Does anyone have an authoritative answer for the connection amongst (kilted) pipers and policemen? And I do not mean the tendency of some pipers to get arrested.

I mean the practice of using pipers (and kilts) in ceremonial roles involving policemen, particularly retirements, funerals, and other memorials.

In some parts of North America, I know it is popular to blend Scots and Irish cultures. On the one hand, here in the South, many of us are descended from "Ulster Scots" also known as "Scots Irish" or "Scotch Irish" ( I know, I know, Scotch is what we drink, etc.) But on the other hand, I do not see any strong connection in these parts between Law Enforcement and Scots by any name.

And I know there are Irish pipes and I know, in Boston, New York, and Chicago, many Irish- Americans are policemen, but I think of them as "regular" Irish, not Scots Irish. I wonder sometimes if the whole Police Piper thing has been recently invented. I would love to learn otherwise.

Thanks