It’s a common question this time of year with St Paddy’s Day right around the corner.

 

I know exactly what’s under the kilt.  How do I know, you might ask?

 

It’s my husband.

 

I am one of the fortunate women married to a bag pipe player.  He’s not Scottish or Irish.  He just happens to love pipe music and has spent years learning how to play and entertaining me and hundreds of other people.  This was not his ‘real’ occupation, rather it was something he just decided to take up as a hobby.

 

As much as I love the happy music and the entertaining he does at golf outings, weddings, parties, parades, etc. his true gift is playing at funerals.  Have you ever been to a funeral with a bugler playing taps?  It is so moving.  My man’s piping at funerals can bring a person to tears even if they are a casual passer by.  He understands the ebb and flow of emotions as people lay their loved ones to rest and can play their heart strings as easily as his fingers move over the holes of the chanter.

But for the next few days, he and a few friends will be playing at parties and bars for St Patrick’s Day. He’ll get the usual questions about whether or not he is Scottish or Irish and will have a few people trying to lift his kilt. He’ll make a lot of people happy and will have some fun himself. I’ll miss him but love that he has a skill and gift so very few people have.

As for what’s really under the kilt I can reveal the secret: Boxers with shamrocks.