piping

[ladorada]

What does piping mean in this fragment from Treasure Island by Stevenson?

...And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasure!... (Ch. 7)

Does the boatswain have a pipe or is he a specialist in pipelines?

thnx

[tel b]

It means playing a pipe. To be more accurate, a bo'sun's whistle. You may have seen (or heard) them in films when a senior officer is being "piped" aboard a warship.

See an example at
http://www.saltwaterclassics.com/index.php?cPa th=3
among other sites.

[Bellringer]

To be really accurate a "Boatswains Call"