pied drummer of sheriffmuir

Drummers are the backbone of any musical group or band. A drummer told me that. It seems the drummers keep the tempo of all musical ensembles because the other musicians, particularly the guitar strummers, can't. Another drummer told me that.

This true tale is not about bands or groups or other musicians and whether or not they can have tempo, it is about sheep. Yes the woolly things you see when driving about the countryside, that's right, sheep. In this instance Black Face ewes.

It is also a truth, so another drummer assured me, that the drums attract girls. Not sure how it works if the drummer is female, but hey, I don't have an answer for everything. Perhaps in the land of music that is not a problem, each to his, or her, own. He described drums as a 'chick magnet'. I have no idea what that means but one thing I do know and can evidence, they are definitely a Black Face ewe magnet. Perhaps other breeds may well display the same love of a good roll, not sure, however as this tale unfolds you will see that the Black Face do. Rockers at heart and mesmericly attracted to a good drum beat. Now not many people know that.

My first instinct when hearing the story I am to relate was to do a bit of research. I had a feeling I was getting the wool pulled over my eyes, but the more I read the more I believed.

Using drum beats as a method of communication is not new. Whilst the practice is world wide, the most famous would appear to be the 'talking drums' of West Africa, particularly those of Nigeria and Ghana, as they are known today. It seems that during the era of slave trading the practice moved west to the Americas. Interestingly, the use of drums was banned by the slavers as their captives were communicating in a 'language' they could not understand.

Drum communication methods whilst not languages in their own right; are based on actual natural languages. The sounds produced are conventionalised or idiomatic signals based on speech patterns. The messages are normally very stereotyped and context-dependent. They lack the ability to form new combinations and expressions. When a drum is used in speech mode, it is culturally defined and depends on the linguistic/cultural boundaries. Therefore, communication suffers from translation problems as in vocal communication. There is no single international drum language.

Back to our Black Face ewes and drums? Well it seems this tale is not an isolated incident. This one involved wild horses;

A woman called Jill Star runs an organisation designed to support and help Native American youths to understand and revive their tribal values, culture, ceremony, spirituality and language. One method of doing this is through interaction with wild horses. During one programme, student participants were allowed to select a specific wild horse for "gentling," meaning they could assist in taming and training that animal. One sunny afternoon, when they had finished their tasks, the students and a few elders within their group brought a tribal drum to the site. The students sat around the instrument and began to chant and drum. When this happened, the horses followed the drums and mesmerised, made a semi-circle around the students. Most of the youngsters were so involved in the drumming that they didn't notice, even though the horses had gathered just 20 feet or so away from them. It seems to have been a very moving moment.

To our more local tale. A very talented drummer, resident in the central Scotland area, was practicing in his apartment, but getting really frustrated because the close proximity of other residents, less than enthusiastic about his drum skills, was cramping his style. Only one solution. Kit stowed safely in his van and into a quiet corner of Stirlingshire. Quiet until he arrived that is. The quiet corner I refer to was Sheriffmuir, just kind of on the north west flank of the Ochil Hills. With kit arranged the drummer of our tale, released his frustrations on the unsuspecting drums. An hour passed during which time, with eyes closed and in a pleasure trance, our hero beat himself into a crescendo of noise and sweat. I think that describes what he did, although on re reading that bit I am not sure it sound too savoury. So keep it clean.

When finished and in the process of coming down from the high he had transported himself to, he became aware of someone knocking on the drivers window of his van. The conversation between our drummer and his visitor went along these lines;

'Hello, hope I'm not disturbing you, but will you be back next week?'

'Sorry, I don't understand, back next week, why?'

'Have a look outside, have you no seen the sheep?'

'The sheep?'

'Aye, have a look.'

To our pied drummer's surprise there were some two hundred or so sheep clustered against the fence adjacent to where he was parked, all staring at his van. Seems these Black Face ewes, as the shepherd described them, were more enthusiastic about his drumming skills than his neighbours.

'So will you be back next week?'

'If you like, but why?'

'Well I will be gathering them next week for dipping and when they are all over the hill it can take hours to get them all in. If you just park in the same place and do what you were doing today, it will save us hours.'

And he did and the sheep responded exactly as expected and the gathering was achieved in jig time. Our hero's trouble was rewarded to the tune of £50. A good day all round.

So there you have it, Black Face sheep on Sheriffmuir, wild horses in the USA, mesmerized by the beat of the drums.

A question comes to mind, if my pied drummer of Sheriffmuir can attract sheep what about the Hamelin piper? 

Interesting, very interesting.