SUMNER — Hartford-Sumner Elementary School was hopping Friday with music from bagpipes and Boghat, a band that plays Irish music.

Wilton Academy student Aidan Underwood and his grandfather Bob Underwood of Farmington, who plays with a pipe band in Lewiston, entertained class after class with their haunting bagpipe music.

Aidan, in full regalia dress, explained to a fifth-grade class how he learned to play and demonstrated the various parts of the bagpipe. He also talked about his attire.

He said the plaid he was wearing was Queen Elizabeth’s tartan. His grandfather said that different clans wear different plaids. His piper’s hat had a symbol of the Queen’s flag which flies over Buckingham Palace when she is in residence. The shoes they wore were called Ghillie Brogues, Aidan said.

Grandfather Bob quipped that, “Only a real man can wear a kilt.”

Aidan said it takes a lot of air to fill the bag, so he learned to play using just the chantor pipe. “You have to put in just the right amount of air to get the right sound,” he said.

Advertisement

The Boghat from Portland played the Uilleann pipes, fiddle and bouzouki much to the delight of students clapping and dancing in the library. Band members explained that the music was passed on and learned by ear rather than having written music.

Music teacher Meghan Wright said an Allied Arts Team had worked in the summer to put together the three week unit. Physical education teacher Sara Thurston, teacher Laurie McGinty, teacher Linda Andrews and Librarian Cynthia Norton worked on the team.

Wright said they tried to develop a program to expose the students to everything from the British Isles.

Halls were lined with life size images of United Kingdom authors. Students had created the images along with artwork on the various books written by authors such as James Herriot, J.K. Rowling, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Charles Dickens and many others.

The Stillson school of Irish Dance from Portland led by Carlene Stillson, the only certified Irish dance instructor in Maine, held workshops throughout the day on different native dances.

“This has been a really good week,” Principal Ryan Wilkins said. “It was a lot of hard work but the students learned a lot about the British Isles.” He thanked all the teachers for being supportive and for keeping the students excited.

Wright said the Nezinscot Valley Music Boosters sponsored the events. On Thursday, the Hampsted Players from New Hampshire presented “Alice in Wonderland.”

Comments are no longer available on this story