By Darrell Halen
MethuenLife Writer
On the eve of the 118th Boston Marathon in April 2014, thousands watched as Fenway Park hosted an event that mourned the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and honored the people who responded to the tragedy. The ball field filled with first responders, medical professionals, runners and volunteers, according to an account by ESPN. The UMass Marching Band was joined by bagpipers and drummers, and the melody “Highland Cathedral” was performed.
The event is one of the most significant and memorable for bagpiper Ed Johnson, a Methuen resident and member of the Massachusetts State Police Pipes and Drums, one of the bagpipe bands that performed that day. He has been playing the bagpipes since 2016.
Johnson, a 1992 graduate of Methuen High School, is a former Methuen police officer who joined the state police in 2002.
“You see police, first-responder funerals, it’s always a big event. You want to make sure anyone that dies in the line of duty gets a proper send-off. I wanted to be part of that,” he said. “I was in the honor guard for Methuen PD. I thought this would be one step further – with the bagpipes.”
The MSP Pipes and Drums performs about 15 times a year, he said. Past events include state police academy graduations, parades, Lowell’s police academy graduations, the funeral of Billerica Police Sgt. Ian Taylor who was killed at a construction site in 2024, the 2024 funeral of Lawrence Police Sgt. Charles Saindon who died after a brief illness, and the 2013 memorial service for Gov. Paul Cellucci at the State House. The group has also performed during Police Week in Washington, D.C., and was the host band for the National Troopers Coalition gathering in 2010.
According to the history of the group, a non-profit organization, the band was conceived in 1994 after the line-of-duty shooting death of Trooper Mark S. Charbonnier on Route 3 near Kingston. Iain Massie, a Scotsman and former piper of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, suggested to then-Superintendent Colonel Charles Henderson that a pipe band be formed, and later volunteers were sought to form a bagpipe and drum unit, according to the organization.
The group was officially established in January 1995, when lessons began, and they debuted in June 1996, at the Massachusetts State Police Memorial Service. The six original members were all bagpipers, and the band grew to 16 members over the next two years, according to its history.
The group currently gathers for 90-minute rehearsals every Tuesday in Framingham.
“You have to keep up with it,” said Johnson, who found that playing the saxophone in Methuen High’s marching band was useful to learning how to play the bagpipe – he knew how to read sheet music.
“The initial training for a bagpiper requires a great deal of practice and commitment, with nearly three years of training before being ready to fully perform a variety of the band music,” according to the group.
Locally, Johnson performed at a Saint Patrick Day event that was hosted by then-Mayor Neil Perry and played at Perry’s funeral. He also played at Methuen Police Chief Scott McNamara’s swearing-in, and he has played at the Irish Cottage and the Claddagh Pub almost every year since around 2007.
Part Scottish and part Irish, he comes from a law enforcement family – his brother is a state trooper and his father is retired from the state police. Johnson is currently a lieutenant working as a shift commander in Danvers.
“I have two different uniforms. The ‘dressier’ of the two is called Highland Dress. It consists of a doublet (jacket) plaid (pronounced ‘played’) that goes over the shoulder, the kilt, a sporran (the horsehair item that hangs in front of the kilt and the glengarry (hat). There are also hose-tops (socks) and spats (white shoe coverings),” Johnson explained. “The second uniform has the same kilt, sporran and glengarry. The hose and shoes are different, and there is a vest over a button-down shirt and tie.”
Lawrence Police Sgt. Mike Simard, who served two terms on the Methuen City Council, knows Johnson, a former constituent of his, professionally through law-enforcement circles. He’s impressed by Johnson’s bagpiper role.
“I’ve seen him at many parades, many events, many funerals,” said Simard, who last saw Johnson play, approximately a year ago, at Saindon’s funeral.
Simard describes the band’s music as “somber but ceremonial. During funerals it’s always a tear-jerker. It kind of helps instill that pride. Not only Irish pride, but a lot of times both military and law enforcement (pride).”
“It’s always very powerful when you hear the bagpipes, and the drummers, bugle and all that. It just adds a piece (to) the ceremony — just pride, I guess, that would be a good word,” Simard said. “What I always take note of is they’re there rain or shine, heat, sub-zero temperatures. They’re always there. They’re always willing to help the cause, whatever it may be.”
On March 9, MSP Pipes and Drums will perform at the Annapolis Saint Patrick Day Parade and Festival in Maryland and in April will participate closer to home in Lexington’s 250th Anniversary Parade.
Bagpiper Ed Johnson, a member of the Massachusetts State Police Pipes and Drums, provided some of the music for Perry’s graveside service at Elmwood Cemetery.
March rolls in accented by shamrocks, Irish step dancers, corned beef and cabbage … and the distinct music of bagpipes! Methuen’s Ed Johnson plays bagpipes with the Massachusetts State Police Pipes and Drums. He has performed at Fenway Park, in parades, at Irish celebrations, and during funerals for first responders and Mayor Neil Perry.
