Bagpipes at the Nativity

The shepherds who were watching their flocks by night, and then who visited the Christ Child in the stable, are generally portrayed realistically as rough boys and men who hold shepherds' crooks and often carry a  lamb as a gift.  Lonely shepherds were often musicians, too, and I have a particular affection for Christmas scenes in which a shepherd carries, or even plays, a set of bagpipes. 

Here is a small assortment of such works --

Nativity, 1425, by Robert Campin (detail)

Nativity, ca. 1430, by an unknown Bohemian Master (detail)

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1535-40, by Agnolo Bronzino (detail)

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1544-45, by Jacopo Bassano