pibroch

English

Alternative forms

• piobaireachd

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic pìobaireachd (“act of playing the bagpipes”), from pìobaire (“piper”) + -achd (“abstract noun suffix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːbɹɒk/, /ˈpiːbɹɒx/

Noun

pibroch (plural pibrochs)

1. A series of musical variations for the bagpipes, usually martial or funerary in nature.
   • 1810, The Lady of the Lake, Walter Scott, 2.XVII:

     Ever, as on they bore, more loud / And louder rung the pibroch proud.

   • 1908, E. G. Murphy, ‘The Doctor's Story’, Australian Ballads & Short Stories, Penguin, published 2003, page 279:

     He had heard the stirring pibrochs speed the Gordons in their fights, / It had borne them through the fire zone as they swung up Dargai's heights […]

   • 2012, Hannah Rosefield, “Piping Up”, in Literary Review, section 401:

     Halfway through The Big Music, Kirsty Gunn notes that piobaireachd, a particular form of bagpipe composition, sounds ‘foreign and strange’ to those not raised on it.