They've been with me across the world, always creating controversy. I don't know where I'd be without them, to be honest: a little piece of home. People moan about them, about the racket they make, until there's something and then they're not so bad after all, and really make an occasion special.

Eyebrows were raised when I brought them to Skybase, but the old man just gave one little nod to them and that was the end of it.

This isn't the kind of occasion that's made special by my pipes. Today, I wish I'd never brought them to Skybase.