Sir Walter Scott took a considerable interest in the Border pipers, and in his introduction to Border Minstrelsy says:—
“It is certain that till a very late date, the pipers, of whom there was one attached to each Border town of note, and whose office was often hereditary, were the great depository of oral, and particularly poetical tradition. About spring-time, and after harvest it was the custom of these musicians to make a progress through a particular district of the country. The music and tale repaid their lodging and they were usually gratified with a donation of seed corn. This order of minstrels is alluded to in the comic song of ‘Maggie Lauder,’ who thus addresses a piper—
‘Live ye upo’ the Border?’
By means of these men, much traditional poetry was preserved which must otherwise have perished.”
In another place he says:—
“These town pipers, an institution of great antiquity upon the Borders, were certainly the last remains of the minstrel race. Robin Hastie, town piper of Jedburgh, perhaps the last of the order, died nine or ten years ago [this was written about 1802]; his family was supposed to have held the office for about three centuries. Old age had rendered Robin a wretched performer, but he knew several old songs and tunes which have probably died with him. The town pipers received a livery and salary from the community to which they belonged, and in some burghs they had a small allotment of land called ‘the Piper’s Croft.’”
One of the statutes passed by the Town Council of Jedburgh was to the following effect:—
“The swasher (town drummer) and piper to go duly round at four in the morning and eight at night under the penalty of forfeiting their wages, and eight days’ imprisonment.”
That the drummer and piper attended to their duties is shown by an extract from The Autobiography of a Scottish Borderer. The writer of the extract was a Jedburgh lady, who died in 1846, and very probably either saw or heard of a procession such as she describes:—
“The bells rung a merry peal and parties paraded the streets, preceded by the town piper, with favours in their hats.”