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Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 34

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 34
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music
volume Number
1
issue Content
58Ceol na hEireann Irish Music59The answer to both questions came from Jackie Small. He remembered thatTom Busby of New York had spoken to him of a cousin of Patsys, JimmyTouhey, who was also a professional piper; and, indeed, Tom had alreadyreferred to him in print. 10Francis ONeill, in his published works, says nothing about Jimmy Touhey.But in an unpublished letter, dated 17 June 1917, in which he gives the namesand addresses of Irish pipers then resident in America, he lists James T Touheyas living at 720 Grand Street, Jersey City, New Jersey. 11 Around the same time,James Touhey placed the following advertisement in either the Irish World orThe Gaelic American: 12James T. TouheyPlayer on Irish Union PipesEngagements Wanted for Entertainments, Balls Etc.Address115 Valley Street North Tarrytown.Nothing else of any certainty is known about James Touhey. He wasprobably named after Patsy Touheys father (born 1839), who was also calledJames. His own father must have been one of Jamess two older brothers, bothprofessional pipers, John (born 1831) and Pat (born 1836). (Patsy himself wasprobably named after the latter.) The brothers both rambled through Englandas professional pipers, John dying young but Pat living a long life.13 It mayhave been Pat who was father to James, since the latter says that he has neverseen Ireland, a statement that would fit in with his being born and reared inEngland before being brought to Canada or America.It is of interest that neither Patsy nor Jimmy, both professional pipers, knewThe Fox Chase, and had to acquire it from an Irish source. As we have seen,Jimmy Touhey does imply, in his letter, that he had searched for it. That Patsydid not know it comes as a particular surprise, since he met at least two pipersfrom Ireland who knew it. They were Dick Stephenson, who toured the UnitedStates in 1886 with the baritone Ludwig, and MIchel O Sflilleabhin, thefamous Mid Cumb, who lived for a time in Worcester, Massachusetts, where heleft his wife and daughter when he returned to Ireland.14 The piece, then, wouldseem to have dropped out of the repertoire of the pipers in America; and, in fact,ONeill does say that he did not hear it played before he published it in 1903.15The disappearance of such a popular, if not hackneyed, piece of music fromamong Irish pipers in America could have been related to the general decline ofpiping in Ireland in the second half of the nineteenth century. Of interest here isthat John Wayland, in the letter already quoted in part, also gives the impressionthat The Fox Chase was in decline in Ireland at the turn of the century. Out ofthe dozens of pipers he would have heard, he mentions only six as playing TheFox Chase, of whom he says only three knew the piece in its entirety.(Nonetheless, there were bound to have been other pipers who knew The FoxChase - besides the six Wayland mentions. Stephen Ruane (1852 -1935), forexample, the Galway piper, certainly did, but Wayland may have had noopportunity of hearing him play it.16)I have heard the following pipers playing The Fox Chase, or Huntingthe Fox, if you wish: - Tom Hogan, the famous Cashel piper; DickStephenson, native of Clonakilty; Shane ONeill, native of Mashanglass,near Macroom; Robert Thompson, Cork City; Michael OSullivan, theDerrynane piper; Denis Delaney, Ballinasloe; and Martin Reilly, Galway.The two first-mentioned played it beautifully, and in its entirety, that isfrom the introduction and gathering on to the fox hunters jig. Incompany of Dr. Lynch, of Ballyvourney, I listened to the late MartinReillys rendering, during one of the Oireachtas gatherings; and we wereboth of the opinion that it was very indifferent; in fact, could not be calledThe Fox Chase at all, although he was an excellent piper in otherrespects. Strange to say, with the exception of Shane ONeill, Hogan andStephenson, none of the others could play the lamentation part -Thompson excelled in the jig portion, while Denis Delaney was perfect inthe imitations only. Michael OSullivans rendering was pleasing, andvery interesting, and I have phonograph records from him, also RobertThompson and Shane ONeill.Waylands dismissal of Martin Reilly (1829-1904) comes as a surprise. Thelate John Potts (1871-1956) was forever talking about the excellence of MartinReillys piping. Such was the respect in which he held Reilly, an extremelypeevish and cantankerous man, that he would take off his hat when he spoke ofhim. Potts remembered hearing Reilly play pieces such as The Battle ofAughrim and The Fox Chase; and, when speaking of the latter piece, he wouldalways emphasise that the fox died on the high E on the chanter.1T The onesurviving recording of Reillys piping that is in anyway audible, and that onlyjust, was made when he was seventy and does demonstrate that he was still,despite his age, a top-class piper. 18 (It is possible that Wayland had politicalV
issue Number
1
page Number
34
periodical Author
[Various]
issue Publication Date
1993-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1

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