The controversy arose with reports that an EU health and safety directive would limit piping practice to 87 decibels, whereas pipes typically run at around 122 decibels.

It was a tetchy week for piping fans with a leading Gaelic historian, Hugh Cheape, also claiming the great Highland bagpipe was manufactured by the Scots in a romantic quest to rediscover their past during the early 1800s.

George Ussher, chairman of the Northern Ireland branch of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, said there were genuine concerns over what the latest 21st century noise regulations could mean for professional pipers.

"The chief executive of our association has some concerns for a number of Army and police bands who are employed to play the pipes," he said.

"Some of these bands could be practising for up to three hours a day when they are at that level.

"Pipe majors and their assistants in bigger bands must be able to hear the pipes in order to tune them when preparing for competitions so earplugs are out of the question.

"A level of 87 decibels is very quiet and as an engineer, I can tell you it is increasingly difficult to keep below that even in most factories. Piping most certainly works at many decibels higher than this EU directive's 87 decibels."

He said he had never heard of hearing loss associated with the instrument and piper Mervyn McConnell from Belfast agreed: "I am 63 and I have been piping since I was 10 and I can still hear perfectly well," he said.

"I have never heard of hearing loss in anyone who plays the pipes."

The concerns were exacerbated by a newspaper article that claimed the directive would limit pipe practice without earplugs to about 15 minutes a day.

But a European Commission spokeswoman told the News Letter there was no basis for suggesting such a severe time limit.

"The directive limits the average exposure of workers to 87 decibels for eight hours per day over a working week," said Katharina von Schnurbein.

"As you can see, it would be rather difficult for an employed piper to exceed this weekly average. So, no worries, the EU is not cracking down on nice Scottish traditions."

The directive was primarily made for noise intensive sectors such as airports or manufacturing, she added.