A MAN has filmed himself performing one of Scotland’s most patriotic songs – using his cat as a bagpipe.
Andrew Piersons from Chico, California uploaded the video of him and his feline friend performing Scotland the Brave to YouTube, earlier this month.
The famous song – which many consider to be the country’s unofficial national anthem – is a favourite at sporting events and country dances.
Its stirring rhythm very familiar to Scots – but it is not thought to have been performed using a cat before.
Mr Piersons published the unusual with the footage with title: “Bagpipe Kitty – Lady Sif The Cat helps perform ‘Scotland The Brave’”.
The 23-second clip starts with Mr Piersons cradling his cat like a baby and chatting to it whilst it interjects at various points with a ‘Meow’ or two.
He says: “Bagpipe kitty. It’s gonna happen. Okay, are you ready?”
He then bursts into a rendition of the famous tune, tapping his foot on the ground to its rousing beat.
At certain beats of the song he gently squeezes his cat as if it was the gusset of a bagpipe.
The cat reacts by letting out a ‘meow’, filling in for the high pitched bagpipe sound.
As he gets into full flow, Mr Piersons turns to smile broadly at the camera, stopping for a brief pause at certain points of the tune to allow for ‘Lady Sif’ to come in with her backing vocal.
The performance comes to an end when the cat looks towards the camera, almost as if to say she’s had enough.
Mr Pierson then kisses her on the head and puts her down, to the sound of laughter from behind the camera.
Scotland the Brave is first thought to have appeared around the turn of the 20th century, whilst the lyrics as we know them today were written in the 1950s.
The Scottish national football team used the tune as their anthem for the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cup Campaigns.
An online poll of 10,000 Scots in 2006 showed that ‘Scotland the Brave’ was second only to ‘Flower of Scotland’ in a list of the nation’s favourite anthem.
