Saldaña, associate professor of bicultural-bilingual studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio , points out: "Anglo elite place themselves as sort of cultural guardians of

12125-639: The music in Dixon's manuscript varied greatly from modern Highland bagpipe tunes, consisting mostly of extended variation sets of common dance tunes. Some of the tunes in the Dixon manuscript correspond to those found in the early 19th century manuscript sources of Northumbrian smallpipe tunes, notably the rare book of 50 tunes, many with variations, by John Peacock . As Western classical music developed, both in terms of musical sophistication and instrumental technology, bagpipes in many regions fell out of favour because of their limited range and function. This triggered

12250-401: The music. Primarily because of this inability to stop playing, technical movements are made to break up notes and to create the illusion of articulation and accents. Because of their importance, these embellishments (or "ornaments") are often highly technical systems specific to each bagpipe, and take many years of study to master. A few bagpipes (such as the musette de cour, the uilleann pipes ,

12375-484: The octave below and then a drone consonant with the fifth of the chanter. The evidence for bagpipes prior to the 13th century AD is still uncertain, but several textual and visual clues have been suggested. The Oxford History of Music posits that a sculpture of bagpipes has been found on a Hittite slab at Euyuk in Anatolia, dated to 1000 BC. Another interpretation of this sculpture suggests that it instead depicts

12500-835: The other three sides of the building. The complex eventually contained a supply depot, offices, storage facilities, a blacksmith shop, and stables. During the American Civil War , Texas joined the Confederacy , and the Alamo complex was taken over by the Confederate Army . In February 1861, the Texan Militia, under direction from the Texas Secession Convention and led by Ben McCullough and Sam Maverick, confronted General Twiggs, commander of all US Forces in Texas and headquartered at

12625-406: The player to fit a more effective moisture trap to the inside of the bag. However, synthetic bags still carry a risk of colonisation by fungal spores, and the associated danger of lung infection if they are not kept clean, even if they otherwise require less cleaning than do bags made from natural substances. Bags cut from larger materials are usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over

12750-685: The player's breathing, so bellows-driven bagpipes can use more refined or delicate reeds. Such pipes include the Irish uilleann pipes ; the border or Lowland pipes , Scottish smallpipes , Northumbrian smallpipes and pastoral pipes in Britain; the musette de cour , the musette bechonnet and the cabrette in France; and the Dudy  [ pl ] , koziol bialy , and koziol czarny in Poland. The bag

12875-546: The popularity of many traditional forms of bagpipe throughout Europe, which began to be displaced by instruments from the classical tradition and later by gramophone and radio. As pipers were easily identifiable, combat losses were high, estimated at one thousand in World War I. A front line role was prohibited following high losses in the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1943, though a few later instances occurred. In

13000-423: The reed is a combination of a cotton phenolic (Hgw2082) material from which the body of the reed is made and a clarinet reed cut to size in order to fit the body. These type of reeds produce a louder sound and are not so sensitive to humidity and temperature changes. Most bagpipes have at least one drone , a pipe that generally is not fingered but rather produces a constant harmonizing note throughout play (usually

13125-467: The seam and stitched (for skin bags) or glued (for synthetic bags) to reduce leaks. Holes are then cut to accommodate the stocks. In the case of bags made from largely intact animal skins, the stocks are typically tied into the points where the limbs and the head joined the body of the whole animal, a construction technique common in Central Europe . Different regions have different ways of treating

13250-429: The shoulder, across the arm opposite the bag, or may run parallel to the chanter. Some drones have a tuning screw, which effectively alters the length of the drone by opening a hole, allowing the drone to be tuned to two or more distinct pitches. The tuning screw may also shut off the drone altogether. In most types of pipes with one drone, it is pitched two octaves below the tonic of the chanter. Additional drones often add

13375-710: The site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, a pivotal event of the Texas Revolution in which American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett were killed. Today it is a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District and a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site . Originally named the Misión San Antonio de Valero , it was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas , built to convert American tribes to Christianity. The mission

13500-475: The sport of curling , bagpipes are also the official instrument of the World Curling Federation and are commonly played during a ceremonial procession of teams before major curling championships. Bagpipe making was once a craft that produced instruments in many distinctive, local and traditional styles. Today, the world's largest producer of the instrument is Pakistan , where the industry

13625-496: The spot where flames ascended ... over the funeral pyre of heroes". In 1883, the Catholic Church sold the chapel to the State of Texas for $ 20,000. The state hired Tom Rife to manage the building. He gave tours but did not make any efforts to restore the chapel, to the annoyance of many. In the past decades, soldiers and members of the local Masonic lodge , which had used the building for meetings, had inscribed various graffiti on

13750-564: The store. San Antonio's first rail service began in 1877, and the city's tourism industry began to grow. The city heavily advertised the Alamo, using photographs and drawings that showed only the chapel, not the surrounding city. Many of the visitors were disappointed with their visit; in 1877 tourist Harrier P. Spofford wrote that the chapel was "a reproach to all San Antonio. Its wall is overthrown and removed, its dormitories are piled with military stores, its battle-scarred front has been revamped and repainted and market carts roll to and fro on

13875-759: The top four are covered by the thumb and the first three fingers of the left hand, then the four fingers of the right hand cover the remaining four holes. The note from the chanter is produced by a reed installed at its top. The reed may be a single (a reed with one vibrating tongue) or double reed (of two pieces that vibrate against each other). Double reeds are used with both conical- and parallel-bored chanters while single reeds are generally (although not exclusively) limited to parallel-bored chanters. In general, double-reed chanters are found in pipes of Western Europe while single-reed chanters appear in most other regions. They are made from reed ( arundo donax or Phragmites ), bamboo , or elder . A more modern variant for

14000-549: The walls and statues. In May 1887 a devout Catholic who was incensed that Masonic emblems had been inscribed on a statue of Saint Teresa was arrested after breaking into the building and smashing statues with a sledgehammer. The 50th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo received little attention. In an editorial after the fact, the San Antonio Express called for the formation of a new society that would help recognize important historical events. The Daughters of

14125-437: The walls of these rooms so that they would be able to fire. Each room had only one door which led into the courtyard and which had been "buttressed by semicircular parapets of dirt secured with cowhides". Some of the rooms even had trenches dug into the floor to provide some cover for the defenders. Mexican soldiers used the abandoned Texian cannon to blow off the doors of the rooms, allowing Mexican soldiers to enter and defeat

14250-455: The west and south edges of an inner courtyard. A series of adobe barracks buildings were constructed to house the mission Indians and a textile workshop was erected. By 1744, over 300 Indian converts resided at San Antonio de Valero. The mission was largely self-sufficient, relying on its 2,000 head of cattle and 1,300 sheep for food and clothing. Each year, the mission's farmland produced up to 2,000 bushels of corn and 100 bushels of beans; cotton

14375-546: The year, coordinating the details and day-to-day tasks required to plan the citywide event. The commission also serves as a liaison between its nonprofit members, the local military activities, and the City of San Antonio. City services are essential to the conduct of Fiesta. The commission receives no government funding. Its income comes from corporate partnerships, sales in the Fiesta Store, membership dues, and proceeds from

14500-680: Was secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo ("poplar trees"). During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar . A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied

14625-448: Was a traditional cross, with a long nave and short transepts . Although the first two levels were completed, the bell towers and third story were never begun. While four stone arches were erected to support the planned dome, the dome itself was never built. As the church was never completed, it is unlikely that it was ever used for religious services. The chapel was intended to be highly decorated. Niches were carved on either side of

14750-417: Was added to the chapel and the campanulate, or bell-shaped facade, was added to the front wall of the chapel. At the time, reports suggested that the soldiers found several skeletons while clearing the rubble from the chapel floor. The new chapel roof was destroyed in a fire in 1861. The army also cut additional windows into the chapel, adding two on the upper level of the facade as well as additional windows on

14875-438: Was also grown. The first stones were laid for a more permanent church building in 1744, however, the church, its tower, and the sacristy collapsed in the late 1750s. Reconstruction began in 1758, with the new chapel located at the south end of the inner courtyard. Constructed of 4-foot (1.2 m) thick limestone blocks, it was intended to be three stories high and topped by a dome, with bell towers on either side. Its shape

15000-399: Was annexed to the United States, the U.S. Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermaster's depot, before again abandoning the mission in 1876 after nearby Fort Sam Houston was established. The Alamo chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a mercantile company that operated them as

15125-547: Was designated in 1977. As San Antonio prepared to host the Hemisfair in 1968, the long barracks were roofed and turned into a museum. Few structural changes have taken place since then. According to Herbert Malloy Mason's Spanish Missions of Texas , the Alamo is one of "the finest examples of Spanish ecclesiastical building on the North American continent". The mission, along with others located in San Antonio,

15250-510: Was ever sold. In 1903, when Schmeltzer wanted to sell the building to a developer, he offered the building first to the DRT for $ 75,000, which they did not have. During De Zavala's attempts to raise the money, she met Clara Driscoll , an heiress who was very interested in Texas history , especially the Alamo. Shortly thereafter, Driscoll joined the DRT and was appointed chair of the San Antonio chapter's fund-raising committee. The DRT negotiated

15375-470: Was used to build a ramp to the apse of the chapel building. There, the Mexican soldiers placed three cannon, which could fire over the walls of the roofless building. To close a gap between the church and the barracks (formerly the convent building) and the south wall, the soldiers built a palisade . When Cos retreated, he left behind 19 cannons, including a 16-pounder. "You can plainly see that

15500-676: Was used to construct a wall around the Alamo and a museum, and to raze several non-historic buildings on the Alamo property. The Alamo was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960, and was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1961. It was an inaugural listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and is a contributing property to the Alamo Plaza Historic District, which

15625-486: Was worth $ 6.8 million in 2010. In the late 20th century, various models of electronic bagpipes were invented. The first custom-built MIDI bagpipes were developed by the Asturian piper known as Hevia (José Ángel Hevia Velasco). Astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is thought to be the first person to play the bagpipes in outer space , having played " Amazing Grace " in tribute to late research scientist Victor Hurst aboard

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