By Steve Hubrecht
The morning mist has long since lifted off the lake, but thick clouds still drift across the slopes to the east and west, obscuring the peaks above. The wind blows, then calms. And then, drifting across the water comes the sonorous, haunting sound of bagpipes.
On a bluff above the far shore stands a kilted figure, with full grey facial chops on his cheeks, staring out across the water as he plays the pipes.
It seems a scene straight out of the Scottish Highlands. But in fact, it’s Lake Windermere in the Columbia Valley on an unusually moist-yet-warm fall day. And if you venture out along the western side of the lake, above the railroad tracks, you can find this exact scene not just in the fall, but in spring, summer, and even winter too.
The figure is none other than Pieter Piper, the legendary bagpiper of Lake Windermere. It’s tempting to say he’s part man, part myth. Except it’s not a myth; he’s as real as it gets.
There are several ways you learn of Pieter Piper. Number one: you happen to be out on, or near, the lake, and you hear the mournful swirl of his bagpipes. You cock your head, not sure if you can trust your ears, and you listen more carefully.
Later you ask around and hear the stories. Number two: you hear the stories about Pieter Piper, but don’t believe them (surely they can’t be true). Then some time later, out near the lake, you hear the bagpipes and your eyes widen in realization. Number three: you happen to be out for a stroll on the bluff top on the western shore of the lake. By sheer fluke, the piper shows up, striding up the edge of the precipice, kilt flapping and pipes under his arm. He begins to blow. You stop walking, and sit down, gobsmacked, absorbing the undeniable magic of the moment. (This actually happens more often than you might think.)
Pieter Piper’s real name is Pieter Jansen. He’s been playing from his lakeside perch for 14 years, and at a spry 72 years old, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Pieter plays two or three times a week, always in the same spot, usually in the afternoon or early evening. He’s lived in Invermere for more than 40 years, but grew up near Victoria. As he kid he spent time near the Bay Street Armoury military base (in Victoria), and the Canadian Scottish Pipe Band that was based there.
As Pieter puts it: “I saw the army cadets and I liked the uniforms. I wanted to be a cadet. Then I saw the piper calling the cadets (by playing the bagpipes) and I said ‘no, I want to do that instead.’ So I basically just started hanging around, and eventually they offered to give me lessons.”
That was when Pieter was 10. He’s been playing ever since, aside from a 10 to 15 year break while he was busy being a dad to his young kids. When his kids grew to become adults, Pieter took up the bagpipes again. He started playing behind the Invermere fire hall, but found it was too busy. So he moved and tried playing near the cattle guard close to the Castle Rock subdivision entrance. Unfortunately someone complained he was disturbing the birds in the area. He moved again, looking much farther south, and found his bluff.
“It’s a perfect spot,” Pieter told the Pioneer. “Sometimes I get a flotilla of boats listening, several dozen of them all bungeed together.”
Bob Shaughnessy, the owner of the land on which Pieter plays, came by a few times to listen. Then Shaughnessy came back and with a recorder-like instrument began to play himself.
“Sometimes I feel like a crazy old man playing on a hill. But everyone seems to like it,” said Pieter. “There are some people that specifically come out to listen. The bicycle club came by a few nights ago and stopped to listen.”
Pieter Jansen is known for his bagpiping prowess in the valley.
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Bagpipes are very enjoyable to play, said Pieter. “It’s so loud. You’re very focussed when you’re playing. You get into it, and nothing interferes with what you’re doing.”
Boaters, cyclists and walkers aren’t the only ones with ears for Pieter’s bagpiping. Many Columbia Valley school children heard him play during Remembrance Day ceremonies held at local schools on Friday, Nov. 8. More heard Pieter three days later when he played at the official Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Invermere cenotaph on November 11, as he does every year.
Pieter also plays with the Kimberley Pipe Band. He’s been a member of that group for 15 years (coincidentally almost the same amount of time he’s been playing at his spot over Lake Windermere). This coming spring Pieter and others in the Kimberley Pipe Band, as well as other bagpipers from around British Columbia, will be heading to the Netherlands to play in celebrations for the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day, which commemorates the end of German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War. It is marked on May 5 each year, but every five years it is a particularly big occasion and is declared a national holiday.
The last ‘big’ celebration of Liberation Day was supposed to have been in 2020, and Pieter and the other B.C. bagpipers (going by the name of ‘B.C. Pipes and Drums’) were scheduled to head overseas and play then. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and cancelled those plans. Now that five years have passed since then, it’s time for the next ‘big’ celebration of Liberation Day, Pieter and the pipers are again planning to go.
They’ll give concerts in Amsterdam and in Wageningen (where occupying Germans signed their surrender in 1945), as well as in outdoor concerts in several parks around the Netherlands. In addition they will give a performance during Koningsdag (King’s Day) on April 27, and on April 29 at the Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, and the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium.
Pieter and the others in the Kimberley Pipe Band are currently fundraising to help offset the costs of the trip. Anyone wishing to donate can do so by contacting the band at [email protected].
