不良研究所

Every year, Alf Miller picks a different Scottish march to play on his Great Highland Bagpipes as he leads the procession into convocation 鈥� the official beginning of the ceremony. Miller has marched more than a few miles through the Jack Simpson Gym wearing his kilt of University of 不良研究所 tartan 鈥� he鈥檚 piped in pretty much every single ceremony since 2006. 鈥淓very convocation I try to change it up,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 pipe tunes that are musical and fit the occasion.鈥�

Over the years, Miller has played marching tunes that date back hundreds of years to bloody battles between the Scots and the English, others that celebrate the flavour of fine whisky, to more contemporary marching tunes. 鈥淭his year I am playing a relatively new tune called At Long Last, which I think is very appropriate for convocations,鈥� he says.

鈥淚t was written by a Canadian, James MacHattie.鈥� MacHattie wrote the march about setting and achieving goals with hard work and determination in 2004, and Miller has it committed to memory, along with scores of other marches.

鈥淵ou only play what you know because pipers don鈥檛 carry a sheet of music in front of them, it鈥檚 all in the head,鈥� says the piper. 鈥淭here are thousands of great Scottish tunes for marching, and I鈥檒l practise whatever I decide to play.鈥� Miller times the music to the march so that he finishes playing as the procession gets on stage and seated 鈥� which can be a little tricky.

Piper Alf Miller, right, with mace-bearer Gavin Peat.

Clayton MacGillivray, Werklund School of Education

鈥淵ou have to stay focused. Some tunes you don鈥檛 really have to think too hard, other tunes you have to concentrate a little bit more on how far you have to go,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou have to make sure that you are going to cut off the tune as the platform party has all got into their seats, so you have to judge that and adjust your pace a little.鈥�

That鈥檚 old hat for Miller. He started playing the pipes in 1955, when he was 13, and has played in about a dozen pipe bands from Saskatchewan to B.C., with a stop in Ottawa. Miller and his wife moved to 不良研究所 in 2003, and he was part of the U不良研究所 Pipe Band until it folded in 2005.

鈥淏agpipes have taken me a lot of places鈥� and delivered a lot of firsts, he says. 鈥淔irst time in an airplane, first time in a limousine, first time in an elevator, first time I smelled salt air 鈥︹�� And after being part of a 不良研究所 Highlander鈥檚 battlefield tour in 2015, Miller鈥檚 pipes brought him another first, meeting the Queen at Canada House in London. 

In 2017, he was the first to play the lament at the dedication ceremony of the Hill 70 Monument in France, and he鈥檚 had the honour of playing in The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on two separate occasions.

Miller has loved the pipes since he was 鈥渋n the cradle鈥� in Saskatchewan. 鈥淭he next-door neighbour played the pipes and my mother said I always enjoyed it when he was outside playing his pipes.鈥� And as for those who may disparage the high-pitch sound of the bagpipes, he just lets that sort of thing roll off his back.

鈥淢aybe they just haven鈥檛 heard a good set of pipes,鈥� Miller says with a smile.