Christmas Connections: Part 11 of 12

Eleven pipers piping seems to me to be some sort of visual pun — '11' looks like vertical pipes. A piper is of course one who pipes — who manipulates a pipe, uses a pipe, or lays down pipes or piping.

As I write this, I'm listening to 'Mull of Kintyre' plaid played on bagpipes. The interesting thing about the murkiness surrounding the pipes is that the word comes from the German Pfeife, which has thus bequeathed to us two words for roughly similar things — the pipe and the fife.

Which leads us to the next thing: this explains why there are eleven pipers and twelve drummers — fifes and drums go together, historically.

=====

"On th' eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me eleven pipers piping."