A LAMENT: O World!O life!O time!

Lament from the Latin lamentum is used to express sorrow, remorse or regret usually at the loss of a friend or a famous person. In music it is specifically for bagpipes at Scottish clan funerals. Each great clan had its individual lament, which was always performed for the funeral of a member. In the traditional music of many countries Laments are often used in the prescribed or established form of a religious or other ceremony such as the repatriation of dead war heroes, before weddings and during funeral services. Laments are also possible of vocal and instrumental settings such as Henry Purcell�s �Dido�s� lament �When I am laid in earth� from his opera Dido and Aeneas.