About Virginia bagpiper William Plail

Central Virginia bagpiper William Plail lives between Charlottesville and Lynchburg, Virginia in the town of Amherst. He has piped for commemorative and festive occasions in the Central Virginia area since 2001.

Professionally he pipes for weddings, funerals, memorials, birthdays, St. Patrick's and other holiday celebrations, private parties, historical reenactments and pub festivities. Upon request he plays duets with organ. He has composed several dozen tunes for the highland bagpipes and is a prolific arranger of traditional carols and hymns for the pipes.

As a band piper he plays with Roanoke's premier pipe band Warpipe as well as with local bands in Charlottesville and Lynchburg.

About piping in Central Virginia

As a soloist William Plail has played in local towns and cities throughout the area: Lynchburg, Danville, Bedford, Roanoke, Salem, Farmville, Charlottesville, Waynesboro and Lovingston. Solo piping engagements have taken him to every county in the Central Virginia region: Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Augusta, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Franklin, Prince Edward and Rockbridge.

Variously as a band or ensemble piper or as a soloist he has played at Monticello, Montpelier, and Ashlawn, at Smith Mountain Lake and at the Massanutten and Wintergreen resorts. Area institutions where he has played include the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Hollins University, Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, Lynchburg College, Randolph College and Sweet Briar College.

Weddings

While most weddings limit piping to the bridal processional and recessional marches, other elements of the ceremony also lend themselves to piping.

• Welcome: the piper plays sets of quick and slow marches as guests arrive. The tunes are generally at the piper's discretion.
• Seating: the piper may play a series of slow marches as the groomsmen escort mothers, grandparents and other guests to their seats. This may continue as the bridesmaids process.
• PROCESSIONAL: escorted the bride proceeds down the aisle to the stately measure of a slow march chosen by the bride or couple. The tune is played out until the end as they wait at the altar.
• Ceremonial: occasionally the bride or the couple wishes for special music during the ceremony; this may include a hymn or a traditional pipe tune played as a duet with organ.
• RECESSIONAL: after the minister concludes the ceremony by formally introducing the newly married couple to the assembled guests, the piper plays one or more sprightly quick marches as the couple exits.
• Retreat:if the reception is but a short walk from the site where the ceremony takes place, it can be expedient to have the piper lead the guests away to the reception while the couple is attending to photographing. The piper plays sets of quick marches.
• Reception welcome: the piper may be asked to play more tunes to welcome guests to the reception, possibly "announcing" the arrival of the newlyweds by playing again their recessional march.

Favorite tunes for wedding processionals include waltz-like slow marches: Morag of Dunvegan, Believe Me if All those Endearing Young Charms, The Saffron Kilt, My Home, Loch Rannoch, The Mingulay Boat Song. Sprightly quick marches preferred for the recessional include: Mairi's Wedding, The Earl of Mansfield, Jenny's Bawbee, Shelley Sackier of Bruichladdich, Rab's Wedding, The Steamboat, The Glendaruel Highlanders.

Tunes and hymns suitable for organ-bagpipe duets include: Highland Cathedral, Where there is love (Waly Waly), Love Divine All Loves Excelling.

Funerals & Memorials

It has become tradition for the piper to play Amazing Grace at some point during a ceremony, commonly in association with the benediction or when a flag is folded and presented to the bereaved.

Other requested hymns include The Day Thou Gavest, Abide with Me, There is a Balm in Gilead, The Lord's My Shepherd. When the casket is being carried from hearse to graveside, or while attendees gather before the service or disperse afterwards, slow marches and retreats are most suitable: Going Home, My Lodging's in the Cold Ground (Endearing Young Charms), The Galloway Hills, Oft in the Stilly Night, Balmoral, When the Battle's O'er.

For line-of-duty or service deaths, and to honor the passing of native Scots and persons of Scottish descent—and in particular of World War II and other veterans of foreign wars—the piper might be asked to play the solemn and haunting air The Flowers of the Forest.