Two answers to this:-

1. There have been modern "bans" based on noise complaints against "buskers" - the most well known in Edinburgh in the Royal Mile (2008) after complaints from residents. The Kirk have had the occasional pop as well for playing ona Sunday! Additionaly outside of Scotland - the English also did ban an Australian piper from busking in Oxford after complaints from shopkeepers. Also in Dunedin - although this one was later overturned. The EU have also been blamed for various HSE type rules. These are of course location and sometimes time specific bans against the piper and not the pipes in general.

2. However there is a also a widespread myth that bagpipes in Scotland were (i) banned after the battle of Culloden (1746) (ii) classified as a weapon of war and (iii) the playing of the pipes would be punishable by death. Which is not true. If you have a decent attention span you can read the background to the myth below:-

Like most myths it is drawn from several sources. Principally the trial of a Jacobite piper James Reid, the Proscription act of 1747 which banned the use of arms (and warlike weapons and the wearing of tartan amongst other things) in the Highlands and a work published in the aftermath of Culloden by Donald MacDonald decrying the pipes being "laid aside" and "music lost".

James Reid the piper in question was captured at Carlisle which the Jacobites had garrisoned with Ogilvy's and the Manchester Regiment as they retreated north from Derby. He was tried along with 70 other rebels and sentenced to death with 21 others. The jury recommended leniency being a piper but the judge decided otherwise. He was executed for high treason for taking part in the rebellion not for playing the pipes. During his trial his defense was he was a piper so hadn't born arms, the judge said in sentencing that any person who joined with others "though they did not bear arms, were yet guilty of high treason" but more famously for the myth that "no regiment ever marched without musical instruments such as trumpets drums and the like....a highland regiment never marched without a piper...and therefore his bagpipe in the eyes of the law was an instrument of war" and he was convicted of taking part in the rebellion. He was the only Jacobite piper executed. Following Culloden only five Pipers were prosecuted for being rebels. One was transported (pleading guilty to rebellion), one executed as above, two were pardoned and one there is no information on. The successful defenses proves the playing of the pipes was never taken into account as binding by other courts. It should be noted that any decision handed down by an English Court would not be binding on a Scottish court as Scots law is completely separate.

As to the Proscription act (passed for enactment in Scotland) this covered the carrying of weapons in a defined area of the highlands. It does not mention pipes in any way and as can be seen above they were not classified as a weapon but an instrument in an English court. There is not one single record of anyone being prosecuted for playing teaching or owning the pipes in Scotland in this era, it's a myth because the act simply does not cover pipes in any shape or form. The court records of the time do list pipers but for other crimes (thieving, breaking and entering, rape and murder to be exact) and also as witnesses. If piping was banned under pain of death why were they volunteering their profession as pipers in the records? It would only make matters much much worse.

The use of the term "instrument of war" used in the court case and the execution of the piper at York have been woven with the other quotes (Cumberland "implements of war" about his own pipers) and the proscription act especially the part dealing with weapons. The brutality of the follow up operation and the later clearances (mostly by the clans own chiefs) has added to the ongoing myth. Similarly the oft quoted line that the Pipes are the only musical instrument to ever be classified as a weapon of war can be seen to be another myth as the judge used the term instrument of war and included trumpets and drums in his definition in the sentence. Actually according to recent research fiddlers in the Jacobean army suffered more than the pipers but the instrument has never had the place in the imagination of the public that the pipes had.

The act was in statue for 35 years from 1747 - 1782. In the early years of the act few people were prosecuted for the wearing of tartan (fined for a 1st offense, transported for a 2nd) it wasn't until the advent of the seven years war where the act was utilised widely to impress highlanders into the army (instead of transportation) that this changed. The act also never applied to landed gentry or their sons and of course the Army or the lowlands.

The playing of the pipes did decline and some music was lost but there is plenty of written evidence of famous pipers (e.g. George MacLeod) pipe makers (e.g. Hugh Robertson) and piping schools including the MacCrimmon's piping college on Skye at Boreraig for several decades after Culloden. Adverts, letters and collections of music from the time all testify to the pipes being in use openly.

The loss of Clan Chief power and their patronage as well as the clearances and emigration had more to do with the decline than anything else. The MacCrimmon's piping school for example closed down in the 1770's in a dispute over rent with the Chief of the Macleod's, not helped by falling numbers as the Chiefs economically weakened struggled to afford to send pipers for the years it took to train. Not a very romantic end.

For those interested in reading further:-

A good book that addresses the historical context is John G Gibson's Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping 1745-1845

Published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2000Special:Booksources,

Postscript:-

Modern update.

1. The James Reid case recently came to light again being quoted in the prosecution of Dave Brooks after complaints were received for playing the pipes on Hampstead heath common (London). He tried the defense they were a weapon and not a musical instrument. The judge said they were "an instrument of war in war and a musical instrument in peace". It caused laughter in the court when he added however if he wanted to continue to claim them as a weapon he would charge him with bearing arms and put him in the cells. He also said the original case was a miscarriage of justice. Dave was found guilty and fined the massive sum of £45 (3 x £15), he was also given permission by the London Corporation to play in Alexander park and on one of the bandstands. An improvement on execution.

2. One a more somber note the bodies of the 22 executed at Tyburn were thought to have been found by 19th century by workmen digging near York castle, 20 or so skeletons missing heads and various limbs ("hung drawn and quartered") were dug up.

Quote "As to the Proscription act (passed for enactment in Scotland) this covered the carrying of weapons in a defined area of the highlands." This is not correct, the defining of an area where the weapons could not be carried was in the disarming act of 1716 and in the act of proscription;

"That from and after the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and forty seven, no man or boy, within that part of Great Briton called Scotland, other than shall be employed as officers and soldiers in his Majesty's forces, shall on any pretence whatsoever, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland Clothes (that is to say) the plaid, philibeg, or little kilt, trowse, shoulder belts, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the highland garb; and that no tartan"

It is correct, the quote you use is to do with the highland garb, weapons are covered under the proscription act and the area defined as well:-

"That from and after the first day of November, which was in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixteen, it should not be lawful for any person or persons (except such persons as are therein mentioned and described) within the shire of Dunbartain, on the north side of the water of Leven, Stirling on the north side of the river of Forth, Perth, Kincardin, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyle, Forfar, Bamff, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgine and Ross, to have in his or their custody, use, or bear, broad sword or target, poignard, whinger, or durk, side pistol, gun, or other warlike weapon.."

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