While car alarms, sirens and the occasional dog bark are typical disturbances in many communities, earlier this week Oak Bay residents were awoken by the unmistakable drone of bagpipes.
Nicole Canuel, an Oak Bay resident, says she thought she was still dreaming when she woke up to the blaring sound outside her home.
“It felt like it was a dream,” she tells CHEK News. “I open the blinds and I see a man walking and he’s holding a flag, and … I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was still asleep.”
That’s when Canuel went and got her fiancé who was still awake in the other room. Soon, they were both looking out at the sight and sure enough — they weren’t dreaming.
“We could see it’s like a man, with a speaker…At least that’s what it sounded like. I don’t think he had actual bagpipes. He was also holding a flag, this big long pole with a flag on it.”
At first, Canuel kept quiet about the matter, but eventually she had to know, did anyone else see this happen?
She took to a local Facebook group wanting to know and sure enough, the comments started to pour in.
“That was so weird! He was on willows beach at like 1 a.m. We just moved to Canada, so thought it was maybe normal here,” wrote Becca Morton.
Morton later told CHEK News during an interview that the next time it happens, she’ll be sure to record it.
“I thought it was kind of entertaining. I mean, it was really late, so it wasn’t the best time to be woken up by bagpipes,” she added.
Another user shared in Canuel’s post-sleep uncertainty, but had video evidence to prove it really happened.
The clip is brief, only a few seconds long — but it put the speculation to rest: the bad-timing-bag-piper was real.
Morena Amelio/Facebook
In the end, the Facebook thread gathered over 50 comments from those in the neighbourhood, many of which confirming the tale of the bad-timing-bag-piper.
CHEK News reached out to the Oak Bay Police Department, but it was the first they had heard about the incident.
For now, the mystery of the puzzling piper remains.
Roger Collins
